We just learned that Kent Hughes refused 5 players for David Reinbacher and a trade involving draft picks

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MarcO
January 14, 2024 (11:35 PM)

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Many were disappointed at the last draft when Kent Hughes set his sights on young David Reinbacher with the 5th overall pick. They would have greatly preferred the GM to select a forward such as Ryan Leonard or Zach Benson, or even the young Russian prospect Matvei Michkov.

The Canadiens eventually opted for another defender, as many would say. Given the information we now have, Kent Hughes took a big risk with this selection. User Shaun Hashim on platform X recently demonstrated why Kent Hughes was bold.

Hashim reminds us that Hughes not only passed on Michkov, Leonard, and Benson, but also refused several significant trade offers for his 5th selection. One of these, which was leaked, was with the Nashville Predators and involved young goalie Yaroslav Askarov, as well as two first-round picks, the 15th and 24th overall, which eventually became Matthew Wood and Tanner Molendyk.

The Cutter Gauthier saga also taught us that the Canadiens refused, at that same draft, a trade involving the young American forward. The Flyers wanted the Canadiens' 5th pick to be able to select Reinbacher and secure, with their 7th pick, Matvei Michkov.

As Nicolas Desrosiers from the site Marqueur reminds us, another trade was also refused by the Canadiens during the 2023 draft. Rumor has it that Steve Yzerman offered the 9th and 17th overall picks for the Tricolore's 5th pick. However, this offer was never confirmed...

Despite all the offers he received for this 5th pick, Kent Hughes decided to keep it and go with his original idea, namely to select defender David Reinbacher. However, there is still some time before we can truly assess these decisions and place blame, or not, on the GM.

Kent Hughes recently mentioned on RDS that his young D-man is currently playing his best hockey. If his start to the season in Europe was difficult, it seems to be getting back on track!

"David had a difficult start. He was injured early in the year. What he's starting to realize is that sometimes when you're chosen as high as fifth overall, you want to do everything. You want to be Bobby Orr and the best defensive defenseman at the same time. It's just a matter of continuing to understand what his identity is. We spoke with his coach, and he told us that the last three games have been his best of the season. We are also looking forward to David joining us." - Kent Hughes

A file that will certainly be thoroughly analyzed over the next few years!