Many supporters or analysts blame the former chief recruiter Trevor Timmins for the drought years of the Montreal Canadiens in terms of attracting the team’s prospect bank under the reign of Marc Bergevin.
Although he obviously has his share of the blame, we must not forget that his hands were sometimes tied in his work, preventing him from making the right choices.
We were discussing it this week in the new episode of Poolcast with our guest Jean-Thomas Jobin.
During this segment of the episode, I report information from the former CH recruiter Grant McCagg who had compiled, according to his information, some draft picks that Timmins intended to make if he had not seen his work being obstructed by the decisions of his GM.
First, he is responsible for the choices of Ryan McDonagh, PK Subban et Mikhail Sergachev. Three elite defensemen in the NHL.
Then, as McCagg reports, during two specific draft sessions, he would have potentially hit other home runs.
- First, in 2008, the Canadian had the 25th overall pick in the first round. On the other hand, the CEO at the time, Bob Gaineyhad decided to trade this choice to the Calgary Flames in exchange for the veteran forward Alex Tanguay. If he had access to this pick on the draft floor, it’s the defenseman John Carlson that Timmins had in its sights. Carlson’s name was called immediately after, at 27th overall by the Washington Capitals. This information has already been corroborated by the journalist Mathias Brunet of The Press.
- Then, in 2016, the Canadian had two second-round picks, 39th and 45th overall. Marc Bergevin however, decided to trade them both to the Chicago Blackhawks for the veteran forward Andrew Shaw. According to McCagg, these are the defenders Samuel Girard et Adam Fox that Timmins had in its sights at that time.
So, in a parallel world where Timmins would not have had its hands tied, here is what the Canadiens’ defensive brigade could potentially have looked like.
Carlson – Fox
McDonagh – Girard
Subban – Sergachev
Romanov
We have to admit that this is an impressive group of names to say the least!
- Moreover, in 2013 Timmins saw its work sabotaged again while a very well-placed member of the team organization already told me that that year, the choice was an order from senior management. who absolutely wanted a big striker capable of standing up to Milan Lucic of the Boston Bruins who intimidated the Canadiens players in every game between the two teams. He therefore had no choice but to carry out the orders of his bosses. We don’t know who his choice would have been but we know that the defender Shea Theodore was selected immediately after by the Anaheim Ducks.
It is true that Trevor Timmins made his mistakes and bad choices during his long career in Montreal, but we must not forget that he did not always have carte blanche from senior management when the time came to put his knowledge to good use.
See the post at the bottom.
Canada
