NHL Entry Draft July 7-8: Five Things You Need to Know

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Here are five things to know about the NHL entry draft July 7-8 at the Bell Center:

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Canadians will be busy. Not only does the home team have the first overall pick, but the Montreal Canadiens enter the draft with 14 picks, the most of any team. Montreal also has the 26th overall pick Thursday night, thanks to the trade that sent Tyler Toffoli to the Calgary Flames. They have two picks (Nos. 33 and 62) in the second round and three picks in the third round. Don’t be surprised if Canadians don’t use all of their selections. They could bag several to move up in the draft or trade them for picks in future drafts.

Who is number 1? When general manager Kent Hughes was asked about this week’s top pick, he would only go so far as to say that the Canadiens have narrowed the selection process down to three candidates: Kingston Frontenacs center Shane Wright, Slovakian winger Juraj Slafkovsky and Logan Cooley, a center with the US National Team Development Program heading to the University of Minnesota in the fall. Hughes noted that they are different players from different backgrounds and while there is an argument for each of them, the informed guess is that the Canadiens will make the safe call and select Wright, who has been the consensus highest-rated prospect for the past few years. three years.

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Safety first is not always best. The last time the Canadiens had the first overall pick in 1980, there was fan pressure to select hometown hero Denis Savard, but rookie general manager Irving Grundman opted for the consensus pick Doug Wickenheiser and Chicago chose Savard at No. 3. Wickenheiser had a decent career. while Savard polished his credentials from the Windy City Hockey Hall of Fame. Savard landed in Montreal for three seasons at the end of his career and won his only Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1993.

The last time. The Canadians also have the 26th pick overall. It’s the first time since 2007 that Montreal has two first-round picks. The 2007 selection produced defenseman Ryan McDonagh at No. 12 and Max Pacioretty at No. 22. McDonagh never played for the Canadiens but won two Stanley Cups with Tampa Bay. Pacioretty served as captain of the Canadiens before being traded to Las Vegas in a deal that included Nick Suzuki. The last time the draft was held at the Bell Center was in 2009 and the Canadiens struck out when they took Louis Leblanc 18th overall. The West Island product played just 50 games over two seasons with the Canadiens before returning to finish his degree at Harvard. .

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Changing of the guard. For the first time since 2003, Trevor Timmins won’t be involved in the Canadiens’ draft, but there will be some experienced people to guide Hughes through his first draft. Jeff Gorton, vice president of hockey operations, has been drafted as general manager of the New York Rangers and interim general manager of the Bruins and has brought in veteran scouting Nick Bobrov to serve as co-director of amateur scouting with Martin Lapointe. Bobrov, a Russian native who will oversee European exploration, worked with Gorton in New York. He also shares a connection with Hughes: They both played hockey at Middlebury College in Vermont.