Marc Bergevin refused to listen to his entire scouting staff when they drafted Jesperi Kotkaniemi
The Montreal Canadiens are in rebuild mode and are currently under direction of general manager Kent Hughes. Marc Bergevin was the former General Manager until he was relieved of his duties in November 2021. Bergevin made some debatable moves in Montreal and now we hearing rumors and speculation about moves the GM tried to make while employed with Montreal. TSN insider Pierre LeBrun reports that Bergevin tried to get Seth Jarvis from the Hurricane in exchange for Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Good thing for the Hurricanes they did not make this trade at the time. Seth Jarvis has turned into what looks like a promising young player. Time will tell if he can consistently improve and continue his scoring output after a fine season last year. Meanwhile, Kotkaniemi the third overall pick in 2018 really has not shown great promise despite being chosen so high. Rather than give up Jarvis, Carolina simply signed Kotkaniemi to an offer sheet in September 2021. Kotkaniemi has found himself skating on the third and fourth line at times. Not exactly the production your looking for such a hyped up player. Perhaps he just needs more time to develop.
LeBrun also reported in a tweet that Bergevin ignored the scouting staff who felt strongly about taking Brady Tkachuk over Jesperi Kotkaniemi in the 2018 draft, instead Bergevin allowed Trevor Timmins to select Kotkaniemi instead. It's fun to speculate and you never know how draft picks are going to turn out. But you'd have to image the Montreal organization and the fans would have been happier with Brady Tkachuk in their lineup. Brady is a solid NHL player that has contributed very well for the Senators. Kotkaniemi has yet to make that much of an impact with any of the teams he's played for.
Unlike Marc Bergevin, lets hope newer general manager Kent Hughes can get things turned around in Montreal and make some good draft picks that will set the organization up for the future.
