Habs Analysis: Pre-Draft Value Of 2024 Montreal Canadiens Picks

The 2024 NHL Entry Draft is less than two weeks away, which means it’s time to take a look at how the draft picks owned by the Montreal Canadiens compare to the pre-draft value of the picks from various years.

To do this, we will reference Michael Schuckers’ draft pick value chart, which gives us an exact value for every pick. It’s important to note that this is pre-draft value, and the moment a player is picked, all bets are off. For example, you’d be hard-pressed to argue Lane Hutson, who was drafted late in the second round of the 2022 Draft, carries a lower value than Filip Mesar, who was chosen in the first round of the very same draft. More than anything, this gives fans a good idea of the overall value of the draft picks owned by the Habs.

We should also note that while there’s a clear discrepancy in the pre-draft value of Marc Bergevin’s picks (blue) compared to Kent Hughes’ (red), context is key. For the most part, Bergevin was attempting to find success in the playoffs, while Hughes has been slowly, yet surely stockpiling picks while rebuilding the team. The former does not lend itself well to good pre-draft value, while the latter certainly does.

Canadiens Projected Draft Pick Value, Year-To-Year (2012-2024)

2024 represents the year in which the Montreal Canadiens are expected to make the most draft picks in recent team history, with 12. We have to go back to 1994 to find a year in which the Canadiens made more than 12 picks, though the draft also incorporated 11 rounds back then, which goes to show Hughes has done a good job adding improving the overall quantity of picks. For the record, the Canadiens drafted Brad Brown 18th overall in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, though they also managed to draft two goalies who went on to enjoy quite successful NHL careers in Jose Theodore (2nd round, 44th overall) and Tomas Vokoun (9th round, 226th overall).

As for the quality, it will be virtually impossible to beat the pre-draft value of 2022, seeing as the Habs owned the first (Juraj Slafkosvky), 26th (Mesar), 33rd (Owen Beck), and 62nd overall (Hutson) picks. But if we eliminate the value of the picks chosen beyond the third round, 2024 ends up having a slightly better value than 2023, though the difference is negligible.

Montreal Canadiens Draft Pick Value – Brass Tacks

Of course, things can (and will) change. 2023’s pre-draft value included picks No.31 and No.37, which were traded to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Alex Newhook.

The same type of trade can be expected this year, which means there are healthy odds the Montreal Canadiens will enter the 2024 NHL Entry Draft with a lower pre-draft value than we are currently projecting. But if that’s the case, they’ll also enter the draft with an additional NHL player who can make an immediate impact, which can hold a little more value than the mystery box that is an NHL pick.

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Any way you cut it, the Habs will be in a good position to not only strengthen their NHL roster, but their prospect pool as well, which is exactly what you want to see from a team in the midst of a rebuild.

On that note, seeing as management is looking to take the next step in the rebuild, the 2024 NHL Entry Draft may represent the final time Kent Hughes and Co. will be able to accumulate rich pre-draft value as he did in the last three seasons.