The honeymoon is over. Montreal Canadiens general manager (GM) Kent Hughes decided to go against the consensus draft choice of the fanbase, who wanted Matvei Michkov, and instead, chose David Reinbacher at fifth overall. And there is a very vocal anger radiating from the fans on social media.
Fans ask themselves what the Canadiens plan actually is. More importantly, they question it because they aren’t sure if it will be successful. This is why the fanbase is having a problem with Hughes and his approach in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. That issue is magnified because the fans had their hearts set on a specific player, in this case Michkov, and he wasn’t selected when available. However, the approach the Habs used in this draft was the same as in 2022.
Canadiens Bet on Development
For the current Canadiens regime, there are specific non-negotiables that a player must possess; competitiveness, character, and work ethic. Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. That is why these characteristics are prioritized. Because regardless of the role a player has on the team, if he doesn’t have these qualities he will have a very hard time finding any success in the NHL. But there is an offshoot to this approach, it breeds a team atmosphere that helps to demand accountability. That is why Canadiens co-director of amateur scouting Nick Bobrov describes building a culture with the draft.
“We’re building a culture; we want certain things that permeate that culture as we keep building this. We felt that this player embodies the type of culture that Jeff, Kent, Marty and the coaching staff are trying to build, and that was not a trivial matter to us. So, culture was an important word.”
– Nick Bobrov
Part two of their plan is development. This is something fans demanded to be made a priority when Marc Bergevin was the GM. Now, under Hughes, the analytics and development departments have been given far more support with additional staff who also embrace the most modern theories in use in the NHL today, which likely led to the choice of Lane Hutson in 2022. The continued additions to the analytics staff will have far-reaching effects as an essential tool for both scouting and building individual development plans for the coaching staff to implement.
Development and assessment are more than just point totals. While seeing a prospect put up big numbers, especially at a tournament like the World Junior Championship, which is one of those benchmarks or barometers that is used to assess a player’s development, team development staffs look deeper into a player’s performance. Are they improving their defensive posture? Are they adding to their game? Do they focus on their strengths or their weaknesses? There are as many aspects as there are players. The additional scouting staff and the development coaches can provide insight into a player’s ability to evolve and adapt, which are key aspects of a successful NHL player.
Canadiens Put Plan in Motion
As mentioned above, there are specific aspects of a player, the intangibles, that they look for. Hughes wants the Canadiens to play fast and with skill under head coach Martin St. Louis, but he also realized the team needed to get bigger and faster. Selecting Reinbacher fits this plan as his style of play is a seamless complement to the skilled fowards who excel at playing on the rush and need help from the blueliners to help them to generate clean zone entries, as St. Louis is working to make Montreal a true puck possession style team. –
Beyond that, Reinbacher desired to be a difference-maker and his interview confirmed him as their pick when the first thing he said was, “I’m excited to put on my work boots to help you win the Stanley Cup”. There were other reasons the Canadiens picked him, as Bobrov described how they weigh asset value.
“It’s no mystery to anyone how difficult it is to acquire certain assets and what it takes to acquire them, we all watched the playoffs, and for two months of the year, we get reminded what works and what wins that maybe we tend to forget for 10 months.”
– Nick Bobrov
Reinbacher has significant potential and brings aspects that teams dream of adding. He’s a very good defenseman who played well in the Swiss NL, a high-quality professional league. He’s big, very mobile, skates well, and is excellent at transitioning the puck.
Related: Canadiens 2023 NHL Draft Pick: David Reinbacher
Reinbacher is going to be a very good defenseman. He projects as a top-pairing minute muncher that could provide some offense once he matures, perhaps a high end of 50 points per season. He’s not the “sexy pick” but he’s the type of defender contending teams need to win the Stanley Cup.
Canadiens’ Remaining Picks
While fans feel that because several draft picks from 2023 may be “off the board” based on independant draft lists, that those selections were somehow wrong. Keeping the scouting staff’s priorities in focus, the remaining draft picks fit, for instance, Florian Xhekaj. He received high praise from Martin Lapointe, who noted Arber Xhekaj’s younger brother brings grit and size, like Arber, but also has the character and work ethic they search for, along with a high compete level.
“He’s a guy who brings a lot of competitiveness in his game. He’s a guy that’s going to improve year after year. We believe in his talent, and he brings an added physical element to our team.”
– Martin Lapointe
The need for a goaltender led to them selecting three in this draft class. But it is Jacob Fowler who holds the highest potential. He had an impressive season with the Youngstown Phantoms of the United States Hockey League (USHL). Yet it was his play in the playoffs for Youngstown that really impresses. He was 8-1 in nine playoff games with a 1.36 goals-against average and a .952 save percentage leading his team to the championship where he earned the playoff MVP.
He has good size, technical skills, and athletic ability, but as noted, his big game ability stands out. That ability requires the physical skills noted, but it needs the intangibles such as competitiveness, work ethic, and a type of character that allows a player to focus.
The Canadiens’ approach to the draft these last two years has been built like a pyramid. The base is intangibles such as character, competitiveness, and work ethic. While everyone wants to see the offensivly skilled players added with their team’s draft picks, no player, even the skilled ones, can hope for their game to evolve and translate to the NHL without those intangibles mentioned above. While the 2023 Draft underwhelms one day after it came to an end, the real test of this plan will be known three or four years down the road.
