In yesterday’s edition of the popular 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas discussed a variety of topics as always, including the last news in Montreal Canadiens’ land. Of course, that meant their recent trade with the Nashville Predators which saw Alexandre Carrier come back home in return for fellow blueliner Justin Barron, but there was more.
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Like everyone on the hockey planet, Friedman also mentioned Kent Hughes and co. going to Russia this past week to see Ivan Demidov (and Bogdan Konyushkov) play. In the segment, the insider talked about the fact some Canadiens’ fans are still not over their team selecting David Reinbacher rather than Matvei Michkov at the 2023 draft.
Essentially, Friedman told the disgruntled fans to “get over it” albeit in more polite terms, but the essence of the message was the same. Of course, the fact that the Philadelphia Flyers’ rookie came over to North America early while the Habs pick suffered an injury which could keep him out of action all season didn’t help matters, but in due course, something, or someone rather will.
The seasoned hockey mind called Demidov an “absolute stud”, and added that once he’s playing for the Canadiens, he’ll certainly help Canadiens’ fans move past the “Michkov Snub”.
Furthermore he added there was no reason to be upset as Michkov wanted to go to Philadelphia and had made that very clear, resulting in the Flyers picking him at seventh overall. While he was still available when the Canadiens took to the podium and Carey Price announced they were picking David…. (Kent Hughes to the rescue), it’s far from certain he would have been ready and willing to play in Montreal.
Related: Hughes To Negotiate With SKA St. Petersburg Today
All things considered, Friedman is spot on, it’s high time for fans to move past this, not only because they’ll soon have their own Russian phenomenon to marvel at, but also because right now, they’ve got an exciting young defenseman who’s third in rookie scoring behind two amazing forwards in the above mentioned Michkov and San Jose’s Macklin Celebrini.
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