Free washer | Proactive Kent Hughes

Kent Hughes would be looking to move up a few ranks ahead of the draft.

The GM of the Canadian would have had discussions with the San Jose Sharks, holders of the fourth choice in total, reports Alexandre Gascon, of Radio-Canada.

Arpon Basu of theathletic.com goes even further: Hughes reportedly made a call to the Anaheim Ducks to inquire about the availability of the second overall pick.

The information obtained by our two colleagues is very interesting and very relevant, but not surprising. A general manager holding a fifth overall pick in such a top-heavy draft wouldn’t be doing his job if he didn’t at least make a courtesy call to his counterparts.

And Hughes, precisely, is a proactive manager. He’s also likely spoken to the Blue Jackets’ Jarmo Kekalainen about the availability of the third pick, and possibly even Chicago, despite the odds of the Hawks giving up the once-in-a-lifetime chance to draft Connor Bedard.

However, the chances of success of the Canadian are very low. No club holding one of the first four picks has agreed to reverse their position with a rival since the Columbus Blue Jackets in … 2004. Doug MacLean had agreed to give up this choice to the Carolina Hurricanes against the eighth choice in total and a late second-round pick, at 59^e rank. Carolina drafted Andrew Ladd in the fourth overall, Columbus forward Alexandre Picard in the eighth and defenseman Kyle Wharton in the second round.

Picard has played 67 career NHL games and had two assists. Wharton didn’t even manage to establish himself in the American League. Ladd has played 1,001 career games, but very few with the Hurricanes, who traded him to Chicago in 2008 for Tuomo Ruutu. He played almost seven years for Carolina and came close to 60 points a few times.

In 2008, the fifth-ranked New York Islanders fell two spots to the Toronto Maple Leafs with a second-round pick in 2009 and third-round pick in 2008. Toronto drafted Luke Schenn and New York fell up two more spots, this time with Nashville — who held on to Colin Wilson in seventh — to secure an additional second pick. They picked Josh Bailey ninth overall. Bailey was ultimately the best of the three…

The Florida Panthers were the last to trade a first-place finish, in 2003, 20 years ago. Pittsburgh was keen to draft Marc-André Fleury in first place, ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes, and the Panthers had undoubtedly obtained the assurance of being able to get their hands on the player they coveted in third place, Nathan Horton.

They got a second-round pick, 55^e in total for this favor to the Penguins, but they gave up their 73^e. Second-round pick Stefan Meyer never broke through, but Penguins third-round pick Dan Carcillo played 429 NHL games, but none in Pittsburgh, as he was traded early in his career for Georges Laraque.

Carlsson or Fantilli?

Many have the reflex, perhaps wrongly, to conclude that the Canadian would hope to obtain the second choice in total to get their hands on Adam Fantilli.

They’d be surprised to know that Fantilli isn’t a unanimous No. 2 pick despite his 65 points in 36 games at the University of Michigan in the NCAA. Great Swedish center Leo Carlsson, 25 points in 44 games in the Swedish Premier League (SEL) and five points in eight World Championship games, has more followers among NHL organizations than you might think.

To read on Friday: who could interest CH in fifth place?

Marchessault, the first since…

Quebecer Jonathan Marchessault on Tuesday became the first player of the modern era to win the Conn-Smythe Trophy after being passed over in the draft.

Many mention Wayne Gretzky in 1988, but he was already with the Oilers in the World Hockey Association when Edmonton entered the NHL in 1979-80.

The Oilers had Gretzky on their short four-man protection list, so as to get him out of the 1980 draft. tied with Marcel Dionne, with 137 points, including 51 goals, in 79 games…

Marchessault represents the bargain of the century for the Golden Knights. Despite a 30-goal season in 2016-17, Panthers general manager at the time, Dale Tallon, chose to make him available in order to put four defensemen on his protection list, including two marginalized ones, Alex Petrovic and Mark Pysyk.

To make sure Vegas picked Marchessault and not another forward left unprotected, Tallon also traded Reilly Smith to the Golden Knights with a modest fourth-round pick.

Six years later, Marchessault and Smith lifted the Cup together. Smith also did his part in the playoffs with 14 points in 22 games, after a 56-point season…