Reportedly, Kent Hughes is looking to move up in the draft. Henri Richard was diagnosed posthumously with CTE. F1 principal displays goalie talent.
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Getting 'Aggressive' With the Draft
The 2023 NHL Draft is just two weeks away, and other than the first overall pick, it's unclear how the selections will unfold. That's a little unnerving for Habs fans. But the inability to control who is picked ahead of the Canadiens, in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th slot, is a more serious matter for Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes.
What if they could influence those selections to ensure the player or players that top their list are available with the 5th overall pick? Or better still, what if they could move up in the Draft to better their chances of getting the player they want?
That's exactly what was theorized in a report on Wednesday by Alexandre Gascon of Radio-Canada suggesting that Montreal would exchange picks with the San Jose Sharks -- they hold the fourth overall pick -- for a price.
Quoting an unnamed source, Gascon wrote, "Right now, the Canadiens are doing everything they can to try to move up to fourth. They are very aggressive. Is it because of Will Smith? Maybe. At the same time, if it's (Leo) Carlsson, they'll be equally happy."
In The Athletic, Arpon Basu confirmed the Radio-Canada report and went further. He claimed that the Canadiens have also reached out to the Anaheim Ducks to inquire about the availability of the second overall pick.
While it's commendable that the Canadiens are doing their best to control their fate in the draft, we would categorize this potential move, a leap from 5th overall to 2nd, as very unlikely.
Richard Had CTE
On Wednesday, the Concussion Legacy Foundation announced that Montreal Canadiens legend Henri Richard was diagnosed posthumously with stage 3 chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) by Dr. Stephen Saikali at Université Laval.
CTE is a neurodegenerative disease that is caused by repetitive traumatic brain injuries.
Denis Richard, son of the Hockey Hall of Fame player, publicly released the findings of his father's brain study to help raise awareness for the risks of head impacts in hockey.
"I hope my father’s brain donation and diagnosis will lead to more prevention efforts, research, and eventually a CTE treatment," said Denis Richard. "I want people to understand this is a disease that impacts athletes far beyond football."
Henri Richard died in 2020 at the age of 84 years after a battle with Alzheimer's disease.
The Foundation states that 16 of 17 NHL players studied have now been diagnosed with CTE, including former Canadien Ralph Backstrom.
Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Ken Dryden has long been a proponent for severe penalties for hits to the head in hockey.
"I played with Henri. We won two Cups together. He fits none of the easy stereotypes, checks none of the easy boxes. Played in a different time, old-time hockey, all the fights? Not Henri. Big hitter? Not Henri. Like Stan Mikita and Ralph Backstrom, he was a great skater, and physical, but he had a playmaker’s mind, and played that way. But all those hits to the head," said Dryden. "We have to understand, whatever the sport, a hit to the head is not a good thing."
F1 Goalie
Kaiden Guhle and Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki were on the ice at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard on Wednesday. Sam Montembeault also joined them but he wasn't the goalie who garnered all of the attention on this afternoon.
Guenther Steiner, the team principal from the Haas F1 team, strapped on the pads and guarded the goal as he faced the NHL shooters.
"[Guenther Steiner] did good! It's tough, he said he hasn't played goalie in over 30 years so it must be tough for him to get out there but he looked good," said Guhle. "He's a big guy, he's almost bigger than Monty! When you're coming down on him, there's not as much net as you thought there was. He did good!"
First Round Picks
As we know, the Canadiens own the fifth overall pick in the upcoming draft, but Montreal also has a second first-round selection in Nashville courtesy of the Florida Panthers. Given their runner-up status in the Stanley Cup final, the Panthers were granted the 31st overall pick.
That selection belongs to the Canadiens following the March 2022 trade of Ben Chiarot.
Kent Hughes will have 11 draft picks at his disposal on June 28th and 29th, including two first round selections.