How Kent Hughes’ draft steal Bryce Pickford could quickly reshape the Canadiens’ blue-line picture

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The Canadiens may have quietly hit a home run with Bryce Pickford.

Since the rebuild launched by Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton in 2022, the Montreal Canadiens’ prospect pool has become one of the most impressive in the NHL, to the point of attracting attention from many observers across the league.

In this context, one name is beginning to climb seriously within the blue-line hierarchy: Bryce Pickford, a 19-year-old right-shot defenseman from the Medicine Hat Tigers, selected in the third round, 81st overall, at the 2025 Draft.

Bryce Pickford is emerging as a very intriguing project

Last year, Pickford transformed his game. He finished the 2024-2025 season with 47 points, including 20 goals, in 48 games in the Western Hockey League, before adding 24 points in 18 playoff games, helping the Tigers capture the Ed Chynoweth Cup and reach the Memorial Cup.

This season, he has not slowed down: he already shows 15 goals and 16 assists for 31 points in 27 games, placing him among the most productive defensemen in the WHL and regularly lighting up the scoresheet.

“Bryce Pickford this season in the WHL:

15 goals
16 assists
31 points
+26 plus/minus

In 26 games.”

We are talking about a 6-foot-1, roughly 185-pound defenseman who wears the “C” in Medicine Hat and has the full confidence of the locker room. His rights belong to the Canadiens, but he has not yet signed an NHL entry-level contract, which still gives management some room to maneuver.

In the medium term, many already see a logical path: finish strong in the WHL, then join the Laval Rocket to test himself against professional competition. Nothing is guaranteed, but the idea comes up often when discussing him, both in the media and among certain scouts.

Previously on All Montreal Hockey