NHL Draft collusion: Mathieu Chouinard tells his story

Is there collusion at the NHL draft? To hear Mathieu Chouinard tell it, the answer is yes.

The man we know today as an analyst for TVA Sports and BPM Sports agreed to tell the story of his draft while on the PoolCast podcast.

Here’s the result:

As Marco Normandin discussed in a text on the subject, Chouinard was drafted by the Senators in the first round in 1998. He was the 15th overall pick that year.

He had two years to sign his entry-level contract, but it didn’t happen.

The former goalie, who played one NHL game (with the Kings) in his career, was offered (in 2000, the deadline for signing) a smaller contract than the guys drafted before and after him. The Sens wanted nothing to do with offering him a good entry-level contract.

Chouinard said no, and in 2000, he became eligible for the draft again. And once again, it was the Sens who chose him.

In effect, because Chouinard wasn’t signed, the Sens got the 45th overall pick in 2000 as compensation. And it was with that pick that the goalie was drafted.

He lost all negotiating leeway and signed at a discount.

So Ottawa won out all round, but the Quebecer doesn’t believe things were done the right way. He can’t prove it, but he talks of collusion to keep him in Ottawa under such conditions.

In his eyes, goalies not as good as him were released earlier in the draft, which was suspicious.

We asked questions and were told by certain teams that they were obliged not to draft me and let me slide to the Ottawa Senators. – Mathieu Chouinard

That’s why the goalie talks about collusion in the Bettman circuit – and nobody does anything about it. After all, the Sens made sure to keep him in Ottawa, but under conditions that kept the club in control.

That’s not a good way to start a pro career.

in gossip

– Well done.

Evan Mobley voted NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Luguentz Dort 4th in voting https://t.co/PQyiBRAzao

– Radio-Canada Sports (@RC_Sports) April 25, 2025

– To be continued.

Source indicates this in the incident in question. Sens players firing pucks at Stolarz in warmup. https://t.co/c5JmFgKCrV

– Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) April 25, 2025

– Wow.

https://t.co/PQXqQ0adl5

– TVA Sports (@TVASports) April 25, 2025