Matvei Michkov and the Montreal Canadiens: a former member of the organization has just revealed a big clue about the probable intentions of Kent Hughes

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Elias Adaime
May 19, 2023 (2:54 PM)

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The Canadiens will be drafting in the fifth position at the next NHL draft, which will take place in Nashville this coming June.

While some experts are already speculating on Kent Hughes' selection, a former coach of the Canadiens didn't want to speculate too much about the identity of the prospect who will be the organization's choice with the fifth pick.

This is at least the opinion of Michel Therrien during his appearance on the show 'La Poche Bleue' at noon on TVA Sports. According to him, the team should go with the best player available during the Canadiens' draft round.

"In a situation like this, the important thing is to go with the best player. I would go with the guy who has the most talent and who can have the most impact on your team. It's delicate, but in my opinion, they will go with the player who has the most potential. They will disregard everything else. Everyone I've worked with has always gone with the player they thought was best."

Therrien also commented on the situation surrounding Russian prospect Matvei Michkov, who many experts see as being the second-best player of the 2023 draft, obviously behind Connor Bedard.

It's still unknown what will happen with the young Russian forward, but Therrien made an interesting comparison with the selection of Logan Mailloux two years ago.

"If we compare it to Logan Mailloux, he was probably on everyone's list. At the time, I was in Philadelphia and I had personally asked the general manager, Chuck Fletcher, what rank he was on our list. He told me between 10 and 15, but I don't remember exactly."

While this comparison may be interesting, it remains that the two situations are completely different and that Michkov's situation could very well cool other NHL teams' interest in selecting him in the first round, which was the case with Mailloux and the Flyers in 2021.

"When there is a controversy and it is more delicate, it is often the owners who will make the final decision. In the case of Logan Mailloux, several clubs wanted to draft him before, but he had asked not to be drafted. For the Flyers, it was not a question for Comcast to draft a player and have negative effects on the company."

Even though most of us are quite familiar with the situation surrounding Matvei Michkov, there are still teams who won't be afraid to take the risk of selecting him early in the upcoming draft, especially a team that isn't in a hurry to draft a player who could help them quickly.

Somewhat like the situation of the Canadiens who could take this risk and wait a few seasons before seeing the young prospect land in North America.