Cooper Cleaves put up 10 points in 30 games at Dartmouth and Montreal still spent the 93rd overall pick on him at the 2026 draft. The reason has almost nothing to do with his production: he is a 6-foot-3 right-shot defenceman, the scarcest profile in hockey, on a team that just won the first ECAC championship in Dartmouth’s history and reached the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1980.
Sources:
Habs Eyes On The Prize / Canadiens draft coverage on the Cooper Cleaves selection and Martin Lapointe’s comments — https://www.habseyesontheprize.com/cooper-cleaves-2026-nhl-draft-montreal-canadiens-select-cooper-cleaves-with-pick-93-right-shot-defenceman-dartmouth-college-ncaa/
The Dartmouth on the 2026 ECAC championship win over Princeton — https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2026/04/mens-hockey-beats-princeton-to-clinch-the-ecac-championship
Sportico on the NHL’s right-handed defenceman pay premium — https://www.sportico.com/leagues/hockey/2023/nhl-highest-paid-players-right-handed-defensemen-1234708533/
Narration are AI generated.
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i think we are going to see plesant surprises at the habs training camp. Cleaves could well be one of them. I still think habs need the no 72 he has a ID and players know very well what could happen when Harbor is on the ice or in the game.lets hope habs sign him for a 3-4 year contract. And i would try hard if i was GM Hughes to get Mathieu Olivier from the columbus in a trade. Olivier would bring more respect of our good players, add Anderson and habs would be a better team toughness wise.
Right shot D @ 6.4 with physicality. Sounds like a good find. Time will tell.