The Penguins have outright destroyed a major trade of the Montreal Canadiens
What a major turnaround from the Florida Panthers at the end of this season.
Finding themselves among the last 10 teams in the league in January, they began a meteoric rise to get back into the playoff picture with only a few matches left in the season.
They finally qualified in the last match of the regular schedule, benefiting from a very fortunate coincidence that left them clear with the last place in the East for wildcard teams.
You know the rest, the Panthers overcame a deficit against the powerful Bruins, they flew past the Maple Leafs, and they swept the Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final.
When we say that a single detail can change the course of history and that you need a minimum of luck to win honors, well we have a very specific example involving the Pittsburgh Penguins.
While they had almost a guaranteed spot in the playoffs, having to face the two worst clubs in the league in Chicago and Columbus to qualify for the post-season, Sidney Crosby's team utterly failed at the task.
The Panthers' Stanley Cup Final could have easily been avoided by the Penguins, if they had won against the Blackhawks, in the penultimate duel of their season.
As Marco Normandin from Habsolumentfan.com so well explained, Florida's hopes of making the playoffs would have been annihilated if Pittsburgh had not dropped this game against one of the worst clubs in the league.
Here's all the impact of this Penguins loss on what followed in the NHL.
In essence, Pittsburgh outright destroyed Ben Chiarot's trade, which would have guaranteed the 14th overall pick to Montreal with a victory in this famous match.
To top off the coincidence and three playoff series later, this pick has dropped to the 31st or 32nd selection in the 2023 Draft.
A scenario that borders on disaster for the Montreal organization. We lost the chance to add a very high-level talent, for a potentially talented prospect, but who will come with a significant amount of uncertainty.
Credit: HabsolumentFan
| POLL | ||
Are you disappointed by the outcome of the Florida Panthers' pick, which will ultimately be as far back as the 31st or 32nd spot in the draft? | ||
| Yes | 103 | 49.3 % |
| No | 106 | 50.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
