Major trade offer turned down by Vegas changed the course of Montreal Canadiens history

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MarcO
December 11, 2022 (11:05 PM)

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With 29 points in 26 games so far this season, Nick Suzuki is on track to become the first Habs player since Alex Kovalev in 2007-08 to reach the 80-point plateau in a season.

But beyond that mark, the Habs captain has become the true first center that Habs fans have been waiting for and his social involvement has made him a true idol for young hockey fans across Quebec.

But did you know that the number 14 could have never been seen in a Habs uniform?

As we know, before the start of the Habs' training camp in September 2018, Marc Bergevin had sent his captain Max Pacioretty to the Vegas Golden Knights in return for Tomas Tatar, a second-round pick in 2019 and of course, Nick Suzuki.

In hindsight, that deal really worked to the Habs' advantage, as not only did Suzuki become the team's leader, but Tatar had some great moments in a Habs uniform, having his two best career seasons in the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 campaigns.

But where it gets interesting is that Nick Suzuki wasn't the player Marc Bergevin was targeting in this trade. As reported by my colleague Nicolas Desrosiers of Marqueur.com, the Habs GM had his eyes set instead on center Cody Glass, selected sixth overall by the Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Draft.

However, George McPhee, the Golden Knights' GM at the time, flatly refused to involve the 6'3 206 lb. center in a trade.

The Golden Knights refused the CH's original trade offer.

Instead, their GM suggested to his Habs counterpart that they involve their second first round pick in 2017, a certain Nick Suzuki, in the trade. (They turned down the offer involving Cody Glass, and countered with the same offer, but with Nick Suzuki instead of Glass)

Now we know the rest. Suzuki is now the captain of the Habs, and he's on track to have the best season of his career while Cody Glass is struggling to have success in the NHL.

After two seasons in the Golden Knights organization, he moved to the Nashville Predators in the summer of 2021 and in 88 games since the beginning of his NHL career, he has only scored 26 points, three points less than Suzuki for his production this year.

And to further hurt the Knights organization, Max Pacioretty was traded last summer to the Carolina Hurricanes in return for future considerations.

So Marc Bergevin owes George McPhee one and as they say, the best trades are often the ones we didn't plan on.

This transaction refused by Vegas and their counter offer changed the course of the history of the Montreal franchise.