Major breaking news regarding Auston Matthews and the Montreal Canadiens
The journalist from TVA Sports, Renaud Lavoie, has just revealed a major piece of information regarding Auston Matthews and the Montreal Canadiens.
Renaud takes us back to the beginning of Matthews' career in 2016, when the Maple Leafs had just finished last in the NHL standings and Toronto had won the draft lottery. (1st overall pick of the 2016 draft)
The Montreal Canadiens almost drafted Matthews
According to what the TVA Sports journalist has just revealed, the Canadiens did indeed almost get the first overall pick in the 2016 draft.
Appearing this morning on Jean-Charles Lajoie's show on BPM Sports, Renaud Lavoie clearly stated that a Toronto Maple Leafs employee had disclosed some very important information: the Canadiens had finished in second place during the lottery draw for the first overall pick in 2016.
Wow! Imagine the scenario!
We are talking about an elite center player, who scored 40 goals (and 69 points) in his first season in the NHL.
He also scored 60 goals (106 points) in just 73 games last season, and 29 goals (62 points) in 57 games this season.
Imagine if the Montreal Canadiens had been able to draft him. It was so close.
In the end, during that draft, the Habs picked ninth overall. (obviously, finishing second in the lottery for the first pick doesn't give you much)
As you know, the Canadiens eventually drafted Mikhail Sergachev, who was then traded for Jonathan Drouin in June 2017.
So, the Canadiens missed out on Auston Matthews and ended up with Jonathan Drouin.
A really interesting anecdote from Renaud Lavoie.
Credit and details:
| POLL | ||
Do you think the Canadiens could have won the cup with Auston Matthews? | ||
| Yes | 768 | 29.8 % |
| No | 1812 | 70.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
