Trade with the Flames : Kent Hughes has just achieved something that Marc Bergevin never did!
For almost ten years, Marc Bergevin led the Habs. He was recognized for the good trades he made, few of which he ultimately lost out of the 99 made during his time as a GM.
On his second trade with the club, his first major, Kent Hughes did something that Bergevin never did in a trade, however, receiving a first-round pick.
It took the Flames agreeing to pay the price for the services of Tyler Toffoli, in order to get their hands on a first-round pick.
Worse still, in addition to never having obtained a first-round pick, Bergevin only traded one first-round pick during his entire tenure. Yes, it happened only once, and that was with his last trade with the Habs, the one that allowed him to acquire the services of Christian Dvorak.
And even there, Bergevin had made sure he had a pick in reserve with the one acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes when they made the offer sheet to Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
Prior to this final trade, the last time a first-round pick was traded and acquired was in the same trade. It was under the era of Pierre Gauthier, when he had dealt with the Arizona Coyotes. At the time, Gauthier advanced to 22nd spot, in order to select defender Jarred Tinordi.
Since this is just a pick reversal, it doesn't really count towards acquiring or trading a first-round pick. So we have to go back even further to find one.
We must therefore go back to June 20, 2008 to see a transaction that sends a first-round pick from the Habs. That day, Bob Gainey traded a 2008 1st round pick and a 2009 2nd round pick to the Calgary Flames for Alex Tanguay and a 2008 5th round pick.
More than a year before, on February 25, 2007, it was the last time that the Habs acquired a first-round pick. Bob Gainey traded Craig Rivet and a 2008 5th round pick to the San Jose Sharks for Josh Gorges and a 2007 1st round pick, who became Max Pacioretty.
It was also during this draft the last time that the Habs selected two players in the first round. Prior to selecting Max Pacioretty at No. 22, Gainey drafted defenseman Ryan McDonagh at No. 12.
Let's hope that Kent Hughes will be able to imitate the 2007 draft, in which we also saw P.K. Subban join the CH in the 2nd round (47th overall).
