"Going on the theory that you can never have too many defencemen, the Canadiens selected Nathan Beaulieu from the Saint John Sea Dogs with the 17th overall pick in the National Hockey League entry draft Friday.

"He's a strong skater and a good puck-moving defenceman," general manager Pierre Gauthier said.

Beaulieu, who is from Strathroy, Ont., said he was flattered to be compared to P. K. Subban even through he said he likens his game to that of Los Angeles Kings defenceman Drew Doughty.

"(Subban) could have been the rookie of the year and having a French-Canadian name, it's exciting to be going to the Canadiens," Beaulieu said.

It should be noted that, despite the name, Beaulieu admits that, in addition to getting stronger, he'll have to learn some French. His father, Jacques, is a francophone from Northern Ontario, but the younger Beaulieu doesn't speak the language.

Beaulieu said he started feeling nervous as he dropped to No. 17 after being ranked No. 5 among North American skaters by the Central Scouting Service.

But Gauthier said he wasn't surprised that Beaulieu was still available and his drop didn't reflect his potential.

"I said yesterday that this was the sort of draft where there are so many good players that we knew somebody would be available when we picked 17th," Gauthier said. "We didn't know if it would be this player, but we knew a good player would be available."

Beaulieu has good size at 6-foot-2 and 174 pounds after a growth spurt."