For three drafts in a row, the Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers would exchange 7th round picks. Who was picked? Why would they exchange all these 7th rounders? What caused it to end? We’ll go over all of it.
The First Trade
The first trade was the Flyers sending their 2017 7th round pick to Montreal on June 24, 2017 for Montreal’s 2018 7th round pick. Montreal used that pick to select goaltender Cayden Primeau. OUCH! Primeau is the son of former Flyer Keith Primeau. Cayden is already looking like a good replacement when Carey Price hangs up the pads. So, Montreal is already winning this exchange. But we have their 2018 7th.
The Second Trade
Montreal would reacquire their 2018 7th round pick in a June 23, 2018 trade. They gave up their 2019 7th round pick to the Flyers for it. With that pick, the Montreal Canadiens would select Brett Stapely with the 190th overall pick. He’s done nothing, but Montreal is still winning this exchange because the Flyers have gotten nothing except pushing back their use of Montreal’s 7th.
The Third Trade
Montreal would then reacquire their 2019 7th rounder by sending their 2020 7th rounder to Philly in a June 22, 2019 trade. With this pick, the Canadiens would select Rafael Harvey-Pinard. Again, Montreal has gotten 3 players out of this, including a really solid goaltending prospect, and the Flyers have not gotten anything tangible. This would be the final trade between the two clubs for 7ths.
What Came Next?
The Flyers would trade Montreal’s 7th, along with their own to Nashville for Nashville’s 5th. Nashville would use the two 7ths to select Gunnarwolfe Fontaine 202nd with Montreal’s 7th, and Chase McLane 209th with our 7th. We would use Nashville’s 5th to select Elliott Desnoyers.
Who Got What?
In the end, 3 teams got stuff from this exchange: the Flyers, Canadiens, and Predators. Montreal got Cayden Primeau, Brett Stapely, and Rafael Harvey-Pinard. Nashville would get Gunnarwolfe Fontaine and Chase McLane. Philly would get Elliott Desnoyers. It’s hard to pick an absolute winner right now, as most of these players have played none or minimal NHL games.
Montreal
Cayden Primeau
Primeau is the biggest name out of all of these prospects. In 6 NHL games, Primeau has a record of 2-3-1 with a .885 sv% anda 3.55 GAA all while turning 22 this past August. In 49 AHL games, he has a record of 28-15-3 with a .909sv%, a 2.28 GAA, and 6 shutouts
Brett Stapley
Stapley will be going into his senior year at University of Denver. So far, he has played in 80 games tallying 14 goals and 42 assists for 56 points.
Rafael Harvey-Pinard
Last season Harvey-Pinard played in 36 AHL games scoring 9 goals and 11 assists for 20 points.
Philadelphia
Elliott Desnoyers
Desnoyers is the only prospect here who isn’t a 7th round pick. In his draft +1 season with the Halifax Mooseheads in the QMJHL, he played in 37 games scoring 21 goals and 28 assists for 49 points.
Nashville
Gunnarwolfe Fontaine
Oh my god, what an amazing name, right??? In 21 games during his freshman year at Northwestern University, Fontaine had 6 goals and 9 assists for 15 points. He will be going back for his sophomore year.
Chase McLane
In McLane’s freshman year at Penn State this past year, he played in 19 games scoring 3 goals and 2 assists for 5 points and is going back for his sophomore year.
By Noah Caplan (@Phlyers24 and NoahlyPod)
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