Expansion draft helps Habs land skillful Jonathan Drouin from Tampa
MONTREAL — General manager Marc Bergevin couldn’t pass up a chance to bring one of the most talented French-Canadian players in the league to the Montreal Canadiens.
But it cost him perhaps his best prospect — big, mobile Windsor Spitfires defenceman Mikhail Sergachev — and a conditional 2018 draft pick for Drouin and a conditional pick.
“It’s a tough decision for sure,” Bergevin said Thursday. “We drafted (Sergachev) last year ninth overall, but to get a young player of Jonathan’s calibre, it’s something as an organization we could not pass by.
“The chance to put your hands on a player like that, at that age, and a guy from here, I can’t pass that up. We gave up a lot but I’m convinced we got back a big piece.”