Canadiens select Tommy Bleyl 28th overall

The Montreal Canadiens surprised a lot of people — and broke a lot of pre-season models — by finishing the 2025-26 regular season as the league’s sixth-best team, a year after being the lowest-ranked post-season qualifier. They then took that a step further to be one of the final four teams standing in the conference finals. As a result, the Canadiens claimed the fourth-last draft pick in each round this year, and select one spot earlier, at 28th, in the opening round due to a penalty to the Ottawa Senators dropping their pick to 32nd. It’s the latest assigned first-round pick the organization has held in the tenure of Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton, the latest since the team selected 31st in 2021 after advancing to the Stanley Cup Final.

At this time a year ago, the management team traded away not just the 17th overall pick that had been assigned to them, but the 16th as well that had been acquired in the Sean Monahan trade three years earlier, in order to add Noah Dobson to the NHL roster. This year, the reports are that the Canadiens are once again considering moving their pick for more immediate help, and this time it seems even more likely than last summer considering the leap they took over the past 12 months.

A trade may be the preference for the club, but it’s possible they don’t like the asking prices for the players on their radar, or perhaps a move needs more time to get completed, negotiations extend past draft weekend, and the deal needs to include draft picks from a future year instead. They could still make a selection at 28th, adding a prospect to what has been one of the deepest pools in the league since the regime change occurred.

With 27 of the best players in the class set to be taken off the board first, they wouldn’t be selecting a player who will help the team in the short term, but one who is more of a long-term project.

Tommy Bleyl – #28 selection

As with any first-rounder, you want a player who has the potential to blossom into an impact performer at the NHL level, and there could be one who fits that description in Tommy Bleyl. The defenceman is committed to Michigan State University, but won’t make the jump to the NCAA until 2027-28. He spent this season with the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats, and is set to do so again next year to prepare for the collegiate level. That means an NHL debut is likely at least three years away.

Date of Birth: December 1, 2007
Birthplace: Schenectady, New York
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 170 lbs.
Position: Defence
Shoots: Right
Team: Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL)

That long-term development is off to a solid start. This year, he set the Q record for points by a rookie defenceman with 13 goals and 68 assists for 81 points in 63 games, leading a strong Wildcats team in points, and was named the league’s defenceman of the year. He slightly upped his production rate in the playoffs, with 28 points in 21 post-season games, ranking third on the team.

Across the regular and post-seasons, he co-led the Wildcats with a +73 rating along with Adam Fortier-Gendron, a player who turned 20 a couple of months after Bleyl turned 18. Bleyl is not an imposing defenceman at 170 pounds, but uses his stick well in defence, preventing zone entries, intercepting passes, and batting away pucks.

Offence is his main contribution at this this stage of his career, but even in his first season of Junior hockey he didn’t show any significant weaknesses. A strong skating ability helped him open lanes offensively to rack up his assists, and allowed him to keep pace with opposing forwards. He doesn’t play a physical brand of hockey, but still manages to win more battles in his own zone than he loses.

Bleyl becoming a big part of the Canadiens’ future is just one of the reasons why he would be a good pick at 28th. At this stage, with Montreal’s rebuild complete, the team is now looking to fill roster holes. The focus shifts away from drafting prospects with unknown trajectories to making trades for established players. An offensive, right-handed defenceman is a valuable piece to have in the system for such discussions. We already have reports that a team was committed to a trade that included Bryce Pickford, who joined Bleyl with a league defenceman of the year award this season by claiming that accolade in the WHL. Should Bleyl’s stock continue to rise through another season in the CHL and then on what will likely be a deep Michigan State team, his value could make up a considerable percentage of the value in any trade package the Canadiens want to put together.

While deemed to be a fairly shallow draft, which is one reason why so many picks have changed hands already, there will be good options still available at 28th for the Canadiens (or whichever team holds this pick when it goes on the clock). We debated a few options, including big, speedy forward Maddox Dagenais and WHL second-leading scorer (behind twin brother Marcus) Liam Ruck, but ultimately felt that Bleyl has the highest upside of the options that could be available and will help the team the most in one way or another down the line.

The history of Eyes On The Prize’s NHL Mock Draft selections

2026: Tommy Bleyl (28th)
2025: Justin Carbonneau (17th)
2025: Carter Bear (16th)
2024: Andrew Basha (26th)
2024: Ivan Demidov (fifth)
2023 Gracyn Sawchyn (31st)
2023: Zach Benson (fifth)
2022: Jagger Firkus (26th)
2022: Shane Wright (first)
2021: Xavier Bourgault (31st)
2020: Mavrik Bourque (16th)
2019: Thomas Harley (15th)
2018: Filip Zadina (third)
2017: Urho Vaakanainen (25th)
2016: Tyson Jost (ninth)
2015: Thomas Chabot (26th)
2014: David Pastrnak (26th)
2013: Josh Morrissey (25th)
2012: Mikhail Grigorenko (third)
2011: Mark Scheifele (17th)
2010: Ryan Spooner (27th)
2009: Scott Glennie (18th)