Once a Kings Fan Too
Rejoint: juin 2018
Messages: 40,689
Mentions "j'aime": 25,516
First off, it's hard to see how you're going to overtake Pittsburgh and Washington when both teams are at least two games ahead of you and both teams have at least two games in hand and both teams have the tiebreaker RWs over you.
If the Canadiens have the 10th overall pick, it won't fetch Johnson or Zegras without a couple of A prospects.
There is a qualitative difference between a player who has proven himself in three or four NHL seasons and the potential of a high draft pick. The guy picked immediately after Z in 2019 was Vasily Podkolzin. The guy picked at #9 (Z's slot) the prior year was Vitali Kravtsov. The 2017 draft had disappointments at nos. 6 and 7. Alexander Nylander was #8 in 2016 and Tyson Jost was #10. The risk of trading Zegras or Johnson for a guy who doesn't pan out has a cost.