A draft and free agents to fill needs

The CH finally made a first-round pick. And for the second year in a row, it even moved up a few spots for its first selection.
It was a bit of a surprise, considering that just a week ago, they were given no more than a 20% chance of making a pick on Friday night…
Gleb Pugachyov was on the radar of a few prospect analysts, including Simon “Snake” Boisvert, at the pick where the Habs were set to select.
Since I hadn't mentioned him last week among my potential targets, I thoug

On the sidelines of the 2020 season, the Mets hired Carlos Beltran as the team's manager. It was a rather unconventional move, given that Beltran, despite a stellar playing career, had never managed a team before.
However, that hiring turned sour before the former outfielder even had a chance to manage a single game. A few weeks after landing the job, Beltran was named as one of the individuals responsible for the sign-stealing scandal orchestrated by the Astros in 2017.
And in the wake of all t

When a player has control over the next step in his career, he tries to join an organization that treats its players well and is committed to winning.
What's the usual practice? Asking friends or former teammates how they've found their experience with Team X or Y.
That's why it's interesting to note that more than 100 Major League Baseball players answered the following question: Which teams have a good or bad reputation among players?The Athletic conducted this survey. You can check it out by

As my colleague Charles-Alexis Brisebois pointed out this morning, there are now just over 48 hours left before the NHL's contract buyout window closes. Teams have until 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday evening to make a buyout; after that, it will no longer be possible (unless a player on the team goes to arbitration this summer).
And the most interesting case in this regard is that of Jesperi Kotkaniemi. This is the last summer during which the Hurricanes can buy him out for one-third of his contract (rat

After posting a record of 34 wins and 47 losses, the New York Mets finally fired their manager, Carlos Mendoza.
But he is far from being the only one to blame for this debacle—far from it. In fact, President of Baseball Operations David Stearns could also have lost his job in the wake of this, as he has made more than one mistake since taking the helm of the Mets.
Starting with the fact that he failed to address the glaring weakness the Queens-based team had in its starting rotation—

On Friday night, Mason McTavish was (finally) traded by the Ducks. The forward, who had been at the center of numerous trade rumors over the past year, was ultimately traded to the Blues in exchange for the 15th and 29th overall picks.
The Blues, who had four first-round picks heading into Friday night, used their draft capital to acquire McTavish.
That said, we know the Habs have also frequently been linked to McTavish. The team wasn't able to land him… but according to Arpon Basu, who d

The draft is behind us.
That doesn't mean it's all over, of course. And in fact, when you think about it, next week is going to be huge for the Canadiens. The storm before the calm, sort of?
Here are the dates and events to keep in mind.
1. June 29 at 5 p.m. is the deadline to submit qualifying offers to players who are eligible to become restricted free agents. Those who don't receive one will be unrestricted free agents on July 1.
Jeff Gorton recently said he expects everyone to be qualified.

Jason Robertson knows what he wants. And that's his right.
He turned down a $120 million deal with the Kraken. It's also said that he wouldn't want to sign with the Blues or the Senators… and that the Stars will have to work hard to land him.
He's reportedly looking for more than $12 million a year with the Stars.
Even though he undoubtedly wants to stay in Dallas, it's clear that there's a scenario in which Jim Nill can't give him what he wants and will have to let him go this summer.
Re

Would you be surprised to hear that the Blue Jays lost again?
With Dylan Cease on the mound, John Schneider's team didn't generate enough offense and didn't pitch well enough to beat the Rangers.
The game ended with a score of 7-4.
Unsurprisingly, this marks a fifth straight loss for the Blue Jays, who have now lost with five different starting pitchers since Tuesday.
Aside from Monday's game, the team's home series against the Texas teams has been a total disaster.
This afternoon, Cease struck

The message the Canadiens sent at the draft is hard to miss.
Over the course of the two-day draft, Kent Hughes and his team were practically obsessed with size.
All eight players selected by the Montreal organization are at least 6 feet tall, and several are well above that mark.https://t.co/37LVvfl7ow
— TVA Sports (@TVASports) June 27, 2026Is this a coincidence?
I get the impression that the most recent playoffs confirmed what the Canadiens already suspected.
The Habs had a great run this

The selection of Gleb Pugachyov could be far more significant than people realize.
The Canadiens may not have just added another Russian prospect to their organization on Friday. They may have landed the player who will join Ivan Demidov and Alexander Zharovsky on the same line in a few years.
In a video, Pugachyov revealed that Montreal executives had made it clear to him before the draft that they wanted to draft him.Montreal made it clear to Gleb before the draft that they wanted him. And now

Mike Trout is not expected to compete in the home run derby
His injury changes the situation.
#Angels CF Mike Trout said he is leaning toward not participating in the Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game in Philly. The reason? “I hurt my hamstring,” he said.
— Mike DiGiovanna (@MikeDiGiovanna) June 26, 2026
Gavin McKenna at the Blue Jays game
The last time he was at an outdoor game…
pic.twitter.com/BFypaNXEGg
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) June 27, 2026
Jorge Polan

The NHL Draft has barely ended, and the first assessments are already starting to circulate.
Of course, no one will know for several years which teams have actually been the most successful. Every year, first-round picks disappoint, and players selected much later end up becoming key contributors in the NHL.
That hasn't stopped some experts from sharing their first impressions.
This is particularly true of Scott Wheeler at The Athletic, who ranked the Canadiens among the losers of the 2026 draft

The 2026 NHL Draft is officially behind us. All 224 picks have been made… and it's worth noting that the QMJHL didn't have a bad draft class.
In total, 20 players from the QMJHL were selected over the past two days, including two first-round picks: Maddox Dagenais and Tommy Bleyl.
Among them are 11 players from Quebec.20 players from the Cecchini League, including 11 Quebecers, have been drafted! https://t.co/2wOxB74NmO
— TVA Sports (@TVASports) June 27, 2026But what's interesting w

The Blue Jays will face the Texas Rangers this afternoon. The team will try to snap a rough four-game losing streak.
And for the occasion, they'll try to shake things up a bit, as Sean Keys makes his Major League debut. Keys, who has hit 21 home runs in 67 minor league games this season, will play first base today.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will be the designated hitter… while George Springer will not be in the lineup. We'll come back to that later.
That said, we knew the Jays would have to m

The draft is over.
The Canadiens, in the end, made eight picks since last night. That was the plan from the start, but let's just say things changed quite a bit during the draft in terms of draft order.
Here's what happened.The No. 28 pick became the No. 26 pick because the Habs traded a third-round pick next year (and the No. 28 pick) to move up two spots last night: Gleb Pugachyov was selected
The No. 61 pick became the No. 57 pick because the Habs traded the No. 125 pick (and the No. 61 pick)

In 2023, the Canadiens drafted Florian Xhekaj in the fourth round. In the eyes of many, he was coming to town as “the other guy's brother”… but Nick Bobrov saw a lot more than that.
A few weeks after the selection, the Habs released a behind-the-scenes video of the draft. In it, Nick Bobrov is seen describing Florian Xhekaj as a “unicorn.”
That really stuck in people's minds.Nick Bobrov was a Florian Xhekaj fan before the Habs ever drafted himpic.twitter.com/6ybdmC

Last night, the CH selected Gleb Pugachyov with the 26th overall pick. In doing so, they secured a Russian winger who is clearly not afraid of physical play.
He checks like a train… and it's no wonder Kent Hughes compared him to Tom Wilson.
That said, Pugachyov chatted briefly with the media this afternoon. And it's interesting to note that he mentioned other names when asked which players he was looking to model his game after.
The young Russian mentioned Juraj Slafkovský, who is

The Giants don’t want to trade Logan Webb.
I don’t understand why. After all, the team is willing to listen to offers for everyone… and Webb will be gone by the time the team could be good again.
And obviously, he's worth a fortune.
Rafael Devers and Willy Adames will be hard to trade because of their contracts. That's why Robbie Ray, Luis Arraez, and Matt Chapman are the players most likely to leave San Francisco before the trade deadline.
Matt Chapman is in the second year o

Big news in the NHL.
As the sixth round of the draft is winding down, we've seen a trade between the Hurricanes and the Ducks. And it's a pretty interesting trade.
The Hurricanes traded the 192nd pick and Kyle Masters to the Anaheim Ducks. In return, the champions acquired… (the rights to) John Carlson.
This means that, until July 1, the Hurricanes will have exclusive negotiating rights with Carlson's camp.
And if they manage to sign him, they'll add another high-quality right-handed defe

After selecting Brayden Klimpke with the 117th pick, the Habs had to wait until the 189th pick to make their next selection of the day.
It should be noted, however, that in addition to the 189th pick, the club also held the 190th selection.
Let's start with the 189th pick in the draft, which was used to select Parker Trottier. He's a winger… and the grandson of a certain Bryan Trottier.At No. 189, Montreal drafts Parker Trottier
Hall-of-Famer Bryan's grandson
— Elliotte Friedman (@F

With the 93rd overall pick in the 2026 draft, the Canadiens selected Cooper Cleaves.
He's described as a 6'3″ defenseman who models his game after Zach Whitecloud's. He's known as a two-way defenseman with good mobility and a strong breakout.
Interesting.
Cleaves attended the Canadiens' development camp last summer and is already familiar with some members of the Canadiens' organization. He said he's been following the Habs for the past year and wanted to be drafted by the Montreal club.
G

George Bowering has received the Order of Canada and the Order of B.C. He was Canada’s first Parliamentary Poet Laureate, has written so many books of poetry and prose that it’s hard to count, and has given readings and lectures all over the world.His latest honour is close to home: His personal library has been set up as a reading room at the University of B.C.’s Irving K. Barber Learning Centre.It isn’t a replica of his home study, like you might find in a museum. But

Carlos Mendoza is gone. The Mets have decided to fire their manager.
Let's face it, this isn't exactly the surprise of the century. After all, the team was heading for disaster… and the six-error game was the final nail in the coffin.
In the baseball world, everyone agrees that Mendoza is a good manager, but that it was time to get him out of there. There was nothing more he could do.
A new voice was needed in the locker room… and David Stearns couldn't just sit back and do nothing

Yesterday, the Canadiens made a move to draft Gelb Pugachyov. They chose to move up two spots (from 28 to 26) to ensure they'd get their man for sure.
At this stage of the rebuild, I like to see that. After all, the Canadiens don't need to draft too often since they already have quite a few prospects on the roster.
They need to prioritize quality at the top of the draft.
To do so, the Canadiens traded their 2027 third-round pick to the Golden Knights. That's the price they had to pay to improve

After moving up to the 26th pick to draft Gleb Pugachyov and to the 57th pick to select Timofei Runtso, the Habs decided to keep their 93rd overall pick in the third round.
There was speculation as to whether, just as with Pugachyov and Runtso, the team would opt for another big-framed player.
And once again, that's exactly what happened: the Habs selected Cooper Cleaves, a right-handed defenseman who stands six feet three inches tall and weighs 203 pounds.
Much like Runtso, he's a player who do

Over the past few hours, Kirill Marchenko's name has been gaining traction in Montreal.
The Canadiens are interested in the Blue Jackets' star forward and are said to have put a HUGE offer on the table to sign him.
But that hasn't happened.
Sure, Don Waddell would like to keep him around to rely on him in Columbus for the next few years. But we also know it's unlikely that the Russian (who's looking to earn $11 million per season) will sign another contract with Columbus.
And that changes the ga

We’ve been asking for this for a long time.
The Los Angeles Angels have finally fired their general manager, Perry Minasian. He was in his sixth year as GM and was a controversial figure.
Under his leadership, the Angels haven't exactly been good. The GM was never able to provide his fans with a rotation worthy of the name.
He was in the final year of his contract, and it was suspected that the team's dismal season would lead to this outcome.
What is surprising, however, is the timing of t

After completing the first round yesterday, today we're in for the final six rounds of the NHL Draft.
And the Habs moved up in the second round to make a pick.
Just like last year with Alexander Zharovsky, they traded with the Hurricanes to move up in the second round. They sent the 61st and 125th picks to acquire the 57th.The Canadiens have acquired the 57th overall pick in 2026 from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Montreal's 61st and 125th picks in 2026.
The Canadiens have acquired the

The Canadiens are building a team that has the potential to be good for a very, very long time.
But they're not the only ones.
The Habs have often been talked about as one of the future Stanley Cup contenders… but in the West, there are two teams that are likely to make a big splash in the coming years. I'm talking about the Anaheim Ducks… and the San Jose Sharks.
The Ducks have an excellent core right now: Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Beckett Sennecke, Jackson LaCombe, Lukas Dos