If you had the choice, would you have taken the two best Quebecers in the QMJHL available or Alex Newhook?
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Kent Hughes preferred Newhook, and these Quebecers were still available after the first round, while 36 teams could speak before the Canadian in the third round.
The Canadiens had picks 31 and 37 and they traded them for Newhook.
Ethan Gauthier was the highest ranked Quebecer, between 15e and 30eaccording to experts.
Étienne Morin is between 26 and 60.
Mathieu Cataford is between 30 and 60.
Thus, with the choices 31 and 37, the Canadian was well placed to get two of the three best Quebecers.
But they ended up with the 69e. Thus, the two best in the QMJHL, Gauthier and Morin, were already drafted when the Canadian’s turn came.
Moreover, ironically, it was with the choice of the Canadian that Gauthier was drafted … by Tampa Bay.
Cataford was available with pick 69, but CH opted for a Florida keeper.
The reality is that Montreal was not interested in the best Quebecers.
I’m not saying it’s bad. It’s just a fact.
Kent Hughes has looked like a genius since he arrived in Montreal. The genius therefore ruled that the best Quebecers in the draft were not going to help his organization as much as Newhook, who has disappointed since his arrival in the NHL.
The Hughes Plan and the Quebecers
Everyone probably prefers a solid club without too many Quebecers to a bad club with lots of Quebecers. The CH has a certain duty to give more chances to Quebecers. But for Hughes, clearly, this kind of obligation cannot change the plan he is building.
The question isn’t whether Alex Newhook will be better than Ethan Gauthier, it’s more whether Newhook will be better than Gauthier and Étienne Morin. Because the CH could have taken both.
AFP
It’s easy to play stage manager. I didn’t watch Newhook, Gauthier, Cataford and Morin intensely, like the Canadiens scouts do.
But the Canadian was unfortunately able to disappoint us by escaping Anthony Beauvilier (for Noah Juulsen), William Carrier (for Jacob de la Rose), Nicolas Roy (for Lukas Vejdemo), Samuel Blais (for Nikolas Koberstein) or Anthony Duclair ( for Connor Crisp). These examples are more numerous than the Jonathan Drouin case which did not work.
If Gauthier, Morin or Cataford emerge as regulars in the NHL, while Newhook never produces more than 45 points, it will be a sad trade.
I spoke to a scout this morning. He would take Newhook before Gauthier and Morin. Newhook could be in a top 6 and not Gauthier, in his opinion. And Morin can explode as an offensive defender, but not as much as Newhook as a forward, in his opinion. And the latter will be the same age as the core of CH, unlike the other two who would mature in several years, when Suzuki’s contract ends, for example.
But he recognizes it, it is not impossible that Gauthier has more impact than expected or that Morin continues to explode.
I listened to analysts who follow the CH daily. They said the CH doesn’t lose much if it doesn’t work with Newhook, or in other words we don’t give a damn about picks 31 and 37, because it’s a roll of the dice. So that the best Quebecers are throws of the dice, who cares a bit.
I completely disagree. It has to work, Newhook. Imagine if one of the Quebecers gets a good place in the NHL and Newhook does not have much impact, we will talk about this exchange. The Canadian is therefore putting a lot of pressure on himself with this transaction.
Honestly, when I saw the trade, I was pretty excited. I remember what was said about Newhook before his draft and his 102 points in 53 games in British Columbia.
It’s better to walk
One of my best friends was outraged. “They traded perfect picks to get Quebecers. They will still ignore them.”
He knows his hockey, but his judgment is tainted. He doesn’t really like the Canadiens. One year, they are too small, the other year they don’t work hard enough and if not, there aren’t enough Quebeckers.
I explained to him that it was similar to the Kirby Dach exchange last year, that it had turned out really well as a transaction.
I don’t think my friend is alone in thinking like that.
I don’t think everyone cares that the Canadian has turned his nose up at the best Quebecers. And those who don’t like it have the right to say that we should remember it if it doesn’t work.
Experts agree that it’s been a horrible year for Quebec players, but the best have a future in the NHL.
