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Montreal Canadiens: Five Worst Draft Picks Since 2000

By Ken MacMillan

PITTSBURGH, PA - JUNE 22: Alex Galchenyuk (C), third overall pick by the Montreal Canadiens, poses with team representatives during Round One of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft at Consol Energy Center on June 22, 2012 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - JUNE 22: Alex Galchenyuk (C), third overall pick by the Montreal Canadiens, poses with team representatives during Round One of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft at Consol Energy Center on June 22, 2012 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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Montreal Canadiens
MONTREAL, QC – APRIL 03: Alex Galchenyuk /

#5: Alex Galchenyuk

The Montreal Canadiens had a miserable season in 2011-12. They were firing coaches, replacing them with a sitting duck behind the bench, trading players in the middle of games and generally just losing a lot.

When that happens, typically a team is rewarded with a high pick in the NHL Draft. That is exactly what happened for the Habs in the 2012 draft. They had the third overall pick and after Nail Yakupov and Ryan Murray were selected, they had a difficult choice.

Rankings differed on who was the next best player as Alex Galchenyuk played just three regular season games after a knee injury. Filip Forsberg, Mikhail Grigorenko and Teuvo Teravainen offered the chance to pick a highly skilled forward from Europe. Griffin Reinhart, Matt Dumba, Hampus Lindholm, Jacob Trouba, Derrick Pouliot and Morgan Rielly were all highly ranked defenders.

As well all know, the Habs settled on Galchenyuk. He had a few flashes where he displayed his skill with the Habs, but didn’t have the hockey sense to fill the centre role that he was penciled into when he was drafted. The Habs ultimately traded him for Max Domi just before his career crashed. He has played for three teams in the past two seasons and will be lucky to extend his NHL career beyond this season.

He has 320 points in 574 career games which isn’t terrible, but he was expected to be the first line centre of the future for the Canadiens. He had a few good years with the Habs, but fell far from reaching his potential when he was selected with the third overall pick.

#4: Nikita Scherbak

Scherbak was a soiled Russian winger playing for the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL when the Habs drafted him. He was expected to develop into a top six scoring winger for the Canadiens after they took him with the 26th overall selection in the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft.

Scherbak became a good scorer at the AHL level, putting up 71 points in 92 games during his final two years in the Habs minor league system. Things didn’t exactly translate to the NHL level for him.

Scherbak played a total of 29 games in a Habs sweater and scored five goals and seven points. He was claimed on waivers by the Los Angeles Kings and then scored one goal in eight games in California before being waived again. This time no one bothered to claim him and take him for free. He scored three goals in 31 KHL games this season.

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