First choice in 2022: “We’ve never changed our mind”

Episode #5 of La reconstruction, presented on Crave, takes us back in time. The first topic of the episode? The 2022 draft.

At the time, many fans were wondering whether Shane Wright, the popular choice, would be the Habs’ selection. But clearly, Juraj Slafkovsky – and even Logan Cooley, at some point – was an option.

In the days leading up to the draft, it was unclear whether the Habs knew who their man was.

But now, in the Habs series, Jeff Gorton has said something that makes us believe that yes, the Flanelle knew exactly that Slaf was going to be the #1 pick at the auction.

He said this.

Fans had their prospects elsewhere, but we never changed our minds. – Jeff Gorton on the first pick of 2022

Clearly, the Habs VP had long known that Slaf was the man for the job. And even though the executives challenged each other to be sure of their choice, Wright was not selected.

Not having dinner with Slafkovsky before the draft put everyone on the wrong track. Just like the story with Ivan Demidov in Florida…

“For those who want to know why we didn’t go (see Demidov) in Florida… We didn’t want to announce to everyone how much interest we had!”
– Kent Hughes on Ivan Demidov pic.twitter.com/GM19mGjW0v

– RDS (@RDSca) June 29, 2024

What I also note is that Gorton later added that it takes a special character to play in Montreal as the first overall pick. And clearly, the habs must not have thought Wright had those tools in his trunk.

Gorton even mentioned Wright’s famous look when he was selected by Seattle. And in his eyes, that meant he wanted to be chosen by the Montreal Canadiens instead of Slaf…

“We had a player stare us down at the draft because he wanted to be here.”

Jeff Gorton refers to the look on Shane Wright’s face in the Habs doc

– Nicolas Cloutier (@NCloutierTVA) October 2, 2024

Still, right?

Gorton and his crew probably figured that look confirmed all the doubts they had about him. And right now, I don’t think the Habs are regretting their choice.

Overtime

– Lane Hutson among revelations across NHL camps. [NYT]

– No, the players don’t want change.

When the Canadiens see Arber Xhekaj do whatever it takes to defend them, they value that more than most people understand. They don’t want Xhekaj to change, nor should they.(@EricEngels) https://t.co/QZ0w3Qjzpw

– Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 2, 2024