“We have to have a feel for the draft and cross our fingers, and we’ll see who’s left at (26th overall),” said Trevor Timmins, Montreal’s director of amateur scouting and vice president of player personnel, prior to the draft. “And don’t rule out that we could move that pick to try to get multiple seconds or thirds.”
On a draft day filled with speculation that Montreal might be inclined to add an impact forward or two on the trade market, the Canadiens also had the option of moving the 26th pick.
In the end, neither of those scenarios materialized in Sunrise, Florida on Friday.
Canadiens fans sat on pins and needles as the hours went by while the Boston Bruins traded defenceman Dougie Hamilton to the Calgary Flames for an array of picks and then shipped cornerstone forward Milan Lucic to Los Angeles for backup goaltender Martin Jones, the 13th overall pick and prospect Colin Miller.
The Bruins weren’t the only team making waves on this day. Colorado, after acquiring centre Carl Soderberg for a sixth-round pick Thursday, signed the big Swede to a five-year extension, which made centre Ryan O’Reilly expendable.
O’Reilly represented an opportunity for general manager Marc Bergevin to acquire a centre who would have been an upgrade on any of his players at the position, but he was beaten to the punch by the Buffalo Sabres, who acquired O’Reilly in a blockbuster before the first pick of the night was made.
Even Islanders GM Garth Snow, who came into the draft without a first- or second-round pick, jumped into the trade pool with both feet, acquiring the 16th and 33rd picks from Edmonton for defenceman Griffin Reinhart and then got the 28th overall pick from Tampa Bay.
For Montreal, which dealt its second-round pick to acquire defenceman Jeff Petry at the trade deadline, the lure of attaining a couple of second-rounders for their first-round pick wasn’t stronger than their desire to select puck-moving defenceman Noah Juulsen from the Everett Silvertips of the WHL.
Juulsen is 6-foot-1 and shoots right. A native of Abbotsford, B.C., he recorded 52 points in 69 games this year, and is known for his explosive skating stride and booming shot.
“The last couple of years, our first picks were forwards, so this year we filled our need with a young defence, and we’re glad that [Juulsen] was there,” Bergevin told Sportsnet’s George Stroumboulopoulos.
Juulsen joins an impressive prospect group that includes 2014 first-rounder and Silvertips teammate Nikita Scherbak, as well as other youngsters Michael McCarron, Jacob De La Rose, Charles Hudon, Sven Andrighetto and Zachary Fucale.
The Canadiens now turn their attention to Round 2-7 on Saturday, when they’re slated to pick 87th (third round), 131st (fifth round), 177th (sixth round), and 207th (seventh round).
As for trade possibilities, Montreal is believed to be interested in Chicago’s Patrick Sharp.
Sharp, 33, had 15 points in 23 playoff games en route to the Blackhawks’ Stanley Cup win. He can play all three forward positions and the point on the power play, while carrying a $5.9 million cap hit through 2016-17.
After the draft, focus will quickly turn to free agency on July 1. Bergevin told reporters on Thursday that he intends to interview unrestricted free agents-to-be while he’s in Florida, and has scheduled visits with those who didn’t attend the draft.