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Norman Flynn would trade the 5th pick for an established player

Right now, there’s a lot of talk among Montreal Canadiens fans about the team’s fifth overall pick in the first round of the draft on June 28.

The question on everyone’s mind is who the Habs will pick when Kent Hughes and his team take the stage at the Las Vegas Sphere.

Every Tricolore fan has a favorite among the various prospects who will be available at the draft, and that makes for good debate and discussion.

Ivan Demidov? Cayden Lindstrom? Tij Iginla? Berkly Catton? Beckett Sennecke? To be continued.

What’s overlooked when talking about the Montreal Canadiens’ fifth pick, however, is the fact that until the Habs are on stage ready to talk and announce their pick, the slim possibility of the Habs trading their pick still exists.

Indeed, it’s a very real possibility, even if it’s one that’s rarely discussed.

In fact, it’s an avenue that some would pursue if they were in Kent Hughes’ shoes.

Such is the case for RDS analyst Norman Flynn, who would make the fifth pick available in order to get an established player right away.

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As we understand it from this 5-7 segment, Flynn feels that the rebuild has gone on long enough, and that the Habs must find a way to avoid finishing eighth and last in the Atlantic Division once again.

For Flynn, it’s time to make the fifth overall pick available to all other NHL teams, and to listen very carefully to offers for immediate reinforcements (an established top-6 forward).

The RDS analyst adds that, in the end, the Habs could keep their pick if they don’t get the offer they want, but that they still have to listen to all offers.

Flynn believes that such a deal would allow the Tricolore to catch up with the other teams in the division, who will be no worse than this season next season.

Of course, Flynn isn’t talking about all the teams in the Atlantic Division.

He’s only talking about the other teams in rebuilding or in the final stages of rebuilding: the Detroit Red Wings, the Buffalo Sabres and the Ottawa Senators.

For Flynn, the Habs will be in a race with these three teams if they can catch up (or even surpass them) by trading the fifth pick for an established player.

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Obviously, this is just one opinion among many, and I completely disagree.

What’s the point of accelerating the rebuild like this just to fight for fifth place in the division, a position the Habs are in no way guaranteed to reach, and which might not even give them access to the playoffs?

Honestly, I don’t see where the stress is to absolutely stop finishing in 8ᡉ place in the Atlantic Division as early as next season.

There’s no rush, and there’s nothing dramatic about finishing another season at the bottom of the division, especially not when it allows you to pick up an excellent draft pick like the fifth.

Drafting an 18-year-old with elite potential who will most likely be playing on the top two threes within a few years is far more valuable to Kent Hughes than picking up an established player over 25.

I’d much rather have Cayden Lindstrom than Martin Necas or another established player.

I like Necas, but I’d never give the fifth pick for him.

A deal surrounding the Jets pick (26ᡉ rank) would make much more sense, in my opinion.

In short, the Habs owe it to themselves to be patient one more season, and draft an excellent forward at the 5ᡉ echelon.

In Burst

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– He’s on fire.