Insane trade proposal for Montreal’s 1st overall pick!

Do you pull the trigger if you’re Kent Hughes?

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 1 year ago
Insane trade proposal for Montreal’s 1st overall pick!
YouTube

The NHL held its annual draft lottery Tuesday, and the Montreal Canadiens will pick first overall. They entered the event with the best chances to win the lottery (18.5%). To make the story even better, the draft is scheduled for July 7-8 in Montreal.

You’d think everyone would be looking forward to, let’s say Shane Wright, getting selected by Montreal in front of their passionate fans, but Jeff Marek of Sportsnet suggests something else entirely. On the air of the 32 Thoughts podcast with Elliotte Friedman, Marek made the following trade proposal ahead of the upcoming draft:

“Coyotes send the third overall pick this year and their first round from next year to Montreal for the first overall pick this year.”

“I think it’s obviously a very exciting outcome for us. Our fans I’m sure will be thrilled — especially with the draft being held in Montreal to have that kind of anticipation and the excitement leading into it. So we’re excited — I think it’s a great opportunity for our organization to start taking strides toward returning to the playoffs here,” Habs general manager Kent Hughes said in a statement.

So could Hughes be tempted to go back on his words and move this first overall pick?

While FOR NOW, the Canadiens do get the chance to pick first, there’s no guarantee they will select Shane Wright, the consensus choice to go first overall. Hughes spoke to the media after winning the lottery and indicated that there’s a lot of work to be done before the Canadiens finalize their decision.

“You always go with your evaluation first and if there’s a player we feel is the best player available in the draft, then that’s the player we’re going to with,” Hughes said. “If there are different shades of the same colour in our opinion, could we value one because of a positional need, yeah certainly. But we’re not at that point yet so I can’t really tell you that’s the case where we can see multiple players in the same ballpark.”

Could “a lot of work to be done” leave the door open to a blockbuster trade?

Source: Sportsnet