There are drafts you forget by October, and drafts that reshape a franchise. Two years removed from the glittering spectacle of the Sphere in Las Vegas, it’s increasingly clear that Kent Hughes’ 2024 haul belongs firmly in the second category. The Montreal Canadiens walked away from that draft weekend with ten picks, two of them in the first round, and a blueprint that continues to take shape with every passing month.
The Canadiens entered draft weekend with the fifth-overall pick after finishing the 2023–24 season with the fifth-worst record in the league, and they made the most of the position, then immediately leveraged assets to add a second lottery-level talent. With the benefit of hindsight, the class looks like one of the most significant single-draft hauls in the rebuild era.
Ivan Demidov: The Centrepiece Delivers
No pick in the class carries more weight than Ivan Demidov, and none has paid off faster. After leading SKA St. Petersburg in scoring with 49 points in 65 Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) games, breaking Kirill Kaprizov’s record for most points in a KHL season by an under-20 player, Demidov signed his entry-level contract in April 2025 and joined Montreal for a brief taste of the NHL before launching into a full rookie campaign.
The results in his first full season were exactly what scouts projected when they called him one of the most gifted European prospects in years. Demidov wrapped up the regular season with 62 points (19 goals and 43 assists) and entered the 2026 Playoffs widely viewed as one of the most dangerous young forwards in the Eastern Conference. His ability to slow the game down in a league that speeds everyone else up has been a consistent theme at The Hockey Writers since his draft night.
The playoffs have tested him, but even there, the ceiling has shown. After a quiet opening-round series, he reasserted himself when it mattered. His power-play goal in Game 5 against the Buffalo Sabres, a sharp wrist shot to the glove side from the high slot, came the same night his work also set up a Jake Evans goal, giving him a two-point effort that visibly lifted the weight that had been building over weeks of frustration. The learning curve is real, but so is the talent.
Michael Hage: The Quiet Jewel of the Class
The story of how Michael Hage ended up in a Canadiens sweater is one of the more compelling narratives of the entire draft. Montreal acquired the 21st-overall pick from the Los Angeles Kings, trading three picks to move up in the first round, a move that raised eyebrows at the time but looks masterful now.
Hage had piled up 75 points in 54 United States Hockey League (USHL) games with the Chicago Steel, ranking fourth in league scoring, before committing to play college hockey at the University of Michigan. His freshman season was strong, but his sophomore year was something else entirely. Hage led the entire nation in assists and finished third nationally in points as a sophomore, averaging 1.33 points per game, while also earning Second-Team All-Big Ten honours and leading all scorers at the 2026 World Junior Championship with 15 points in seven games.
The World Juniors performance in particular cemented his standing as a prospect the organization simply won’t move. Inside the organization, confidence in Hage runs high. Sources indicate the Canadiens would not consider including his name in trade discussions this summer, a signal of how much they believe in his long-term trajectory. The centre depth question behind Nick Suzuki may very well answer itself.
Aatos Koivu: The Best Third-Round Pick No One Is Talking About
When Montreal selected Aatos Koivu 70th overall, the reaction was equal parts emotional and skeptical. The son of beloved former captain Saku, Aatos carries a name that resonates throughout the Bell Centre, but the Canadiens took him on merit, not nostalgia.
His 2024–25 season in the Finnish Liiga was modest on paper (eight points in 32 games as an 18-year-old with TPS, a season interrupted by a bout of mononucleosis), but context matters. Playing in one of the most defensively structured professional leagues in the world, limited to a bottom-six role, and dealing with a significant illness mid-season, it was never going to be a flashy debut. What scouts noticed was the foundation: skating, hockey sense, a legitimate shot, and the two-way awareness that makes him projectable.
The Summer Showcase before his second pro season erased most remaining doubt. Koivu was one of the most productive players at the event, leading the tournament in goals with six in just five games for Finland, drawing attention with his poise, vision, and two-way awareness. After missing the 2024 World Juniors due to illness, he bounced back with a performance that re-raised his stock and has him expected to play a prominent role for Finland at the upcoming tournament. For a third-round pick, that kind of ascent is everything you hope for.
The Rest of the Class
Beyond the headliners, the 2024 draft class includes several players still in the early stages of development. Owen Protz, a physical stay-at-home defenceman from the Brantford Bulldogs in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), was taken 102nd overall in Round 4, while Ben Merrill, a prep school centre with Harvard plans, went 166th in Round 6. The Habs also took Russian winger Makar Khanin 210th overall, a 19-year-old who split time between the VHL and MHL in Dynamo St. Petersburg’s system and put up 36 points in 42 games.
None of those names are likely to generate headlines anytime soon, but depth picks in the later rounds are precisely what produce organizational depth, insurance, and the occasional pleasant surprise down the road.
The most intriguing of the secondary picks may still be Logan Sawyer, a physical forward selected in the second round, and Tyler Thorpe, who continues to develop in the Western Hockey League (WHL) system. Time will tell how far down the class the eventual contributions run, but the top three picks alone makes this a draft to remember.
Two Years In, the Grade Is Already an A
Draft classes don’t get graded at the podium. They get graded after the players play. Two years out from Las Vegas, the 2024 class is earning its marks the hard way: on scoreboards, in NCAA arenas, and on the ice in Finland.
Demidov is already a legitimate NHL contributor with a Calder Trophy in his recent history. Hage is on the verge of being one of the most anticipated college-to-pro transitions in franchise history. And Koivu is quietly becoming one of the better mid-round finds in a draft full of them. Hughes structured the draft masterfully, and the rebuild’s foundation is better for it.
The Sphere made for a spectacular backdrop. Two years later, the work being done in the rink is even more impressive.
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