Heading into the 2022 NHL Draft, the entire hockey world shifted its gaze to the Montreal Canadiens. Nobody truly knew what the Habs were going to do, and with 14 picks there was a wide range of what Kent Hughes could do as well.
In the end, the Canadiens broke from the year-long consensus and selected the towering Slovak winger Juraj Slafkovsky first overall, kicking off a truly chaotic first round that left many of us in the press row staring in stunned silence. Slafkovsky wasn’t picked spur of the moment. According to Nick Bobrov, the team was still in deep debate going into Thursday morning, and when the time came the team planted their flag alongside the big winger.
This would end up being the defining trend of the weekend. The Canadiens, following a disastrous regular season, were not going to play it safe in their rebuild.
Make no mistake, all draft picks are risks, and Slafkovsky is not immune to that and the worry over his projection based on his play in Liiga is fair. However, Montreal sees enough budding potential in him to reach an incredibly high ceiling. At 18 years old, Slafkovsky is a physical specimen, standing 6’4” and 229 lbs, but he doesn’t play a brute force, runaway train style. There is skill and talent inside that massive frame, and a desire to prove that he can be a difference-maker.
There would have been nothing wrong with selecting the “safe” option in Shane Wright but the Canadiens are trusting their process and addressed the glaring need for another young centre in the organization. Somehow, almost improbably, the Canadiens topped their first overall pick shock by also acquiring Kirby Dach through a pair of deals with the New York Islanders and Chicago Blackhawks. The Habs traded Alexander Romanov and the 98th overall pick for the 13th overall pick and flipped that and the 66th overall pick for Dach.
Bold is almost underscoring what Hughes did with this deal, even as Chicago is in dire straits thanks to an impending Duncan Keith recapture penalty. Dach, a former third-overall pick was seemingly stagnating in Chicago where the team is embarking on some sort of rebuild of its own, but a rebuild that involved trading two of their youngest available assets. Both Hughes and Kyle Davidson are new GMs put into extremely difficult spots, the only difference is Hughes didn’t seem to sweat the pressure and calmly added a 21-year-old centre to his organization. Dach, much like Slafkovsky has all the physical gifts to be a dominant force every single night, but injuries and a directionless Chicago team have kept him from barely scratching the surface on that.
A previous GM of the Canadiens said “it’s hard to find centres,” which is true in some regards; it’s not every day that a 21-year-old, third-overall pick falls out into the trade market. At the same time, you cannot passively wait to make an impact for your team, being bold is the best way to help along your rebuild, and that’s what Hughes has done. Dach is a gamble play on the part of the Canadiens GM, but one that has tremendous payoff potential for the franchise if it goes according to plan.
It’s a tough pill to swallow trading a young defender that many had high hopes for, but the new front office saw what they have in players like Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris and even Justin Barron, allowing them the opportunity to improve the team elsewhere. Much like drafting Slafkovsky and trading for Dach, it’s a move that carries risk, but if the Canadiens aren’t willing to try and take risks the rebuild will take that much longer.
Without delving in too deeply into the picks beyond the second round, the risk-taking Canadiens continued to swing for prospects with high ceilings in their first four picks overall. Filip Mesar and Lane Hutson are insanely skilled players. They have the talent profile to become impact offensive contributors in the NHL if their development progresses along properly. Hutson in particular stood out on a team of high-end draft picks in the USNTDP, leaving the program as its second-highest scoring defender of all time behind Cam York. Yes, Hutson stands a modest 5’8”, and likely weighs in at 160 lbs after a big meal, but his on-ice skills are undeniable. He skates like the breeze, daring defenders to try and slow him down as he dangles around them. With his size, Hutson had to learn how to battle against bigger opponents, and even with all his talents, his ability to evolve his game to overcome a size disparity is going to help him.
He’s far from a safe, stay-at-home defender, but the Canadiens have learned that you need a puck-moving star to make things happen from your blue line out.
Finally, there’s Filip Mesar who, like Hutson, has all the skating tools and hand-eye coordination to be a terrifying threat on the ice. His physical side isn’t quite there yet, but his daringness to go one-on-one with opponents — and oftentimes beat them on skill alone — is commendable. The risks are there, but so is the tremendous upside for Mesar, who has said he wants to play in North America this upcoming year. Slafkovsky as well is also likely crossing the pond, giving Montreal fans and potentially Laval Rocket fans some really exciting prospects to watch.
To put a bow on things, the Canadiens had a tremendous opportunity in front of them with this NHL Draft. Over a dozen picks at their disposal and with needs all over the organization, they stepped out of the shadows of the previous regime. While there were some high ceiling picks made in previous years (see Joshua Roy) it’s rare that we’ve seen Montreal come out and go for so many in a row. Hughes understands the gravity of the situation he’s in and that the Habs have to take chances to get better.
It’s a stark change from previous drafts where picks could be seen as safe, and that their potential high-end NHL impact isn’t overly likely. There is the chance that this draft could be looked at as an absolute disaster if things go sideways but it could also go down as a crowning moment for the Hughes and Jeff Gorton tandem if their picks develop into their potential.
It’s going to be a wild ride as we await to see what the future holds, but one thing is for certain right now, this is a very different Habs organization now.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.
The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.
The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.
Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
