Stu Cowan: Canadiens' Kent Hughes will have tough choice at NHL Draft

“At the end of the day you want the best player available," GM says, but who the Habs get will depend on what happens with first four picks.

Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes will have a tough decision to make at this year’s NHL Draft with the No. 5 overall pick.

At last year’s draft — his first since taking over as GM from Marc Bergevin — Hughes had the advantage of having the No. 1 pick so he didn’t have to worry about what other teams would do in the first round. Hughes and his scouting staff decided Juraj Slafkovsky was their guy and they selected the 6-foot-3, 238-pound left-winger.

Slafkovsky’s rookie campaign in the NHL as an 18-year-old was underwhelming with 4-6-10 totals and a minus-13 differential in 39 games before suffering a season-ending knee injury. Slafkovsky was one of only five players selected at last year’s draft who played in the NHL this season and he was the leader in games played and points.

Shane Wright, selected fourth overall by the Seattle Kraken, ranked second in games played and points with 1-1-2 totals in eight games. The other three players from last year’s draft to play in the NHL didn’t record any points — defenceman David Jiricek (selected sixth by the Columbus Blue Jackets) played four games, while forwards Marco Kasper (selected eighth by the Detroit Red Wings) and Owen Beck (selected 33rd by the Canadiens) both played one game.

There’s no doubt the Chicago Blackhawks are going to take Connor Bedard with the No. 1 pick this year, but things will get very interesting after that. As the highly respected Bob McKenzie wrote in the TSN Draft Lottery Edition of his top-12 rankings, “grab the popcorn because it’s going to be quite a show” seeing who is selected at Nos. 2 through 5. The Anaheim Ducks will pick second, followed by the Blue Jackets, the San Jose Sharks and the Canadiens.

McKenzie has University of Michigan centre Adam Fantilli ranked second, followed by centre Will Smith of the U.S. National Development Team (headed to Boston College), Swedish centre Leo Carlsson and Russian winger Matvei Michkov.

“I think at the end of the day you want the best player available,” Hughes told reporters in Buffalo Thursday morning at the NHL Scouting Combine, which runs through Sunday and gives teams an opportunity to conduct interviews and get physical and medical assessments of the top prospects for the draft. “But if we’re talking about different shades of the same colour — for example, if you were comparing a left-shot D to a right-shot D and we felt they were both of equal talent, we’d probably take the right-shot D. … Same as if it were a left vs. a right-shot winger or if it was a really good goalie and we felt we didn’t have enough depth in the organization. But, ultimately, we’re going to go with the most talented player.”

There’s a good chance the most talented player available when the Canadiens pick will be Michkov, but he still has three years remaining on his KHL contract with St. Petersburg. There’s also the political situation in Russia to consider with the ongoing war against Ukraine and the fact Michkov‘s father, Andrei, was found dead in a pond in April at age 51 under what the Russian Hockey Federation said was “unexplained circumstances.“

Hughes said Thursday that the Canadiens would do their homework on Michkov and evaluate him first as a hockey player, comparing him with others who might be available at No. 5, and added that all factors will come into play when deciding who to pick.

Hughes would be thrilled if Smith is still available at No. 5, but that seems unlikely. Hughes coached Smith in youth hockey with the Boston Junior Eagles and knows him well as a player and a person.

“You see him now almost 18 and there’s a maturity and confidence and more worldly,” Hughes told reporters in Buffalo. “It also comes from leaving home and leaving your environment and then going off on your own.”

Slovak centre Dalibor Dvorsky is ranked No. 6 by McKenzie, followed by Ryan Leonard, a winger with the U.S. National Development Team. Hughes said Leonard reminds him of the Tkachuk brothers with his physical, intense style of play and his work ethic. Matthew Tkachuk is now playing in the Stanley Cup final with the Florida Panthers, while brother Brady is captain of the Ottawa Senators. The Tkachuk boys combined for 75 goals (Matthew had 40) and 225 penalty minutes (Brady had 126) this season.

McKenzie has Switzerland’s David Reinbacher, who shoots right, ranked as the top defenceman at No. 10 overall on his list.

“He’s big, he defends very well, he’s got a very mature defensive game, which often you see the reverse — that’s the last part of the game to come,” Hughes said. “He’s an efficient puck mover, so he’s a talented prospect.”

Hughes said a combination of factors will play into who the Canadiens select at No. 5.

“It’s not like players have to be perfect and balanced,” the GM said. “That’s why Nick Suzuki is a different person and (has) different attributes than Cole Caufield, but they’re two very important players to our team.”

scowan@postmedia.com

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