Canadiens: The One That Got Away

There’s no two ways about it, Brady Takchuk was one of the stars of Team USA obliteration of Finland. Once Mike Sullivan put him on a line with older brother Matthew and Jake Eichel, the line became unstoppable and produced three of the American’s four goals in the final frame, leading them to a 6-1 win.

What was painful wasn’t seeing the fan favourite Finns be dismantled like that, it was the fact the younger Tkachuk held the scalpel. Back in 2018, the Montreal Canadiens had the third overall pick at the NHL draft and were in desperate need for a center. Then-GM Marc Bergevin decided to use the pick on pivot Jesperi Kotkaniemi, leaving Tkachuk available for the Ottawa Senators to pick.

Then the Canadiens rushed Kotkaniemi to the NHL and essentially hindered his development. By the end of his three-year tenure with the Canadiens, he was a healthy scratch at times during the playoffs and not seeing eye-to-eye with the coach. It came as no surprised that he jumped on the over-inflated contract offered by the Carolina Hurricanes and he left Montreal without even thinking twice.

Meanwhile, Tkachuk evolved every year with the Senators, putting up 393 points in 496 games, collecting 728 penalty minutes along the way and the captains’ C. On Thursday night, seeing him take charge of the game putting up two goals and just leading his nation to a dominating performance, brought back memories of the 2018 draft.

Tkachuk really is the one that got away and probably the worst decision of the Bergevin era. The fact Kotkaniemi didn’t pan out and was lost for pretty much nothing in the 2021 Summer makes it even harder to get over.

That being said a year later, at the 2019 draft, the Canadiens were able to draft Cole Caufield because nearly half the league passed on him, including the Florida Panthers at 13 who picked up Spencer Knight and Philadelphia at 14th who went for Cam York. Drafting really is complicated and is by no means an exact science, but nothing I write here can take away the pain of seeing the younger Takchuk shine like that.

Stay updated with the most interesting Montreal Canadiens stories, analysis, breaking news, and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News, never to miss a story.

Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.

Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens’ page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.