Stu Cowan: Canadiens GM Kent Hughes injects suspense into the NHL Draft

He says he hasn’t decided yet whether he’ll take Shane Wright, Juraj Slafkovsky or Logan Cooley, or whether he could trade the top pick.

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Heading into the 2010 NHL Draft, the big question was Taylor or Tyler?

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Would Taylor Hall be the first overall pick or would it be Tyler Seguin?

Heading into this year’s NHL draft, which begins Thursday night at the Bell Center, the big question is Shane, Juraj or Logan.

He doesn’t have the same tone as Taylor or Tyler, but Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes said Monday that he hasn’t yet decided whether to take Shane Wright, Juraj Slafkovsky or Logan Cooley with the first pick. Hughes also didn’t rule out the possibility of trading the No. 1 pick or even making a deal with the New Jersey Devils in which the Canadiens would end up with the No. 1 and No. 2 picks.

During a news conference at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard, Hughes said he is open to all possibilities, but added that if the draft were to take place Monday night, he would use the No. 1 pick.

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Hughes’ press conference will definitely raise the level of excitement for fans ahead of the draft — the first in Montreal since 2009 when the Canadiens selected Louis Leblanc with the 18th overall pick — and that could be part of his plan.

If the Canadiens keep the No. 1 pick, which is how I imagine things will end, they’ll get a very good player no matter who they draft. My choice would be Wright.

In 2010, the Edmonton Oilers drafted Hall with the No. 1 pick and the Boston Bruins drafted Seguin with the No. 2 pick. Both have enjoyed similar careers ever since, with Hall posting totals of 248-409-657 in 761 games and Seguin with 305. -381-686 totals in 825 games. Both are no longer with the teams that recruited them. Hall is with the Bruins, his fifth team, while Seguin is with the Dallas Stars, his second team.

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The only certain thing about the NHL Draft is its uncertainty.

The last time the Canadiens had the first overall pick was in 1980 when they took Doug Wickenheiser. The Chicago Blackhawks landed future Hall of Famer Denis Savard at No. 3, after the Winnipeg Jets drafted Dave Babych.

During the 2012 pre-draft season, the popular catchphrase was “Fail for Nail” with Nail Yakupov being awarded as the No. 1 pick. The Oilers took Yakupov at No. 1, but he only lasted six seasons in the NHL, recording totals of 62-74-136 in 350 games. The best player in that draft was Filip Forsberg, who was selected 11th overall by the Washington Capitals and has a total of 220-249-469 in 566 games. But none of those games came with the Capitals, who traded Forsberg to the Nashville Predators for Martin Erat and Michael Latta less than a year after drafting him.

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The 2012 draft was also the year the Canadiens selected Alex Galchenyuk with the No. 3 pick after the Columbus Blue Jackets took Ryan Murray at No. 2. The Canadiens have had two more top-10 picks. since then: Mikhail Sergachev at No. 9 in 2016 and Jesperi Kotkaniemi at No. 3 in 2018, and none of those top three 10 picks remain in Montreal.

Of course, those three players were drafted and then traded by former Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin. This will be Hughes’ first draft as general manager.

“We’re trying to assess how a player projects,” Hughes said. “We can look at a hockey player and say this is who he is as a hockey player right now and where he is playing. Players are playing in different leagues at different levels of hockey and we’re trying to look at them and say this guy is capable of doing this at this level…can he do it at the next level? So there’s also a hockey component, there’s a positional component. There are all these things that we are evaluating. Can he play that position at the next level?”

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Wright is a center for the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs and Cooley is a center for the US National Development Team, while Slafkovsky is a left back for TPS Turku in the Finnish Elite League. Cooley has committed to playing at the University of Minnesota next season, while Hughes said it’s “more than likely” either Wright or Slafkovsky will make the jump directly to the NHL if they are drafted by the Canadiens.

“But we’ll also keep an open mind here and be flexible as to whether it’s the right situation for them.” Hughes added. “Most of the No. 1 picks end up playing in the National Hockey League. But that doesn’t mean it has to be that way. Ultimately, we don’t need the best 18-year-old. We need someone who can become the best of 22, 24, 25 (years), and we will try to take those steps.

“Each person is also different,” the general manager said. “So once we have the player, we’re going to have a little more information about what kind of person he is and the environment that we think allows them to develop best.”

Shane, Juraj or Logan?

We’ll get the answer on Thursday night.

What happens after that is an even bigger question.

[email protected]

twitter.com/StuCowan1

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