Habs Trade Up To 21st Overall

The Habs went into Friday with a dozen picks at their disposal.  They’ve used three of them to move up as the team announced that they’ve traded picks 26, 57, and 198 to Los Angeles in exchange for the 21st selection.

Generally speaking, it’s rare for pick swaps to happen before the draft gets underway with those decisions being made on the floor based on who might still be available.  Instead, this is the third one of these swaps already with the Islanders and Blackhawks making a swap earlier while the Sharks and Sabres made a similar move on Thursday.

TSN’s Darren Dreger suggests that Montreal is trying to add another top-10 selection so having the 21st pick makes that effort a little easier but it stands to reason that another significant asset would need to be added to that in order to jump up at least 11 more spots.  Failing that, they’ll have a better shot at securing one of their targets at 26 or, if someone falls more than expected, they’ll get a chance to get someone they likely weren’t expecting to have a shot at had they stayed at 26.  Or, if they’re trying to add a player and make a move like Alex Newhook last year, the 21st pick will have more value in a swap like that.

With the move, the Habs no longer have a pick in the second round so after they make the 21st pick, they won’t be on the clock until the third round where they have the 70th and 78th selections.  All told, the Canadiens now have ten picks, at least for the time being.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see them move one or two of those by the end of the festivities on Saturday.