Timmins: 'Maybe we can hit some home runs'

MONTREAL - Assistant general manager Trevor Timmins spoke with reporters via Zoom on Thursday ahead of the NHL Draft.

Here are a few highlights from his press conference:
Timmins on making the most of the 11 picks at the Habs' disposal:
With the type of season it was and the lack of live coverage for some leagues and a lot of prospects, we feel that maybe we can hit some home runs throughout the entire Draft. That's what we're going to try to do. We've done our best to even look back at players on video, reading our own scouting reports from two seasons ago, not just this past season, so we feel that there are going to be some prospects that slip through the cracks. We're going to do our best to try to get as many NHL players as we can in this Draft.

Timmins on the impact of the club's run to the Stanley Cup Final on his Draft preparation:
We dropped from possibly picking 16th overall to 30th in the first round. We also went from the middle of each round to the end of each round, which makes a big difference because you're almost picking into the following round. What happens is that you're looking at a totally different pool of prospects and the pool of prospects is greater because you're not sure who's going to go in front of you. You've got to be ready. It's more work when you're picking later because you have to do more extensive work on a lot more prospects to be ready for that pick. We've done that and we're ready to go. We'll cross our fingers. I always say that we're looking for help along the way in terms of players that we don't have rated as high as they go in the Draft. We're looking for a lot of help this year picking 30th.
Timmins on the quality of the prospect pool available:
You have to be careful because we won't know until four or five years down the road in terms of the quality of players that this Draft turns out. With the lack of players playing a complete season, who knows where these guys are going to top out? It's difficult to say where it fits in. I still believe you're going to get some quality players, even in the seventh round. We're going to do our best to do that with our franchise. I'd say just hold on, let's wait and see. We feel we can get some good players out of this Draft.
Timmins on the success of Cole Caufield, who was selected 15th overall in 2019:
We were just happy and lucky that he was there when we picked. We spent a lot of time with him in his Draft year. I think that might've been the last Combine we had. We took him for dinner. He's always smiling. He's an energetic, happy-go-lucky young man. He's a joy to be around. He brings everybody up. I'm just impressed with the way that he stepped into the NHL, in the high-pressure situations, the NHL playoffs. He did what he did well, and improved on the areas that he needed to improve on when he was at Wisconsin before he came to us. He improved his play without the puck and along the defensive zone wall. My most vivid memory of Cole was when we took him for dinner and he ordered this big sundae for dessert. It was a huge pile of ice cream, chocolate and butterscotch sauce all over. We all joked about that. But, he burns that off pretty quickly. I always joke with him about that. We're very happy that he's a part of our organization.

Timmins on the impact of captain Shea Weber's uncertain future on his Draft plan:
What we do this weekend, we can't replace Shea Weber. We can't replace him with any player we pick this weekend, for next season, or the season after. These players that we're picking, especially where we're picking, we have to wait on them. Cole was a higher pick. KK was a higher pick. They got into our lineup sooner. But, these players that we're picking, we're talking about 30th and way back as we move through the Draft, so we can't expect to replace Shea Weber. But, we will try to pick players that will play for us and help us win, not only in the regular season, but through the Stanley Cup playoffs. I can't tell you when they're going to play.
Timmins on Weber's effect on the Canadiens' development efforts:
It's great to see the young players that we draft come in and get to learn from a guy like Shea Weber. We have a lot of guys like that. You look around the dressing room and it's a big part of the reason why we got through the playoffs and into the Stanley Cup Final. Guys like Pricer and Gallagher and Corey Perry, I can't name all of them because there are so many of them. They were able to rub off, to lead these guys and show these young players how to win. That has so much value, learning how to win. Hopefully, that will continue. I know we have a lot of character and a tight-knit group. We hope that everyone else can pick up the slack that we'll miss from Shea, pick up these young guys, and keep them going down the right road in the future.