The Ottawa Senators were one sunburn away from acquiring Andrei Vasilevskiy
Sometimes, over time, absolutely incredible stories end up coming out publicly.
Unfortunately (or fortunately), despite our best efforts, we know very little about what goes on behind the scenes in the NHL.
In the file of fascinating stories that come out years later, we just learned a good one.
It concerns the Tampa Bay Lightning goalie, Andrei Vasilevskiy, who is the best in the world right now.
The star goalie, who has already won two Stanley Cups, a Vézina Trophy and a Conn Smythe Trophy (before he was 28 years old) almost ended up with the Ottawa Senators, imagine that.
In the 2012 NHL Draft, 10 years ago, the Sens actually wanted to draft Vasilevskiy 15th overall. (Tampa Bay took him 19th)
Ottawa officials had their eyes on him, but according to Vasilevskiy's agent, a day in the sun cost him a meeting with the Senators.
The agent said there were a few teams ahead of Tampa Bay at No. 19 that were interested, including Ottawa, which was at No. 15. Tyjnych said Senators general manager Bryan Murray asked if they could interview Vasilevskiy in Ottawa, where the goalie was training at the time. Russian defenseman Sergei Gonchar was helping them with the talks.
But the day before the scheduled interview, Vasilevskiy went to a water park for a few hours and got a very bad sunburn. His agent tells the story of how it happened:
Now, 10 years later, we can easily say that it really wasn't the decision of the century. Ottawa finally drafted defenseman Cody Ceci, who is now with the Edmonton Oilers.
Imagine if Vasilevskiy hadn't gotten a sunburn and had been selected by the Sens! It could have changed everything.
| POLL | ||
Who's been the best goalie this past decade? | ||
| Andrei Vasilevskiy | 194 | 36.1 % |
| Carey Price | 196 | 36.4 % |
| Henrik Lundqvist ou Jonathan Quick | 47 | 8.7 % |
| Marc Andre Fleury | 101 | 18.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
