Having fun with a so-called “rumour” that the Montreal Canadiens may be pursuing superstar goal-scorer Alexander Ovechkin.
There are two main portions of the true NHL offseason when it comes to social media. Firstly, the portion where fans put their GM hats on and propose trades and signings. Ironically, us sports bloggers spend a lot of time here, but it’s what we do. Then there’s the portion of people who try to fill in for the real NHL insiders and create fake rumours. The most recent one involves the Montreal Canadiens.
It makes sense that rumours may exist around the Canadiens. Despite GM Marc Bergevin making an impactful trade for Jonathan Drouin, and extending Carey Price, there are some Habs fans who are disappointed. The team still sits on nearly $8.5 million in cap space and there’s no clear idea as to what Bergevin will use it for.
The Source
So this whole thing started after TSN 690’s Andrew Zadarnowski published a thought on Twitter.
Moment of lucid insanity: What if Bergevin is trying to make a play for Alex Ovechkin? He's got the cap space.
— Andrew Zadarnowski (@AZadarski) July 28, 2017
Habs fans seemed to have missed the part where he said, “moment of lucid insanity”, as well as the fact that it was just a thought. Now there are sites running away with this thinking that the Habs are trying to acquire Alex Ovechkin.
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After the Capitals failed to make it past the second round of the playoffs again, the confidence around the Great 8 fell to an all-time low. Caps GM Brian MacLellan‘s comments at the end of season sparked the possibility of Ovechkin being moved despite saying he wouldn’t.
Brian MacLellan's full answer when asked about people talking about the #Caps trading Alex Ovechkin: pic.twitter.com/bkrMKe2ycL
— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) May 30, 2017
Now this isn’t to agree with what Zadarnowski said, but I can understand the thought process. Unfortunately, Ovechkin wouldn’t satisfy the obvious needs of the team. Additionally, the price for acquiring him would be insane.
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If you would be trying to acquire an elite goal-scorer, then you’d best believe another one is going the other way. Ovechkin becoming a Canadien means Max Pacioretty will become a Capital. It wouldn’t stop there, Charles Hudon and Noah Juulsen would definitely be included. That’s just a sample, an actual deal would probably include a high pick or two as well.
The appeal in having another superstar on the team makes sense. However, Ovechkin is far from the answer.
Watch what you read on Twitter for the remainder of the summer. There will always be someone who will take a fun opinion, and try to make something more out of it. Ovechkin to the Habs is far from a rumour, it’s just fake news.
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What are the craziest rumours you’ve heard this offseason? Have you fallen for any of them? Let us know your thoughts below!