The Montreal Canadiens Almost Stole Morgan Rielly From The Toronto Maple Leafs
The Montreal Canadiens have had a turbulent decade when it comes to drafting. From recent picks like Juraj Slafkovsky and David Reinbacher to others like Cole Caufield. Now one draft decision many years ago could have changed their future dramatically.
The 2012 NHL Draft
Heading into the 2012 NHL Draft the Montreal Canadiens had the third selection in the draft. New General Manager Marc Bergevin had a big decision ahead of him. The top of the draft had Nail Yakupov locked in at number one and then was wide open beyond that.
Marc Bergevin came in and really wanted to draft a certain player. However, the scouts already in place with the Montreal Canadiens fell in love with Alex Galchenyuk throughout the draft process. This left a big decision for the organization heading into draft day.
Must read on Daily Hockey Dose
Rielly vs. Galchenyuk
According to a new interview with Marc Bergevin, he was really high on Morgan Rielly. The scouts in place loved Alex Galchenyuk. Here is Bergevin's side of the story.
"Yes, I liked Rielly a lot. But I had just been hired on May 2, and my new staff liked Alex Galchenyuk a lot. I was with Chicago that season, and we had a later pick. We didn't waste time with Galchenyuk, who was probably going to be chosen among the first; besides, he had hardly played that winter. I looked at our center situation, we had David Desharnais, Tomas Plekanec, and Chucky was considered a center. You step into the job, you haven't seen Galchenyuk play, and you're going to force them to take another player? That's not a good way to start a relationship. I let them choose. Plus, I agreed, I knew we needed centers. But I really liked Morgan Rielly." - Marc Bergevin
This decision changed the trajectory of both organizations.
Galchenyuk played 654 NHL games and tallied 354 total points. He was regarded as a solid depth forward who played in a third-line scoring role. Galchenyuk recently found himself out of the NHL after getting into legal trouble.
Rielly on the other hand has played 719 total games and scored 414 total points. He has been a significantly better option. Rielly has been a mainstay on the back end in Toronto since being drafted in 2012.
This mishap by a young General Manager now can be looked back on in hindsight. Rielly was clearly the better choice and potentially if Bergevin had put his foot down and picked Morgan Rielly the Canadiens could have been better off.
| POLL | ||
4 SEPTEMBRE | 164 ANSWERS The Montreal Canadiens Almost Stole Morgan Rielly From The Toronto Maple Leafs Who would you have drafted if you went back to 2012? | ||
| Alex Galchenyuk | 29 | 17.7 % |
| Morgan Rielly | 135 | 82.3 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
Latest 10 stories
