Stu Cowan: Is Connor Bedard value a blockbuster commerce?

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The Canadiens’ odds of successful Monday’s NHL Draft Lottery (8 p.m., SN, TVA Sports activities) aren’t superb.

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“Our odds of successful are 8.5 per cent, so anticipate to not win,” Canadiens proprietor/president Geoff Molson stated when he met with members of the media Wednesday at Université de Montréal.

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The massive prize within the draft lottery is junior celebrity Connor Bedard, who is taken into account to be a generational expertise after posting 71-72-143 totals in 57 regular-season video games with the WHL’s Regina Pats. The 5-foot-10, 185-pound centre added 10-10-20 totals in seven playoff video games.

Bedard, who received’t flip 18 till July 17, additionally led all gamers in scoring at this 12 months’s world junior championship with 9-14-23 totals in seven video games whereas serving to Canada win the gold medal.

The Anaheim Geese have one of the best probability of the 11 eligible non-playoff groups to get the No. 1 decide at 25.5 per cent, adopted by the Columbus Blue Jackets (13.5 per cent), Chicago Blackhawks (11.5 per cent), San Jose Sharks (9.5 per cent) and the Canadiens (8.5 per cent).

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When the Canadiens held their autopsy information convention after ending twenty eighth within the total NHL standings — giving them the fifth-best odds of successful the draft lottery — government vice-president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton was requested if he could be prepared to make a blockbuster commerce to get Bedard if his crew doesn’t win the lottery. A commerce much like what the Philadelphia Flyers made to get Eric Lindros after he was the No. 1 total decide by the Quebec Nordiques on the 1991 draft.

“I’m undecided find out how to reply that,” Gorton stated. “The Lindros commerce, they gave up quite a bit there and it ended up going in a single crew’s favour when it seemed prefer it was the opposite crew.”

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The Flyers gave up six gamers — Peter Forsberg, Ron Hextall, Steve Duchesne, Kerry Huffman, Mike Ricci and Chris Simon — first-round draft picks in 1993 and 1994, future issues and $15 million after they acquired Lindros in June of 1992.

Whereas Lindros went on to have a 13-year Corridor of Fame profession and received the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 1994-95, the Flyers by no means received the Stanley Cup with him. The Nordiques moved to Colorado three years after the Lindros commerce and received the Stanley Cup because the Avalanche in 1996. The Avalanche additionally received the Stanley Cup in 2001 and 2022, whereas the Flyers haven’t received the championship since 1975.

It appears impossible that no matter crew wins this 12 months’s draft lottery could be prepared to commerce Bedard. The Nordiques have been compelled to commerce Lindros as a result of he refused to play for Quebec. After getting drafted, Lindros returned to the OHL’s Oshawa Generals for the 1991-92 season and likewise performed for the Canadian nationwide crew, successful a silver medal on the 1992 Albertville Olympics.

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Lindros would have been eligible to re-enter the draft in 1993 if he didn’t signal with Quebec, so Nordiques president Marcel Aubut began procuring him round earlier than the 1992 draft in Montreal. Aubut ended up agreeing on two trades — one with the Flyers and one with the New York Rangers. The Rangers deal was reported to incorporate Sergei Nemchinov, Tony Amonte, Alex Kovalev, James Patrick and both John Vanbiesbrouck or Mike Richter, together with a number of first-round draft picks and $20 million.

The NHL had to usher in labour lawyer Larry Bertuzzi, who spent 10 days investigating earlier than ruling that the Nordiques and Flyers had reached an settlement first and Lindros went to Philadelphia.

So, would the Canadiens take into consideration making a commerce for Bedard in the event that they don’t win the draft lottery?

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“These are good conversations for our draft room and possibly we’ll get a 24/7 present going and we’ll present you what occurs,” Gorton stated with a smile. “All I can let you know is that if I simply put myself as a fan, the participant (Bedard) appears to be like fairly good. There’s no denying that. I feel anyone in hockey might inform that Connor Bedard appears to be like like an actual hockey participant. However I’ll say that it appears to be like like a number of good hockey gamers on this draft, so we’re inspired by that.”

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The Canadiens have two first-round picks at this 12 months’s draft — which will probably be held June 28-29 in Nashville — and 11 picks in complete, together with three within the fourth spherical.

“I feel we’re in a superb place the place we’ve got plenty of property,” Gorton stated. “We have now plenty of good younger gamers, we’ve got plenty of draft picks, we’ve got multi first-round (picks) this 12 months and possibly subsequent 12 months or the 12 months after. We have now type of leveraged to make some offers and do these type of issues. I feel we’ve got that luxurious now. So definitely I’d anticipate that we might be lively on the draft attempting to push it alongside as a lot as we will.

“We’ll see what occurs within the lottery,” Gorton added. “We’ll cross our fingers and hope we will get as excessive as we will. However wanting that, I feel we’re in a fairly great spot. Our scouts are actually assured that there’s good gamers out there to us.”

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