Canadiens Face Big Size Problem With 2024 First Round Pick – Hockey Writers – Montreal Canadiens

It’s about as foregone conclusion as possible that the Canadiens will move forward with their first, first-round pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. However, they will have a few options, depending on how the four picks in front of them will fare realistically. It could come down to 6-foot-4 Cayden Lindstrom (210 pounds) or 5-foot-11 Berkly Catton (170 pounds), if it’s a combination of forwards Macklin Celebrini, Ivan Demidov and Tij Iginla and an elite defender. Artyom Levshunov forward.
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And, if Lindstrom goes for the position, hell, even if he doesn’t, there’s also 6-foot-3 Beckett Sennecke, who just entered the picture, with whom Catton could potentially compete. So, this isn’t just a poll on whether Canadians like late risers or not. That was already asked and answered when they selected Juraj Slafkovsky over Shane Wright first overall in 2022. It’s about size, in case there was any doubt.
Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes famously said, “No 5-9 hockey player scares me, but 22 of them can (from ‘Stu Cowan: Canadiens GM Kent Hughes makes his system work,’ Montreal newspaper, July 8, 2022). Index size is a consideration for the Canadiens, as it should be. However, Canadiens fans will find out to what extent this summer.
The generally accepted philosophy is to go for size and skill over skill. However, both Sennecke and Lindstrom have a certain level of risk that Catton doesn’t have…besides being smaller, yet surprisingly he’s still a few inches taller than Cole Caufield (5-foot-8). It will show a small top choice would be a smart move
Despite Sennecke’s late resurgence, Lindstrom has been limited to 32 games this season with an upper-body injury, admittedly returning to play in four of the Medicine Hat Tigers’ five games. In those 32 games, in the Western Hockey League, he scored 27 goals and 19 assists. In comparison, in 68 games with the Spokane Chiefs of the WHL, Catton scored 54 goals and 62 assists, a steady production that should speak for itself.
Obviously they don’t guarantee that success translates to the NHL (either way), but there could be a case that Catton is the safer choice between the two, if it weren’t for his size, and despite the fact that he’s taller than Caufield, the 5-foot-9 Hughes mentioned in the quote above or Filip Mesar (5-foot-10), a player Hughes took 25 picks after Slafkovsky in 2022.
Now, to be fair, there is no obvious hypocrisy here. There should be no conflict. The Canadiens probably just approached the 26th pick differently than they did the No. 1 overall pick in 2022. That is understandable. He has ideas of selecting a player who projects as close to a star player as possible at the top of the draft. The deeper you go, the more likely you are to accept potential problems.
However, two years after the Canadiens took Slafkovsky and one year after they took David Reinbacher, each listed at 6-foot-3 and neither stranger to potential issues themselves based on early evaluations, the Habs shouldn’t feel the need to move out. road or go in their own way to go down that road again.
In Reinbacher’s case, the Canadiens are looking to fill a need instead of drafting the best player available. Mainly because of that decision, they are in this position where they have to choose who went forward this time. They face a clear lack of top talent up front and there are too many potential NHL players in the defense pipeline at this point (Reinbacher, Lane Hutson, Jayden Struble, Adam Engstrom, William Trudeau, Logan Mailloux and Bogdan Konyushkov, a list that doesn’t include young defensemen who have for all intents and purposes theirs in the NHL).
This is not (really) a vote for Catton over Lindstrom (or Sennecke). The argument is that Catton should not be overlooked simply because of his size. It should come down to the better player between the two, that is, if neither one is taken in the Top 4. Simply put, this piece also ignores potential x-factors like Cole Eiserman and Konsta Helenius, who last, for whatever it’s worth, riding in Craig Button’s Top 5.
Bob McKenzie, who polls scouts to rank top prospects, currently has two defensemen in the Top 4. He puts Levshunov right behind Anton Silayev at No. 3. It begs the question, can the Canadiens afford not to take Levshunov if he somehow falls into their laps?
Yes, they can, for the reason(s) just mentioned. Many would see him as the best player available in such a situation. And, often, even if they don’t fit into your plans, you can use them as trading capital later on. However, the difference between Levshunov and anyone up front is not so good that the Habs should turn their backs on moving up to the top division, and instead choose the garbage past Celebrini and Demidov.
Size Kills… At Least It Has Canadiens
So, it really comes down to which striker best fits what Hughes and company are trying to build. And, while he’s icing a team of 5-foot-9 players who should intimidate him, so should a team of 6-foot-3 specials. Josh Anderson, 6-foot-3, who earned $5.5 million over the next three seasons, is an example of what can go wrong when you oversize.
Plus, based on Anderson’s non-negotiable contract, it’s not like you can just replace him with the best guy on the roster. His size, for better or worse, remains on the Canadiens roster for the foreseeable future. That gives the Habs 10 forwards on the current roster who are 6-foot-1 or taller. Four defensemen are 6-foot-2 or taller.
Finally, as mentioned before, Catton is not really that small, which makes the issue more about Lindstrom’s size than the previous lack. The Canadiens are in no greater danger of looking at Catton than they are of not being able to look at Lindstrom. That doesn’t mean Catton will end up being a better player, but he has to look at the whole (not necessarily big) picture.
To some extent, it doesn’t matter, but the fact that none of the team’s picks from 2006-2018 were traded by the Habs proves that it was a problem in the past. In fact, none of these players ended up under 6 feet tall.
The two tallest, Jarred Tinordi (2010) and Michael McCarron (2013) at 6-foot-6 each, ended up among the biggest disappointments of the team, all their respect and the fact that they played more than 200 NHL games. at the moment. That’s just not what anyone thought when the Canadiens used the 22nd and 25th picks on them. Their successive evaluation reports since then have admittedly emphasized their size, but also their potential to become a visible dominant force. Sound familiar?
Granted, at fifth overall, the Habs would be in a better position to draft a complete hockey player. Lindstrom projects like that, but not completely complete. In fact the only thing on Catton’s list of “Improvements To Make” in his inspection report is. Hockey Writers “filling out his frame a little (will come with age),” which, despite being one bullet point, says a lot about where teams’ minds tend to go. Hopefully it’s not an important spot for the Canadiens’ come June 28 in Las Vegas.
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