Canadiens' continued pursuit of unicorns stands tall at development camp

New York Times

6 hours ago

BROSSARD, Québec – Development camp is very different this year for the Montreal Canadiens.
There is no fresh first-round pick taking part because the Canadiens didn't make a first-round pick after trading both of theirs to the New York Islanders in the Noah Dobson deal. The only first-round pick in camp is Michael Hage, a serious departure from the first three years of this administration's rebuild.
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Hage is headed back to the University of Michigan for his sophomore year in the fall. There is no Juraj Slafkovský like there was in 2022, the first development camp under Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes, and there is no Lane Hutson like there was last year. It would be very surprising if anyone at this development camp played games for the Canadiens in the next two years, the first such development camp of this rebuild.
These players are, by and large, longer-term projects.
But one player at camp already has an NHL contract in his back pocket. He went undrafted in his first year of eligibility and was then drafted last year by the Canadiens in the fifth round, during a commercial break in the coverage.
Tyler Thorpe found out he was drafted when a buddy of his called him to let him know, as commercials continued rolling on television.
Then, Thorpe came to rookie camp last fall and stood out. He is 6 feet 5 inches, long and physical, and can really shoot it. He has puck skills. The only deficiency is his feet, which still need work. But the Canadiens saw enough in one rookie camp to give Thorpe some serious motivation to go back to the Vancouver Giants of the WHL and work on the things that will help him reach the NHL with the Canadiens.
He was given the mandate of playing big, and if he did that, there was a strong chance there would be an NHL contract waiting for him at the end of the season.
Thorpe scored 27 goals in 68 games and led the Giants with a plus-11 rating, but more importantly, he began imposing himself physically with more consistency and using his physical gifts to their utmost potential.
'After rookie camp and throughout the year, they were telling me that if you play the right way, if you play the style of game I like to play and my body size helps me play, then a contract would be there for me,' Thorpe said Wednesday after the second day of Canadiens development camp.
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That's what Thorpe did, and on April 8, three days after his final game with the Giants and less than two years after he went undrafted in his first year of eligibility, Thorpe signed a three-year entry level NHL contract and reported to the Laval Rocket.
This came one year (less a day) after Florian Xhekaj, also undrafted in his first year of eligibility and taken in the fourth round of the 2023 draft as an overager, signed after the completion of his OHL season with the Brantford Bulldogs.
Xhekaj is another long, rangy, physical forward who just finished an excellent rookie season with the Rocket. He is not exactly the same player as Thorpe, but they are definitely in a similar bucket.
They share a type — a rare type that can be very effective in a seven-game playoff series if they can get the details and habits rounded out to reach the NHL.
'What they said to me, and I fully agree with them, is I have stick skill,' Thorpe said. 'I can shoot the puck, I can pass, I can stickhandle, but it's just morphing that into the big frame. So obviously that comes with the gritty play, the hitting, the forechecking. Just kind of morphing those two together, that's kind of been their message so far.'
Thorpey channeling his inner Michelangelo today! 🐢
From 2️⃣6️⃣ Connor Levis to Tyler Thorpe with his 2️⃣6️⃣th of the season!#REMAXforCMN | @remaxcanada | @bcchf | @TheWHL | @CanadiensMTL | #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/ka97KYtO3E
— Vancouver Giants (@WHLGiants) March 3, 2025
Thorpe had the advantage of having a late growth spurt. When COVID-19 hit in 2020 when Thorpe was 14, he was about 5-7. By the time he was 17 and playing in the WHL, Thorpe was about 6-4, and today he's 6-5. So, those stick skills came from his days as a smaller player, but he's still learning how to be a big player and use that frame to its fullest potential in the pro game.
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'My first year when I played Junior B, I was trying to be the little guy, get the nice goals, make the nice plays,' he said. 'But once I got to the WHL, they said, this is your role. I love throwing a big hit now, so I was more than happy to do that.'
In other words, even today, Thorpe is a bit of a blank canvas, blessed with physical gifts and a background as a skill player. His feet most definitely need to catch up, and he's working with noted Vancouver-based skating coach Barb Aidelbaum on that and has made it the priority of his summer, but the bet the Canadiens are making on him is clear.
It is the same bet they made on Xhekaj, whom co-director of amateur scouting Nick Bobrov famously referred to as a unicorn in the Canadiens 2023 draft meetings.
But it didn't stop in 2023. Because if they draft enough of them, one of them might hit and help them in a Stanley Cup playoff series one day. And thus, the Thorpe pick in 2024.
We had heard strong rumblings the Canadiens would be seeking this unicorn again in the 2025 draft. We thought it might happen in the first round with Jack Nesbitt, but the Canadiens traded both of their first-round picks. We thought it might happen in the second round with Will Moore or Matthew Gard, but the Canadiens traded picks No. 41 and 49 to move up and draft super-skilled Russian winger Alexander Zharovsky at No. 34, a player they feel has top-six upside.
But in the third round, the Canadiens traded up again to place their unicorn bet.
Similar to Thorpe, with the third round of the 2025 draft crawling along at a snail's pace, the draft broadcast went to commercial just before Hayden Paupanekis' future was about to be determined. As the broadcast came back, it was announced the Canadiens had traded picks No. 79 and 108 to the Boston Bruins for pick No. 69.
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Paupanekis was home in Winnipeg surrounded by family, and all of a sudden, coming out of a commercial break, he was drafted by the Canadiens.
'Out of nowhere it was Montreal's pick …and then I hear my name,' Paupanekis said Wednesday. 'When I learned they traded up for me it meant a lot. They didn't think I was going to be there at 79.'
When asked why he thinks the Canadiens drafted him, Paupanekis hit the nail on the head.
'I think they drafted a big player,' he said, 'a guy who always wants to win and be the best.'
Big Paupi Le Paupi Grand 🤝How many @CanadiensMTL fans will come watch Hayden Paupanekis at the 2026 Memorial Cup??#GoHabsGo | @Kelowna_Rockets | #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/gBiE4UrIkZ
— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) June 28, 2025
Paupanekis is a 6-5, 203-pound centre for the Kelowna Rockets, the 2026 Memorial Cup hosts. He is squarely in that same bucket that includes Xhekaj and Thorpe, another Canadiens swing at a unicorn, another player with great physical gifts who is still trying to figure out how to best use those gifts.
'I'm still trying to identify what my identity is and still trying to learn what kind of player I am,' he said. 'I think once I figure that out and learn how my body works and how it moves, I'll have a really big gap with other guys. I'll be able to protect pucks better. I think everybody drools over tall guys, and once I find who I am as a player … I'll be pretty good.'
Paupanekis is Cree on his father's side. Mike Paupanekis was born in Norway House, Manitoba, just north of the northern shores of Lake Winnipeg, an eight-hour drive north of Winnipeg, and still has family there. Paupanekis is proud of his heritage and has done hockey camps in Norway House, hoping to serve as an inspiration to the youth there, not unlike another former Canadiens star with First Nations roots.
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'A lot of First Nations communities, little kids, they look up to me,' he said. 'I love to inspire them. Anything's possible for those kids. I like to give back to the community and do hockey programs up north where my dad's from. That's what I love. Being First Nations, I'm proud of it.'
With the Rockets gearing up with a guaranteed spot in the Memorial Cup, Paupanekis has been told his role will grow.
'I think my role on that team is going to be as a top forward, I'm going to get lots of ice, my coaches told me that,' he said. 'So I just want to build up in the summer for the season and hopefully have a really big summer and see where it takes me.'
As a Winnipeg native, Paupanekis looks at Jets centre Adam Lowry as a role model but likes to think he has a bit of Tage Thompson in his game as well and considers himself a cross between the two. If he comes close to becoming that, the Canadiens will obviously be thrilled.
We'll see what happens with Paupanekis in rookie camp, but it's not hard to see a scenario where he's told something similar to what Thorpe heard when his first rookie camp came to an end — that if Paupanekis finds that identity as a big, rangy, physical centre and displays the attributes the Canadiens are looking for to fill a specific role on their team three, four or even five years down the road, an NHL entry-level contract would be the reward.
It's far too early in the process to predict that, but that was undoubtedly the motivation behind trading up to get Paupanekis early in the third round of the draft.
The Canadiens have clearly demonstrated they have a type and a willingness to take multiple swings at adding that profile to the NHL club.
Xhekaj is in pole position to fill it right now, but there are more candidates in the pipeline.
Because the Canadiens continue chasing unicorns.
(Top photo of Hayden Paupanekis: Bill Wippert / Getty Images)