This will mark just the fourth time the Habs will be making the 15th pick of the first round. In 1974, they selected Gord McTavish; the following year, they went with Pierre Mondou; and finally, in 1986, it was Mark Pederson who heard his name called by Montreal in the 15-spot.
Of course, Mondou is the player who stands out from the trio, as the Sorel native would go on to play 548 games for the Canadiens, recording 194 goals and 456 points over eight seasons - all of them with the Habs - and winning the Stanley Cup on three occasions from 1977-1979. He scored a career-high 35 goals in 1981-82 and finished third in team scoring with a personal-best 72 points in 1978-79, finishing behind Guy Lafleur and Steve Shutt.
Pederson, for his part, would play parts of two seasons in Montreal before going on to play for the Philadelphia Flyers, San Jose Sharks, and Detroit Red Wings over a five-year, 169-game career. McTavish, however, would only suit up for 11 games at the NHL level with the St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets.
Of course, Mondou is far from the only 15th-overall pick to make his mark in the NHL. The likes of Erik Karlsson (2008), Dylan Larkin (2014), and former Hab Alexander Radulov (2004) were all selected in that position in more recent years.
Whoever the Habs pick this year, they will join an impressive crop of first-rounders in the organization. This season, the club counted seven regular players on the roster who were picked in the opening segment of the Draft: Carey Price, Max Domi, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Jonathan Drouin, Phillip Danault, Joel Armia, and Ryan Poehling. (Noah Juulsen and Karl Alzner are also former first-round picks who played in Montreal this season, but spent the bulk of the year injured and/or with the Laval Rocket.)
The NHL Draft takes place at Rogers Arena on June 21-22.
