Patrick Johnson

As they did a year ago, Canadiens took a seventh round flyer on a skilled American kid who is woefully undersized. In 2007 it was Minnesota high schooler Scott Kishel, who was 5-11, 165 pounds as an 18 year old senior. Kishel did very little to justify the pick in the USHL last season and has added just 5 pounds as he prepares to enter the NCAA. Patrick Johnson is already in the WCHA and comes off a strong freshman year at Wisconsin, but he is even smaller than Kishel, showing up at the development camp at 5-9, 150 pounds. Johnson is a forward where size is less critical and has a reputation for both fearlessness and physical play despite his diminutive stature. But even assuming that both players can add around 20 pounds before they leave college hockey, they still would be at the very minimum, size wise, in terms of playing pro hockey. Curious choices, but hey, it's the seventh round.