Big scoop: a former Canadiens member just revealed that Ondrej Palat was seriously recommended to the Habs
Ondrej Palat has been playing in the NHL for over eleven seasons. He has won the Stanley Cup twice with the Tampa Bay Lightning (2020 and 2021) and has scored 12 game-winning goals in his NHL playoff career.
Thus, since his first full season in the NHL, he can be said to be a consistent and important player in the NHL. In 677 regular-season games, he has amassed 151 goals, 295 assists, totaling 446 points. He added 101 points in 150 playoff games since joining the league.
Given these facts, it's frustrating to see that even though he played junior hockey for the Drummondville Voltigeurs from 2009 to 2011, the CH (Montreal Canadiens) overlooked him twice in the NHL draft, despite him being available in both the 2010 and 2011 drafts.
On this matter, the Canadiens' former scout, Michel Boucher, recently stated on l'Antichambre that he strongly urged the CH management to select him in the final round of the 2010 draft. However, the young Czech was not selected by any team that year and came back the following year, hoping to be drafted.
Even a year later, Boucher's fondness for Palat remained very strong. Now working for the Tampa Bay Lightning organization, he insisted that Steve Yzerman pick him in the 7th round of Palat's second draft eligibility. Initially, the request was declined because the management wanted to pick Matthew Peca with their 7th round choice. Eventually, Yzerman heeded his new scout's advice, acquiring another 7th round pick to select young Palat.
Seeing the subsequent events, it's evident that Yzerman greatly appreciated Boucher's persistence. For nearly 10 seasons, Palat was one of the key players for the Florida-based organization.
Just imagine if Pierre Gauthier had taken a chance on the young man instead of going with John Westin (7th round in 2010) or Colin Sullivan (7th round in 2011)... Need I remind you that neither of the two played a game in the major league?
You can listen to Michel Boucher's segment on l'Antichambre below:
| POLL | ||
Who's better? | ||
| Ondrej Palat | 42 | 18.4 % |
| Tomas Tatar | 22 | 9.6 % |
| Alex Killorn | 31 | 13.6 % |
| Josh Anderson | 133 | 58.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
