The Canadiens tried to move up in the draft to select a Quebecer

Not that it was necessarily a surprise, but the Habs’ selection of David Reinbacher had many fans and pundits wondering. After all, Matvei Michkov was still available and many claimed that Kent Hughes was interested in the young Russian player.

We agree that the organization really had the youngster at heart. That’s one of the reasons they turned down a deal to bring Yaroslav Askarov to town.

Another little story that caused a stir at this draft happened today. For those watching rounds two through seven, you may have noticed that Kent Hughes had a long chat with Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong.

According to Renaud Lavoie, Hughes wanted to make a deal to move up in the draft and draft a certain Mathieu Cataford, a five-foot-11 forward.

Cataford is from Quebec and last year, he played with the Halifax Mooseheads. He had a good season, collecting 75 points, including 31 goals, in 68 games. During the team’s long playoff run, the 18-year-old collected 13 points in 21 games.

The Quebecer was finally selected 77th overall by the Vegas Golden Knights. The Coyotes’ choice (and possibly the choice discussed by both general managers) was 81st. Kelly McCrimmon was quicker than his Montreal counterpart.

The CH had a third-round pick before the Knights, but decided to draft Jacob Fowler instead. However, this is far from a mistake. As Martin Lapointe stated on 98.5 Sports, Fowler was the best goalie on his list .

And yet, five goalies were selected before him. They were Adam Gajan (35th overall, Chicago), Michael Hrabal (38th, Arizona), Trey Augustine (41st, Detroit), Carson Bjarnason (51st, Philadelphia) and Damian Clara (60th, Anaheim). Will Fowler end up haunting the teams that turned up their noses at him?

Although Hughes failed to land a homegrown player with the Coyotes’ pick, he made up for it by selecting Quentin Miller, a native of the metropolis.

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– Le Tigre takes a bow.