Playing the draft cards

Hard to say how much planning went into the Canadiens dealing around the 2008 draft, but the net result looks very promising.

First of all, they were able to extract top line left winger Alex Tanguay from the Flames for their first round pick this year (#25 overall), and their second round pick next year (#60 overall..;) ). The Flames used the Habs first round pick (after some shuffling of the draft cards themselves) on lanky OHL winger Greg Nemisz, who had a decent season but was knocked for his skating. He seems like a poor man's Guillaume Latendresse. It is unlikely that Montreal would have taken Nemisz, given their emphasis on skating, and the player many thought they wanted at that spot, Nicholas Deschamps, lasted into the early part of the second round. Deschamps came with the rep of being fairly good in all aspects of the game, but outstanding in none.

The Habs used the fifth round pick (138 overall) coming back from the Flames, on young Russian winger Maxim Trunev. Unlike Nemisz, Trunev can fly, and unlike Deschamps, he stands out for his exceptional offensive skills. He was listed at 5-11, 175 pounds, but that seems like an outdated measurement out of Russia. Given the measurements of some of the other Russian kids in Russia, versus what they measured at the Central Scouting combine, the likelyhood is that Trunev is around 6-0, 185 now. He was one of the youngest players drafted, and doesn't turn 18 until early September, so he could easily grow to 6-1 or 6-2 ultimately, and around 200 pounds. Despite mentions of his "diminutive stature", I really don't think that will prove to be any sort of an issure. There is some concern over the fact that he wasn't included with the U18 team at the World Championships, but I've never heard a specific reason given. When you look at the Canadian and U.S. rep teams in that tournament, there were certainly many top prospects who weren't included from those two countries.

The next draft related deal came a couple of weeks later, and might have been consumated at the draft itself, except for the fact Bob Gainey was waiting to hear from free agent Mats Sundin after making a tentative deal with the Leafs for early negotiating rights. Those proved fruitless, and whatever deal was in place between the two teams was amended after a couple of weeks. Centre Mikhail Grabovksi, who was growing frustrated waiting for playing time in Montreal, was sent to Toronto for a player the Leafs had just drafted in the fifth round, American defenseman Greg Pateryn, and Toronto's second round pick in 2010. Pateryn was taken 10 spots before Trunev, and had obviously caught the Hab scout's eye prior to the draft. He came directly out of Michigan Catholic School League hockey and had a very strong season in the USHL as a 17 year old. Recruited by the University of Michigan, he will enroll there in the fall. There are a lot of parallels with last year's pleasant draft surprise, Max Pacioretty who followed a similar path a year earlier. Pateryn's season in the USHL was every bit as impressive as Pacioretty's, considering the fact that he plays defense, and was both younger and bigger than Pacioretty while he was there.

The net result so far, shows Montreal adding Alex Tanguay, Maxim Trunev, and Greg Pateryn, while giving up Mikhail Grabovski and Greg Nemisz (or Nicholas Deschamps if you prefer). Seems like brilliant management to me on the surface.