The Montreal Canadiens had largely addressed the organization’s defensive needs in recent years, and went into the 2024 NHL Draft looking for forwards. The first four prospects they selected play up front, and they also traded away a second-rounder to move up to grab one of them, essentially spending the first five draft picks they took into the weekend on the position.
While the organization didn’t need to target top-end blue-liners, there was still room to add some projects. They added one of the two defencemen (of 10 total prospects in 2024) in their draft class with their first pick in the fourth round, looking to the CHL for the first time to select Owen Protz.
Birthplace: Ottawa, Ontario
Date of birth: February 7, 2006
Shoots: Left
Position: Defence
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 214 lbs.
Team: Brantford Bulldogs (OHL)
Protz is a very physical shutdown defenceman, but he knows exactly where the line is and rarely crosses it. Considering he’s often played versus players not nearly as physically mature as he is in the Junior ranks, his low penalty-minute totals are quite an achievement. He crunches players along the boards and lands open-ice hits, and rarely in a fashion that draws the ire of the officials.
It’s also impressive that he’s able to shadow forwards and pinch them off along the boards so effectively while being a below-average skater. He anticipates well and stays in a good defensive position, limiting the times he’s forced to scramble back into a defensive position.
His role got elevated after a mid-season trade from the Sudbury Wolves to the Brantford Bulldogs, and that change of scenery inspired some changes to his play style as well. With more minutes, he found himself in the offensive zone more often, and there he displayed some good offensive talents. Not only was be firing shots like your typical defensive defenceman of yesteryear who had that as their only offensive skill, but he showed good passing instincts, working the puck to the slot for shots from more dangerous positions. It was something he only did occasionally but he made those plays with a high degree of success.
With his skating ability, he has some issues connecting the defence and offence together. His good read on when to make a play still allowed him to be a passable transition player when he recognized a bit of space to move up into or saw an open forward up the ice, but that part of his game won’t follow him along his journey versus better players at his current level of athleticism.
The progress he showed just this year was very encouraging as he started to become a more complete player, and showed the aptitude for some things his physical limitations shouldn’t really allow. His deficiencies are all down to physical abilities and not a lack of awareness or ambition, and the Habs clearly feel they can help him address those limitations over the next few years. The organization will get its first chance to work on the skating mechanics when he attends development camp in early July, one of the aspects Adam Nicholas just happens to excel in.
Rankings
McKeen’s: #164
NHL Central Scouting: #100 (North American skaters)
The Canadiens are in a position where they no longer desperately need prospects to pan out. The NHL roster is getting closer and closer to completion, and might already be set for the long-term on the back end. They can afford to take some chances on prospects and not feel too much pain if they never make it to the top league. In the middle of the 2024 draft, they appeared to target players who had a good base of skills that translate well to bottom-of-the-lineup roles, with the glimpses of potential for a lot more. Players like Aatos Koivu, Logan Sawyer, and Protz aren’t pure “swing-for-the-fences” prospects because they could fail to reach their offensive potential and still carve out minor NHL roles.
In Protz the Canadiens have added, at the very least, a pure shutdown defenceman who could be paired with more of a puck-mover in the future to get a complementary set of skills on a bottom pairing. But there’s also a player with the clear desire to become a lot more than that, and if they help him achieve that dream, they could have a very effective defenceman on their hands.
