With the draft fast approaching, we take a look at another potential draft target for the Montreal Canadiens: Liam Ruck.
It’s always tricky to predict which player an NHL team could draft at the draft, even if they are picking quite high. It becomes a near-impossible exercise when a team picks late in the top round, because the pick then depends not only on their evaluation of the prospects but also on who the other teams pick. With the 28th pick overall this year, there are multiple possibilities for the Montreal Canadiens, including skilled winger Liam Ruck.
Ruck is part of a very dynamic scoring duo with his twin brother, Markus, and both lined up with Habs’ prospect Bryce Pickford with the Medicine Hat Tigers. Markus is a center who led the league in scoring with 108 points in 68 games, while Liam finished second with 104 points in 68 games. But what makes the winger interesting is his goal-scoring touch; he pocketed 45 lamplighters on the season, good for second place in the league, tied with defenseman Pickford.
The 6-foot and 177-pound winger has great offensive instincts and is admirably good without the puck, something that stands out for a player of that age. He’s got quick feet and finds a way to get free in the offensive zone and lose his coverage. The kind of player who makes the right reads at the right time, or, in other words, the kind of player who would likely thrive in Martin St-Louis’ brand of hockey. He’s not afraid to go to the dirty areas, and while he’s not a flashy player, he’s an effective one.
His ability to evade coverage often means that he doesn’t get challenged physically in the offensive zone, something that likely won’t hold in professional hockey, so that’s something he’ll have to adapt to when he makes the jump to professional hockey.
His defensive game isn’t as sound as his offensive one, however, and there’s plenty of work to be done with it. He tends to stay away from board battles to be ready to break out and attack at all times, which can come in handy, but is not ideal for a team that plays a man-to-man defense. It’s not rare for young forwards to be lacking on the other side of the puck, as they often tend to like running up the score rather than preventing goals, but that’s something they’re all forced to work on if they want to make it in pro hockey, as their role won’t necessarily be the same as it is on a junior team.
The Ruck brothers are very mature for their young age, and they’ve spent time working on the mental side of the game as well to learn to cope as high-performance athletes. They reached out to Aaron Volpatti, a former NHLer turned cognitive performance coach who did a lot of visualizing work with them ahead of games, but also thought them of letting go when they are actually on the ice, to play and not think about putting up points, to just concentrate on making the right plays at the right time, because the rest would just follow. They’ve had weekly calls with him throughout the season, and they both feel he has helped them tremendously.
Born and raised in British Columbia, the identical twins grew up watching the Vancouver Canucks, which featured Daniel and Henrik Sedin. They’ve said in the past that they would like to play together, which is hardly surprising given their mental connection, but if that’s not possible, they’ll adapt. Given that Liam is ranked 20th in the final Central Scouting Ranking of North American skaters while Markus is ranked 23rd, it won’t be easy for a team to draft them both, but it could happen through savvy draft maneuvering and trading. The Canucks have two picks in the first round and another one early in the second round. Could they be tempted to do what they did to claim the Sedin brothers and trade their 33rd overall pick to move up? It wouldn’t be shocking, as history does tend to repeat itself. If a team does manage to get both brothers, it would get quite the offensive duo.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.
Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.
Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens' roundtable on The Hockey News.
Subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here.