Great news for Kent Hughes and the Canadiens coming from Anaheim

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David St-Jean
June 17, 2024 (1:44 PM)

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The 2024 NHL Draft is just a few days away, taking place on June 28 and 29 in Vegas, and Kent Hughes is eager to select a promising forward.

There are many good defensemen available this year, so Kent Hughes is waiting to see who the Ducks, Blackhawks, and Blue Jackets will select.

First, it's certain that the Sharks will pick Macklin Celebrini. We can already count on that. Next, it seems that Chicago has their sights set on only one player, defenseman Artyom Levshunov.

The Blue Jackets have a strong chance of picking Sam Dickinson or Cayden Lindstrom, leaving the Canadiens in anticipation of the Ducks' choice.

This is where it gets interesting. The Ducks rarely, if ever, select Russian players. They are reportedly focused on two surprising choices, which would almost certainly leave Ivan Demidov available for the Canadiens.

«In a recent podcast episode, Grant McCagg made a surprising statement, mentioning that the Ducks have Beckett Sennecke and Carter Yakemchuk in their sights.

He also explained that Verbeek is likely to stay away from players like Ivan Demidov and Anton Silayev, which makes sense considering the Ducks almost never draft players from there.»

Ivan Demidov is possibly the most talented forward in the draft, even superior to Macklin Celebrini. If the Canadiens can draft him at the 5th spot, it would be very significant.

However, I believe it's important to remain cautious and not get too excited. Yes, informants have good contacts, and former scouts like Grant McCagg do too.

But sometimes, leaked information is intentional, simply to make other teams believe the strategy is different. Kent Hughes, in particular, is a master at this.