The Montreal Canadiens are coming off an unexpectedly great season and will be looking to build off last year’s success. The fans will be anticipating deep playoff runs in the coming years and will need to draft a player that can realistically play on the main roster within a season or two.
Marc Bergevin reached in last year’s draft to select Jesperi Kotkaniemi third overall. A move which worked wonders for Montreal with 39 points in 79 games last season.
After a great draft last year, it is unlikely that the Canadiens will be selecting another centerman in the first round. Marc Bergevin is most likely going to look to free agency to continue to bolster their scoring.
At the moment, Montreal has 11.7 Million left in cap and most of the team is locked up for the next two years or is most likely not going to be asking for a big raise.
There is a need for another reliable top four defenseman because players like Shea Weber and Jeff Petry can only hold the line for so long. Sadly the free agent market is very costly for defensemen and Montreal has no need to take a giant risk after last season. There are plenty of defensive prospects in the pipeline but there is no such thing as too many defensemen in the NHL.
In the Pro Hockey News mock draft, Philip Broberg is the best defenseman available for Montreal at the 15th pick.
Most mock drafts assume Broberg will be one of the higher selections so this will be a gift to the Canadiens.
He is a big Swedish two-way defenseman who is one of the best skaters in his class. Most of the comments relating to Broberg are mostly about his strong skating ability where he uses his skill to make smart plays offensively.
Internationally, Broberg played very well for Team Sweden. In the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, Broberg put up a goal and four assists in five games to win a silver medal at the event. In the under 18 World Junior Championship, he was able to score twice and get 4 helpers to help Sweden win the event as well. While in the under 20 event, Broberg only managed a single assist in four games. Internationally Broberg has been nothing short of solid and was a big reason for Sweden’s international success.
The large concern is that Broberg has not played in a top league as of yet. Most of his time was spent in Allsvenskan and SuperElit in the past two seasons. He has only played against other top prospects in the aforementioned international competitions and is the only european prospect in NHL.com’s top 50 draft prospects to play in the Allsvenskan league.
Broberg has plenty to work with in his arsenal but turns over the puck too often and sometimes has awkward positioning against top teams. While those issues are quite fixable, this can limit his potential to play in the NHL early on. Broberg is going to need a year or two of development and is set to play his first season in the SHL next year for Skellefteå AIK which will give him the necessary experience in a top european league. Depending on his success in the SHL, Philip Broberg could see his chance in Montreal come in the 2020-2021 season.
“With the 15th selection in the 2019 Pro Hockey News mock draft, the Montreal Canadiens draft Philip Broberg.”
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