It was even reported that Kent Hughes had reached out to the Anaheim Ducks, who hold the second overall pick, but that General Manager Pat Verbeek's demands would be very high.
However, as reported by Cédrick Gervais, from the site Marqueur.com, a former Canadiens scout came up with a quite intriguing proposition.
According to Grant McCagg, Kent Hughes should trade his fifth overall pick to the Washington Capitals in return for the eighth selection and the Capitals' first pick in 2024.
The idea that the Canadiens would move down in the first round has been proposed a few times, but this scenario wouldn't be a bad idea under the circumstances.
As we know, it is highly likely that the player targeted by the Canadiens according to several experts, Will Smith, will no longer be available at the fifth spot. At that point, the Canadiens' GM would no longer have the pressure of having to draft a certain Matvei Michkov, and the latter would be a perfect fit with the Capitals because of the presence of several Russian players within the organization.
But where it could get interesting is that the Capitals are very likely to be a bottom-ranked team in 2023-2024, which means that their first-round pick could very well be a top ten pick.
Okay, we are still far from this scenario, but it could be a nice alternative for the Canadiens if Kent Hughes was unable to improve his first-round selection or if a certain Pierre-Luc Dubois slipped through his fingers.
POLL | ||
If you were in Kent Hughes' position, would you make this trade with the Capitals? | ||
Yes | 197 | 41.7 % |
No | 275 | 58.3 % |
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