Losing the draft lottery could smile on the Montreal Canadiens.
The Habs haven’t had the chance to pick first overall since Doug Wickenheiser was selected in 1980. That privilege would put a balm on a miserable season. Annoying.
However, this would place the CH in a rather delicate situation, estimates the former scout of the LHJMQ Simon Boisvert. Known by the nickname “Snake”, this mysterious man made himself known on the web thanks to his strong opinions, including a few flashes of genius. The TVASports.ca told two years ago the story of this fascinating black sheep and true hockey brain.
“In the front row, there is the pressure to select Shane Wright, explains Boisvert at the end of the telephone. There was also the pressure to take Alexis Lafrenière. At some point, there are guys we’ve been waiting for 2-3 years, and the teams freeze. “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.” If you don’t take Shane Wright and the guy you choose instead isn’t as good, you lose your job.
“If Shane Wright isn’t as good as expected, you can always say, ‘Whoa, anybody would’ve taken him!’ Imagine if the Rangers had claimed Stützle and Lafrenière had 38 goals, it would have been grounds for dismissal.
And the new management of Sainte-Flanelle has absolutely no room for error during this repechage which will be held in Montreal and which will have a huge influence on the probability of success of the organization’s recovery plan.
Simon Boisvert has often deviated from the consensus to determine the top of the class for each cuvée, rightly or wrongly. This time, the snake has a soft spot for Conor Geekie, yet excluded from the top 10 in several lists. By losing the lottery, the Canadiens would be in a much better position to justify the selection of this big WHL center player with above average vision.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCGwrobsP4E
“It is sure that by selecting 3rd, you can take Geekie and no one will question you. Geekie, some expect it to come out between 3 and 10. At that point, it could be anything. Look at the 2021 draft. Mason McTavish came out 3rd. Selecting a guy in the first row comes with too much pressure,” said Boisvert, referring in particular to the repechages of Nail Yakupov and Nico Hischier.
Snake’s top picks for 15 years
2007 Patrick Kane
2008 Drew Doughty
2009 Matt Duchene
2010 Tyler Seguin
2011 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
2012 Filip Forsberg
2013 Valery Nichushkin
2014 Michael Dal Colle
2015 Connor McDavid
2016 Patrik Laine
2017 Cale Makar
2018 Rasmus Dahlin
2019 Jack Hughes
2020 Tim Stützle
2021 Luke Hughes
A year for screening
Why Geekie ahead of Shane Wright and Logan Cooley? It was necessary to cook the former recruiter of the Screaming Eagles of Cape Breton and the Foreurs of Val-d’Or.
“Conor Geekie wouldn’t have been No. 1 on my list every year, of course, he specifies from the outset. We are in a year where there are a few safe bets in the top 10 and interrogation, but not from Matthews or McDavid. So you have to try to find who will be the best player in the vintage by projecting everyone’s career, not the next two years. It really is a year for projection. Is Conor Geekie right now the best player? Not necessarily. But for me, it’s the one that will become the best eventually.
“Projecting is easy. He’s a 6’4″ center that’s only scratching the surface of his potential. He has a very long reach and a very good sense of the game. He is hardworking, he is very strong physically and he has a good throw. Some say he has more or less good skating. I don’t completely disagree, but I don’t agree either.
“A lot of times, great players like him don’t seem to skate fast. But basically, they take long strides and I’ve seen him catch guys on a breakaway, I’ve seen him break away from a roofer. It just seems less. Me, I am not worried about that side in the National League.
Final verdict: future first-line center player in a champion team.
“In the style of play, the player who would resemble him the most in my opinion is Anze Kopitar,” says our man.
While the author of these lines plays the devil’s advocate, the “Snake” does not scroll and replies with accuracy.
Why prefer Geekie to Matthew Savoie, who plays on the same team, the Winnipeg Ice, and claims 20 points more than him. Before selling Geekie as the most promising of his vintage, can we even claim that he is the most promising striker of his own formation?
“Savoie, I don’t think he’s going to stay in the center, replies Boisvert calmly. Besides, for quite some time, he has been playing on the Geekie wing. Savoie is skilled, but a 5-foot-9 winger in the NHL who is skilled is easier to find than a big 6-foot-4 center. Of course, Savoie will look more electrifying on the highlights. In 5 years in the playoffs, give me Conor Geekie before Matthew Savoie.”
Photo credit: QMI Photo Agency, Dominic Chan
According to Boisvert, the CH would bet on a duo of center players worthy of a team claiming great honors with Geekie and Nick Suzuki.
“They are complementary. You have the tall 6’4” guy and a bit shorter player who maybe could have less responsibility on his shoulders. Right now, Nick Suzuki is being asked to have the responsibilities of an Auston Matthews. The Canadiens don’t have a No. 2 center! It would take a lot of the pressure off Suzuki’s shoulders, he wouldn’t necessarily be playing against the top lines all the time. I think it would be an ideal combo. Geekie, eventually, he’s a number one, so imagine how Suzuki could produce being a No. 2 center, facing weaker opposition with 2-3 minutes less per game.
Shane Wright in all this? Boisvert doesn’t hate him, but he doesn’t see the potential in him as a first-line center on a winning team. As for Logan Cooley…
“A whole dynamo, concedes Boisvert, but it is a little smaller. I’m taking the 6’4″ guy. Cooley is very good, but neither is Patrick Kane. He’s a very good player all the same, if CH drafts Logan Cooley, I won’t complain.
Two possibilities after the first choice
For form, our ex-recruiter wanted to continue the exercise by turning to the other 1st round choice of CH at the 2022 auction, that of the Calgary Flames obtained in the exchange of Tyler Toffoli.
“I would go for Sam Rinzel, a 6’4″ American defenseman. He is not physically mature yet, he is a high school player, but we are talking about potential. With his skating, his size and his ease in handling the puck, he is a guy who could exceed expectations for his selection rank after a few years of development at university.
“This is my value pick in these ranks.
Rinzel has 38 points, including nine goals, in 27 games with Chaska High School, Minnesota this season. He added 10 points, including two goals, in 21 games with the Waterloo Black Hawks of the USHL. The robust guard is ranked 19th in the latest North American rankings from the NHL Central Scouting.
The Snake had not finished getting wet. He did it one last time, then looking at the options CH could have with the first of his two second-round picks. Rieger Lorenz, a big forward from the Alberta Junior League, caught his eye.
“He is very productive, but I would also tell you that he has a very mature game for his age. You can play him shorthanded, he’s very, very responsible defensively, but he also has great hands, already a good physical 6’2″ and good skating. He’s the kind of guy who goes under the radar because he plays in a weak league.
“But if you put that guy in the Junior League West, he probably would’ve been ranked higher than Round 2.”
Lorenz has provided 85 points, including 38 goals, in 60 AJHL games this season. La Centrale ranked him 17th in its most recent North American list.