Behind the scenes of the draft: We didn’t see much of Serge Boisvert and Donald Audette

Last night, the Canadiens released their very popular behind-the-scenes video of the draft.

Fans had a chance to see many of the club’s prospects, and they were also able to hear the discussions that took place before the draft.

It was here that we learned just how much management had fallen in love with Ivan Demidov and Michael Hage.

But in the video, there’s also one thing that stands out quite easily.

We don’t see much of Quebec’s two amateur scouts (Serge Boisvert and Donald Audette), and it suggests that they don’t take up much room at the table when it comes to a particular prospect.

Ben Shutron, Joey Tenute and Billy Ryan seem to have a big voice in the group.

Maybe that explains why the Habs didn’t draft a player from the QMJHL.

Mikus Vecvanags was supposed to play in the Québécois circuit for the 2024-2025 season… But let’s remember that he decided to head for the BCHL instead, where he’ll wear the Brooks Bandits’ colors for the next campaign.

That said, the video is only 30 minutes long (approximately).

It doesn’t show everything that happened in the days and hours leading up to the draft presentation, but it’s still an easy statement to make.

It’s not as if we’re seeing Audette or Boisvert pushing for a particular guy in the video, after all. Likewise, we can see that the discussions about Demidov and Hage were quite clear… And it’s the same scouts who are pushing in the same direction when talking about the two youngsters.

However, when it comes down to it, managers make decisions to win, not to please the fans. Aatos Koivu is a good example.

Donald Audette explained it well in an interview in 2023: the scout fights for the guys from Quebec, but it’s Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton who have the final say in the end.

In fact, Hughes and Gorton make their choices with the help of the scouts, and this is perhaps where Serge Boisvert and Donald Audette should play a bigger role.

Overtime

– Hockey Canada scandal: we still have to wait.

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– Rick Westhead (@rwesthead) August 23, 2024