Elliotte Friedman Confirms Shocking Details of Two Failed Draft-Day Trades Last Year
Photo credit: Athlon Sports
The Montreal Canadiens have landed a star of the future in Ivan Demidov, but according to Elliotte Friedman, two draft day deals could have changed that history.
This week, the NHL world got a shock when Ivan Demidov was officially announced to be joining the Montreal Canadiens after SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL allowed him to leave and head for North America.
The move came with incredible excitement, especially in Montreal, who are now getting another major look at a key piece of their future, but according to Elliotte Friedman, things almost went very, very differently.
In the latest 32 Thoughts article, the NHL's top insider details two trades that could have changed the course of history for the Stanley Cup Playoffs bound Canadiens.
"Was talking with a few teams about the Demidov signing. It's believed there were two aborted trades at last year's draft that could have changed history. First was Chicago's offer to trade their 2026 first-rounder (unprotected) for the fourth pick, which the Blue Jackets turned down. (They took Cayden Lindstrom.)
Second was the Canadiens' own attempt to acquire Trevor Zegras. I've never received complete clarity on why that deal didn't happen, but I suspect it's because the Canadiens changed their minds when they realized Demidov would fall to five - although they were not offering that particular pick in the Zegras deal."
Second was the Canadiens' own attempt to acquire Trevor Zegras. I've never received complete clarity on why that deal didn't happen, but I suspect it's because the Canadiens changed their minds when they realized Demidov would fall to five - although they were not offering that particular pick in the Zegras deal."
The most intriguing of all was the deal that would have seen the Columbus Blue Jackets move the fourth overall pick to Chicago, who would have paired Demidov with the No. 2 pick Artyom Levshunov, who has already arrived in the NHL for the Blackhawks.
The second potential deal involves Kent Hughes' offer to Anaheim for Trevor Zegras, and while they may not have been offering their top pick, if they had of acquired the young Ducks star, it could have changed their plans altogether.
Ultimately, things didn't play out that way though, and Montreal landed perhaps the second best player in the draft behind Macklin Celebrini, and with the emergence of Lane Hutson, this is a team that could become the next big Canadiens dynasty.
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AVRIL 10 | 277 ANSWERS Elliotte Friedman Confirms Shocking Details of Two Failed Draft-Day Trades Last Year Will Ivan Demidov be an All-Star in the NHL? | ||
| Yes | 188 | 67.9 % |
| No | 89 | 32.1 % |
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