For the second time today, the Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers have made a trade. After the Oilers moved up to the 62nd overall pick to selected Olivier Rodrigue in this morning’s draft, the clubs have come together again.
Edmonton has traded a 2019 fifth round pick to the Canadiens in exchange for goaltending prospect Hayden Hawkey, who is currently enrolled at Providence College. Hawkey, entering his senior season at PC, has been the team’s starting goaltender for the last two seasons. He took the job from former Oilers prospect Nick Ellis.
Hawkey appeared in 40 games this past season, posting a 24-12-3 record with a .919 SV% and a 2.04 GAA. Hawkey’s strong season helped the Friars reach the Hockey East Championship game this past March, where they fell to the Boston University Terriers. They did, however, reach the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team.
Hawkey went 1-1 in the tournament, shutting out Clarkson in the opener before falling 2-1 to Notre Dame in the regional final.
In 2016-17, Hawkey appeared in 39 games, posting a 22-12-5 record with a .913 SV% and 2.04 GAA.
As of now, it appears that Hawkey will return to PC for his senior season, but we’ll see if that plan changes now that he is property of the Oilers.
Personally, I like this addition. I thought Hawkey was terrific for the Friars this past season, and was a big reason why they qualified for the tournament. His rebound control could use a little work, but overall I think he’s a solid prospect and someone who will no doubt play at the professional level.
In fact, at this point, I think Hawkey is Edmonton’s third best goaltending prospect behind only Stuart Skinner and Rodrigue, who was only drafted this morning. He’ll get a look in the minor league system either this fall or next.
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