Kent Hughes went into the opening day of the draft with two picks. He was confident he was going to get Ivan Demidov at fifth, and wanted to give himself a better shot at adding another future impact player by trading up from 26th to 21st before the draft began. The second time the Habs went to the podium, they added centre Michael Hage to the pool, further addressing the largest area of weakness in the organization.
Birthplace: Mississauga, Ontario
Date of birth: April 14, 2006
Shoots: Right
Position: Centre
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 190 lbs.
Team: Chicago Steel (USHL)
Unlike Demidov who should be in the Canadiens’ lineup in a year’s time, Hage is more of a project. He’s just gearing up to begin his collegiate career, with the possibility of a four-year stay with the University of Michigan on the horizon.
Hage played the past two years with the Chicago Steel, arguably the top developmental team in the USHL. This year he was able to score 33 goals in 54 games, leading the team in that category and also with his 42 assists. Much of that offence came in the latter part of the season as he settled into the play following an injury-shortened season the year prior, and the tragic loss of his father in the off-season.
Getting the puck from the defensive zone to the offensive end is the strongest part of his game at this stag. He is agile on skates and has even better hands. His competition couldn’t keep up with his moves in the USHL, and he was one of the most proficient puck-handlers in the draft class.
The dekes he was able to execute often earned him some space to work with, which he used to create offence either for himself or his teammates. He does tend to carry the puck some distance from his body, however, so those moves likely won’t be as successful in the NCAA, and even less so in the NHL. He will need to rein the puck in a bit tighter to continue slipping past defenders at higher levels. However, that long stick and quick hands also see him quickly change his shooting angles by several feet. That opens up gaps in both defensive coverage and a goalie’s stance when the angle was covered just a moment earlier.
Canadiens scouts would have been impressed with the rapid progress not just in his offensive production, but the other areas of his game like defensive play and adding more options to his offensive attack. He’s a big player at 6’1″ and 190 pounds, and discovered he could use that to his advantage more to get involved in different types of chance-generation, like getting to rebounds or using his body as a screen in front of the net.
He mostly relies on his puck-handling to create offence, and his efficiency isn’t particularly high despite the goal total he posted. He will need to mix up his plays more to keep defences on their toes rather than attempting the same move over and over, one of the things he will need to work on during his college career.
Montreal is expecting him to add elements to his game at the pace they saw him develop this season, with some input of their own that they will provide in his brief stay at development camp. He will get some more work on taking advantage of his skating and advice on how to make more of his great transitions up the ice. At Michigan, his defensive play should take a step forward as he works on strategies to win back the puck and use his great stick skills to turn aside offensive attacks.
With the elite player taken at fifth, the Habs could gamble on more of a project at 21st, and that’s what they get in Hage. Given where the organization is at in its rebuild, buying time to spread out the trajectories of prospects has become an important part of the process. They already have Filip Mesar, Owen Beck, and Florian Xhekaj graduating to centre roles in the professional ranks next season, and can give them the opportunities in the AHL, or NHL, over the next couple of years to prove their mettle before Hage is knocking on the door.
