Acquisition by the Canadiens: Kent Hughes may Have Made a Big Move and Pulled Off a Steal by Adding the Young Defenseman Adam Engstrom

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Elliot Ben Jacob
August 31, 2023 (8:28 PM)

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It's always risky to talk about a "steal" from the draft, especially when discussing players who haven't even played in the National Hockey League yet, but it's hard to deny that the Montreal Canadiens seem to have done very well with their 92nd overall pick in 2022.

Kent Hughes and his team drafted the young left-handed Swedish defenseman Adam Engstrom.

Let's add him to the list of Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris, Arber Xhekaj, David Reinbacher, Logan Mailloux, Lane Hutson, and Justin Barron. The future looks bright on the blue line for our Habs.

Engstrom really impressed last July during the Montreal Canadiens' development camp, being a machine at creating scoring opportunities, and it continued.

He was probably the second-best defenseman in this camp, obviously behind Lane Hutson.

The comments are very complimentary:

"In 2022-23, Engstrom's game stepped up a level and the young defenseman showed he had a very high IQ. His smooth skating greatly helped him carry the puck smoothly in transition. Moreover, his ability to find his teammates with precise passes fuels his offensive game. On the defensive side, he was able to keep up with the pace set by his opponents and knows how to use his long stick well to disturb opposing forwards." - Tyler Major-Mcnicol

He is likely to go back and dominate in Sweden this season before possibly trying to make the Montreal Canadiens' roster in 2024-25.

Engstrom, 19 years old, stands 6 feet tall and has amassed a solid 16 points in 43 games in the top league of Sweden, one of the best leagues in the world. For an 18-year-old defenseman (at the start of the 2022-23 season), that's very strong.

A name to watch!

Credit: Marqueur.com