Timmins: Reflecting on the picks

MONTREAL - Assistant general manager Trevor Timmins discussed the Canadiens' nine selections at the 2021 NHL Draft.

Montreal picked four forwards, four defensemen and one goaltender over the course of seven rounds.
Here are a few highlights from Timmins' post-Draft press conference:
Timmins on defenseman Logan Mailloux's hockey ability:
He's a big young man, 6-foot-5 and 218 pounds. He's a right-shot defenseman with a heck of a shot, point shot, and really good puck skills. He's physical, he can play on the power play, and he can play on the penalty kill. He's going to be able to log a lot of ice time, and he's going to be hard to play against. He fits into that mold that we had with the "Big 4" this year through the season and the playoffs, which really pushed us through the playoffs and got us to the Final. We see him as a really good fit with lots and lots of upside. He's a really solid two-way defenseman. Our people are working with him already. Rob Ramage, our director of player development, has already been working with him. Our community relations people have a plan in place. I know Logan meets with a psychiatrist a couple of times a week and we're looking forward to welcoming him to training camp.
Timmins on Mailloux's character:
We met with Logan. We really felt that he was fully conscious of the severity of his actions, and after our interviews with him, we felt that he was sincere in his redemption quest and that he really wanted to redeem himself. We saw the remorse. He was up front right away. He told us what had happened, and we believe in giving people second chances. What he did was very, very wrong. We believe that he's learned from it, and hopefully it's going to make him a better person moving forward.
Timmins on the Canadiens' four picks from the QMJHL:
They fell into place. We were really high on Riley Kidney from Bathurst. We were happy that he was still there when we picked late in the second round. We had an extensive look at William Trudeau in the playoffs. We spent a lot of time going back-and-forth to Quebec City. With Joshua Roy, we see the skill that he has, his natural scoring ability, and we think with our guidance he's going to be able to progress his game on and off the ice. Simoneau has been a personal favorite for the past few years, and we just stepped up and took him. We wanted to have a guy on a similar path that worked for us with Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, drafting a player of that age.
Timmins on forward Joshua Roy's potential:
We feel that he's going to be a late-bloomer. He's got natural ability. This summer, he's just really realizing what it takes to be a pro. We really believe in our development staff and our coaching staff. I think we're going to be able to help him become a pro. We're looking forward to working with him and helping him take his natural abilities even further.
Timmins on forward Oliver Kapanen:
We've got extensive coverage of him over in Finland. We have a Finnish scout, Hannu Laine, who does an excellent job for us there. He was really high on the player. We studied him a lot on video, and then we were able to get a glimpse of him in Dallas at the Under-18 Championship. He got hit head-first into the boards and missed about a week of the tournament, so we didn't get a really strong read on him. But, we saw a lot of video. Our scouts in Sweden were also able to get into Finland early in the season and get good viewings of him. We like his growth potential. We think he's going to continue to physically grow. He has very good hockey sense. If you take a look around the League, a lot of players having success have strong hockey sense. We believe this guy's a centerman moving forward.

Timmins on defenseman Dmitri Kostenko:
He's an offensive defenseman. He'll be playing for Spartak next year. He has one season left on his KHL deal. We see a lot of potential there. He's a skilled, offensive defenseman with a big shot. We're trying to add some right-shot defensemen, if they became available.
Timmins on defenseman Daniil Sobolev:
He's an interesting prospect. He belongs to the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL. Instead of going back to Russia, he stayed in Windsor and the Michigan area and trained and skated during the season hoping that the OHL would start. But, it never did. We expect him to be back there. He's more of a shut-down type of defenseman. He's really hard to play against and a really fit individual.
Timmins on goaltender Joe Vrbetic:
He's from the Ottawa area and plays for North Bay. He's a big goalie. He played on a bad team a couple of years ago for North Bay. I'm looking for him to really take his game forward. You never know when a goalie hasn't played for so long, but I know he's working on his game. Off the ice, he's put a lot of work and effort into becoming even a better athlete.
Timmins on forward Xavier Simoneau:
He was a fit right now where we were in the Draft. Based on what he showed this season, and seeing some of the smaller players around the League be able to come in and have some success, and with the success that we had with Harvey-Pinard, it lent itself to drafting him at this point. The issue with him in the past was skating. His size-skating ratio wasn't where we would like it. We see it has improved, and we think we can help him with that moving forward. He's always had that drive, tenacity and hockey sense. His skating has come up now, and we'll continue to help him to move that forward.
Timmins on forward Riley Kidney:
Riley Kidney had a bit of a slow start with Bathurst at the center ice position, but he really got things moving as the season finally got into full gear. He really stepped up in the playoffs and took his game to another level. We had extensive coverage with our scout Serge Boisvert. He really loved his game. We like his combination of grit, tenacity and hockey sense. He's able to make plays and kill plays. He plays a 200-foot game. We see him as a young 18-year-old. We think he's going to mature moving forward. He's got a lot of growth potential left, so we're looking forward to working with him.
Timmins on defenseman William Trudeau:
He just has that uncanny patience with the puck. We see him being able to help a power play. He has good offensive hockey sense. He's going to be playing on a good team next year. He had a lot of success this season. We like his ability to move pucks up the ice. That's what our coaching staff is looking for at all levels.