It is nearly impossible to predict just how the Montreal Canadiens’ organization will behave in the following two days at the NHL Entry Draft. There are a lot of names being thrown around and even more rumours concerning current roster players – especially P.K. Subban - and whether they will find themselves new homes within the next week and a half. For starters, the Habs are guaranteed to select at the ninth overall position and this year, the pool of talent available between the first and approximately 25th pick is very deep, and it seems that the teams selecting within that range will have a hard time making a bad decision.
However, the Canadiens have made a few (more than) memorable drafting mistakes in recent years that have been well-documented:
In 1995, Jarome Iginla was available whereas the team opted to select Terry Ryan.
In 1996, Daniel Briere could’ve joined his childhood team had it not been for Matt Higgins being selected 18th overall.
In 1997, they missed out on Marian Hossa and selected Jason Ward instead.
In 1998 Eric Chouinard would be prioritized over one Simon Gagne.
In 2000: they selected Hossa’s brother Marcel, missing the boat on a Brooks Orpik or Justin Williams.
In 2003, they selected Cory Urquhart while missing out on players such as Patrice Bergeron and Shea Weber. Also, and most notably, they picked Andrei Kostitsyn while missing out on Ryan Getzlaf, Jeff Carter and even Ryan Kesler- all of whom went on to become big, first-line scoring centers at some point in their careers.
In 2006, a large and offensive-oriented defenseman named David Fischer joined the Habs organization but never played in a single NHL game. Everyone had high hopes for him, and I’m fairly certain we would’ve all put our faith in the talented (and still available) Claude Giroux instead…
In 2009, Louis Leblanc was selected in front of the Montreal home crowd during the 100-year anniversary of the Habs. He turned out to be a bust, playing in only 50 games for the organization. Meanwhile the infamous Chris Kreider could’ve donned this city’s red, white and blue instead of the New York Rangers’ that will forever leave a bad taste in Habs fans’ mouths and cause nagging injuries to Carey Price’s knee from the 2014 Eastern Conference finals…
Finally, in 2010, Jarred Tinordi was selected with the 22nd overall pick. There were high expectations of Mark’s son but Tinordi never achieved them. He never quite found his game and would be traded last season while stirring quite a bit of controversy on airwaves for apparently not getting a fair chance. Either way, I’m sure Evgeny Kuznetsov would’ve looked great with a “CH” on his jersey…
While it’s easy for fans and members of the media to look back in hindsight and determine just how many blunders the organization had- I didn’t touch the 1970s and 1980s’ flops- there are nevertheless good choices that were made in past years and not necessarily in the first round alone:
In 1998, Michael Ryder was chosen in the 8th round and 218th overall. A natural goal-scorer albeit with limited talent elsewhere, he’d go on to score 25 goals in 2003-2004, 30 in two seasons in a row (2005-1007), 27 the following year with the Boston Bruins, 35 in 2011-2012 with the Dallas Stars and 10 during a 27-game stint with the Habs in 2012-2013.
That same year, lifelong Hab Andrei Markov went in the 6th round and 162nd overall. For years, he would be considered an elite defenseman and although he has slowed down due to countless injuries, he is still very much a huge part of this organization’s blue line 15 years later.
in 2001, (my personal favorite) Tomas Plekanec was chosen 71st overall. While he’s fallen off the grid recently and has never quite performed as well as he should have in the playoffs, his regular season offensive contributions (843 GP, 216 G, 337 A) simply cannot be ignored.
Jaroslav Halak was chosen with the 271st overall pick in 2003 and would lead the Montreal Canadiens to an epic season in 2010, almost singlehandedly carrying the team to the Eastern Conference finals while Carey Price watched from the bench.
The versatile defenseman/winger Mark Streit was selected in the 9th round and 262nd overall in 2004 at the age of 26. He did well as a power play quarterback for the Canadiens, amassing 34 points with the man advantage in 2007-2008. His market value skyrocketed and was traded to the New York Islanders shortly thereafter.
2010 would make up for Jarred Tirnordi with the emergence of Brendan Gallagher, the current “spark plug” of the team, selected in the 5th round and 147th overall. I believe this one speaks for itself…
Have I forgotten anyone in the second round? Comment below!
Honourable mentions: Guillaume Latendresse (45th overall, 2005) Maxim Lapierre (61st, 2003), Mike Ribeiro (45th in 1998) and Jose Theodore, chosen 44th in 1994.
My mind is boggled when I look at the year of the Subban: 2007. Drafted in the second round and 42nd overall, there’s no denying just how incredibly important this player is. At the age of 24, he won a Norris Trophy and continues to polarize nearly everybody who knows of him. Fans love him, while certain members of the media criticize him every instant they get.
Rumour has it that
over 10 teams are interested in acquiring his services before his no-movement clause kicks in on July 1st, and
Eklund wrote a very passionate article defending Subban and blasting Bergevin and Michel Therrien for even entertaining the notions of trading him.
Subban should stay. Period. If the organization gives him up, it will live to regret it for years to come. He’s undoubtedly a huge part of this team and one of its veteran leaders. Just as he so accurately said, the critics/haters need only to look at his numbers and be silenced rather quickly.
More to come soon!
And in case you missed it, Jennifer and I have started our very own podcast. When we initially recorded the first episode, we went with “Habs Talk Radio” and our loyal readers voted in favour of a name change to “HabsBuzz”.
Feel free to check it out below, subscribe to the RSS feeds and follow us!
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»