Noah Dobson, Alexander Zharovsky and the 2025 draft analysis

More in order than out of order, here’s a list of the “other” best right-handed defensemen in the league: Makar, McCavoy, Seider, Pietrangelo, Ekblad, Doughty, Bouchard, Jones, Faber, Hamilton, Carlson and Karlsson.

Where do you rank Dobson among these individuals?

Still in the early stages of his prime, averaging 52 points in his first four full NHL seasons, with an overall differential of -3 on a very ordinary club, Dobson has to be placed somewhere between the 3rd and 7th best defensemen, at least in terms of his market value.

The chances that the remaining picks at 16th and 17th – let’s say, Eklund and Aitcheson for short – will become two players capable of “docking” that kind of value are not huge, we agree.

But they do exist.

Especially if Dobson doesn’t play up to his talent and contract.

That said, as we speak, the acquisition of the Prince Edward Island native – we salute all golfers! – is perfectly consistent with the Gorton-Hughes plan, which continues the work begun under the Bergevin era: Suzuki (2018), Caufield (2019, Guhle (2020), to stick with these “old” core members.

At 25 years of age, Dobson enters the average age of the core and will be a key part of this plan.

In the short and medium term, Hughes and Gorton – who have taken advantage of Darche’s somewhat uptight and perhaps still a little “green” in his duties? – have therefore maximized the value of picks 16 and 17, and are betting that the next eight years will prove them even more right.

All in all, we like their chances of getting closer to the Stanley Cup in the timeframe expected with this kind of transaction.

A setback for Reinbacher and Mailloux?

Without saying that the acquisition of Dobson is a disavowal of Reinbacher and Mailloux, let’s just say that it’s a decision that acknowledges reality.

There are simply (too) many question marks surrounding these two right-handed defensemen.

The first because of the questionable state of his knees. Nothing to do with his talent.

The second because his hockey IQ is highly questionable.

In short, there was no certainty that these two players would fit easily into the Habs line-up next year, let alone play a regular top-4 role for 82 games.

Need further proof that we have doubts about Reinbacher and Mailloux’s future? Lapointe and Bobrov provided two more yesterday.

Despite the presence of Laval’s two first-round picks in prominent roles, the duo at the helm of Montreal’s recruitment added three right-handed defensemen to the draft: Bryce Pickford, Carlos Handel and Andrew MacNiel, towards the end of the draft.

Pickford and Handel don’t come to town with the same fanfare as Mailloux and Reinbacher, but still.

The former, already 19 and in his second year of eligibility, was simply sensational in the playoffs for Médecine Hat (13 goals in 18 games!) and at the Memorial Cup. What a wrist shot!

But because of his age and the fact that he was playing for a very big club, it’s important to put his offensive and defensive exploits into perspective… We’ll no doubt be seeing him in Laval very soon.

It’s just the opposite for German Handel in Halifax. A fine young player, a fluid skater who was playing for a weak club in Year 1 of his new cycle.

Reminiscent of a right-handed Adam Engstrom. Quite good with the puck in offensive situations, but still needs to improve under pressure in his zone.

Drafted 177th, Handel was ranked much higher on a number of lists, but has seen his star fade in recent months. With a slightly more seasoned club next year, here’s an excellent candidate for a spectacular breakthrough.

Anyway, adding Dobson, Pickford and Handel – not forgetting Konyushkov, if you must! – let’s just say that this sudden depth on the right side of defence “opens up options” in the coming months or years for Kent Hughes.

Options that could interest the rest of the league…

Radkov and Cournoyer: two more “goalers”!

There’s nothing more normal than drafting one or two goalkeepers to fatten up the nursery. You never know who will be the next Shesterkin or Montembeault or whoever. On average, goalies take 6-7 years to develop.

What a nice young man Alexis Cournoyer is, picked 145th! A great story about a guy who doesn’t give up! Good luck !

On the other hand, if Gabriel D’Aigle (84th) becomes the “next Marc-André Fleury” and Belarusian Arseni Radkov (82nd) makes the potato, it could create a small blemish on the organization’s “home-grown player” file…

Radkov will continue his career in Massachusetts in 2026-2027.

We’ll keep an eye on all this…

Paupanekis and Mooney: beautiful big and small stingers

After a fine start to his season in Spokane, Paupanekis, 6’5, close to 200 lbs – a Leafs and Auston Matthews fan who grew up in Winnipeg! – inherited a heavy mandate when he arrived in Kelowna, having to play first center on a weak team. Big defensive challenges every night that end up hurting the differential…

That said, Paupanekis, whose father hails from the Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba, was a real specimen of nature at the last combine.

A fluid skater with fairly good hands and a good shot, this is a very interesting “project” that could one day pay off at the bottom of the line-up and… in the playoffs. We seem to be a long way from the finished product in his case.

With L.J. Mooney, 5’7, around 160 lbs, we’re going in a completely different direction, with a home run bet.

Lapointe described him as a pure “talent player”. But Mooney is also a hard worker who will soon be reporting to the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers.

A one-point-per-game scorer with the USNTDP, Mooney’s speed, creativity and excellent hands should keep him going offensively, and we’ll see where that takes him.

In the same style, he strikes me as more dynamic,elusive and fiery than Sean Farrell at the same age. The man nicknamed “Little John” (after his father John) compares himself to Connor Garland, who plays with a lot of dog and excels in the playoffs.

I really don’t hate his chances of reaching the NHL…

Mini analysis of the 2025 draft

There really were no real surprises in the top-10. There was just a bit of shuffling of chairs on the deck of the Titanic while it was safely moored in Southampton harbour, unaware of the anxieties to come.

It was afterwards that some clubs stole the show and the trades multiplied like we’ve rarely seen.

The Penguins!

Following the Dobson pre-draft trade, the Penguins selected Ben Kindel at No. 11 for a loooooooong, but very interesting first round… especially if you had the “register” and ” fast forward ” options!

Unless I’m mistaken, only the Snake had ranked Kindel in those waters. Bravo Simon!

I placed him 20th.

Bob McKenzie had him at 22nd.

The Penguins are in the early stages of their rebuild and wanted to go with the player they felt had the most offensive talent.

Kindel, a big Habs fan by the way, projects well enough as a decent second offensive center, but he also knows how to play 200 feet.

A “nice risk”…

As much as Kindel is a “risky” pick at #11 for the Penguins, Zonnon is a safe bet at #22. In fact, that’s exactly where yours truly placed him in our recent mock draft. It’s just that I had him destined for the Flyers, but Dubas and Brière stepped in with a major transaction involving ranks 12, 22 and 31!

An underestimated talent, the feisty, determined, brilliant and efficient Zonnon will bring a dimension not seen much in recent years to Pittsburgh. A proverbial “culture” player, as they say…

We wish them the same luck with big Will Horcoff, son of Shawn. We understand the “need”, but we’re not so sure the talent is there. But there was still plenty of talent available in 24th place…

We were therefore treated to three very “different” selections by the Penguins in the first round, but two out of three leave me rather perplexed…

Jack Nesbitt 12th in Philadelphia: wow!

I haven’t seen left-handed center Jack Nesbitt’s name this high on any list.

I had sadly overlooked him when I posted my final list, but as stated here and here in the last few weeks, I would have liked him in Montreal in the first round, no doubt like Bob McKenzie whose poll of a dozen scouts ranked him 17th!

But after Luchanko at #13 last year, Nesbitt is a HUGE surprise at #12 for the Flyers.

Without saying that he will necessarily become a better player than Luchanko, I still prefer this new Flyers gamble to last year’s one.

Coming back to the trade between the Flyers and the Penguins, it will certainly be interesting to watch the parallel development of Nesbitt and Zonnon. At ranks 18 and 22, I really didn’t have them very far apart in our mock draft…

The Islanders aren’t doing too badly!

Matthew Schaefer (1st), the fiery Victor Eklund (16th), the powerful Kashawn Aitcheson (17th) and the brute Daniil Prokhorov (42nd), these are four very solid selections. No doubt the Islanders, a club “not in reconstruction”, are quite happy with this quartet. They lost Dobson, but gained talent and depth this weekend.

The big Flyers are back!

I don’t know if we can call this the return of the Broad Street Bullies, but by adding Porter Martone (6’3) and Jack Nesbitt (6’4) in the 6th and 12th spots, the Flyers have acquired two great (and potentially big) players who are very skilled in the pay zone and capable of upsetting the opposition. Philly was beginning to miss these kinds of individuals…

Conclusion

Marc-Olivier Beaudoin and I did quite well in our mock draft, with 26 players out of 32 selected in the first round, including 4 in the exact positions (Schaefer, Desnoyers, Hagens and Zonnon). But above all, we were often very close to reality with several players, including several at the end of the first round.

Misa, Frondell, O’Brien, McQueen, Eklund, Cootes, Smith, Carbonneau, Hensler, Reid, Brzustewicz, Potter and Ravensbergen were all within one, two or three places.

We placed Cameron Reid 23rd in Nashville, but the same Preds made a deal to select him… 21st!

Compared to my personal list, which this year was a top-20, I’m 16 in 20. Reid (21st), Ravensbergen (31st), Murtagh (40th) and Schmidt (94th!) were all selected a little or a lot later than desired!

Finally, to get back to the Habs’ weekend, we added a defensive pillar by completing one of the biggest trades of the last 30 years, the biggest since the Max Pacioretty trade that landed Suzuki.

We can’t wait to see the rest of the Hughes-Gorton duo’s summer!

As for Zharovsky, Paupanekis, Pickford, Handel Mooney and the others, we’ll see, but overall, I liked the Habs draft. Several good bets on interesting players.

The team is getting better and we’re adding some great prospects to the collection.

It’s hard to ask for more.