Question is, who would ultimately go first overall to Montreal in last night's entry draft? The Habs don't have a highly stocked prospect list to begin with. With Vasilevskiy showing signs that age and more importantly, the wear and tear of consecutive playoff runs is potentially becoming a factor, the Habs could use some younger goaltending talent as well. General consensus though was that the team would likely draft 6'2 183 lbs defenseman Matthew Schaefer, 6'1 184 lbs forward Michael Misa or 5'11 177 lbs center James Hagens with the first overall pick. Many in the media circle in Montreal were thinking hands down that Schaefer would be going 1st overall in the entry draft because the team needs defenseman prospects more than anything at the moment.

Looking past the draft, the Habs will have some cap space to work with during free agency, but who will decide to play out their next seasons with Montreal? The Habs would like to acquire a couple of top-6 forwards and a defenseman or two in order to round out their starting roster for the 2025-2026 season. The team could also look for a young goaltender in free agency should James Reimer not work out as a backup this year to Vasilevskiy.

 

"Looking forward to a busy off-season and summer between the draft, free agency, prospect development camp and training camp," says Cooley. Time will tell exactly what the future holds for Sim Net Hockey's Habs and if the roster GM Cooley can put together can make another run at the Cup again this season.