What the Puck: Ought to the Canadiens commerce fifth choose for Pierre-Luc Dubois?

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The outcomes of the Nationwide Hockey League draft lottery Monday night proved that intentionally tanking is a crapshoot at finest.

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All season, “followers” of the Canadiens have been overtly hoping the workforce they supposedly love would lose so the Habs would have a greater probability of nabbing the No. 1 general choose and find yourself with generational expertise Conor Bedard. I do not forget that sport in opposition to Boston late within the season when the CH pulled forward within the third interval and social media was overflowing with feedback from Habs boosters hoping the Bruins would find yourself profitable, which they finally did.

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Tanking is dumb as a result of, duh, it’s a lottery. The Anaheim Geese, who completed final and had the very best share probability of getting their palms on Bedard, as an alternative will choose second. In the meantime, the Chicago Blackhawks, who have been actively tanking however solely had the third-best odds, took the grand prize Monday night time.

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In the event you’re a fan of the Canadiens, cheer for them. Finish of story. Don’t spend your complete yr desirous about a dream draft selection the workforce could or could not get relying on what occurs to a bunch of bouncing balls in a container.

Now comes the arduous half for Jeff Gorton, govt vice-president of hockey operations of the Canadiens, and Kent Hughes, the workforce’s normal supervisor. They’re not getting Bedard until the 4 GMs forward of them within the draft lose their minds between now and draft day. Montreal is selecting fifth, so in all probability that choose gained’t be a saviour.

Probably the most fast challenge in my opinion is the followers. Folks this season have been prepared to place up with le bleu blanc et rouge dropping far more than they gained as a result of there was the potential of the Bedard pot of gold on the finish of the season of distress. Effectively that dream is over.

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Come subsequent season, Martin St. Louis’s squad goes to need to do significantly better. I don’t imagine for a second that followers will put up with one other yr the place the CH results in the lottery basement cut price bin. I’m not suggesting they pull a Bergevin and quit on the rebuild, quite I’m arguing that they need to get not less than a bit higher.

A method they might do that’s by buying and selling the No. 5 general choose for this fellow Pierre-Luc Dubois. It’s a preferred concept within the francophone media and, clearly, touchdown a star Québécois participant would play extraordinarily properly with the workforce’s francophone fan base. There have been stable commerce rumours about Dubois since final yr’s draft, particularly since he attended the occasion on the Bell Centre.

That didn’t occur, however he’s made it clear he needs out of Winnipeg — who doesn’t? — and his agent has overtly hinted his vacation spot of selection is Montreal. Given he needs out of the Peg and he’ll be a free agent in a yr, logic dictates that the Jets will attempt to deal him sooner quite than later.

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Or do Gorton and Hughes stick to the choose and if that’s the case, do they then get entangled within the mysterious case of Matvei Michkov? There’s a good probability he’ll be the very best participant obtainable at that slot and the issue is he’s below contract together with his KHL workforce till 2026. Plus there are simply so many query marks surrounding Russian athletes proper now because of the political fallout from the Ukraine invasion.

Habs followers at McLeans Pub watching the draft lottery on Monday have been all good with Montreal drafting fifth. Most fairly figured the CH was not prone to get the highest choose.

“Not first however it’s a win,” stated Guillaume Quenneville, who was watching the lottery together with his buddies.

And that actually is the large takeaway. The highest six or seven on this draft are all anticipated to be extraordinarily good gamers and likelihood is whoever the Habs draft at No. 5 will really be higher than Juraj Slafkovsky, final yr’s No. 1 general choice. Although it’s additionally value remembering that drafting is an inexact science.

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Montreal twice got here up brief throughout the Bergevin period with third general picks. First it was Alex Galchenyuk in 2012, who was a disappointment. The workforce’s third general choose in 2018, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, wasn’t as clearly a dud however everybody now agrees that it was insanity to not go together with Brady Tkachuk who was picked fourth by the Ottawa Senators.

So there aren’t any ensures. In actual fact the one certainty is that there’s going to be mega stress on Gorton, Hughes and their scouting workers to make the correct selection on June 28 in Nashville on the draft. Simply as there’s going to be far more fan stress subsequent season. St. Louis is not going to have the ability to come out after a loss and discuss how he’s happy with younger gamers’ improvement. They’re going to need to win extra video games.

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