Montreal Canadiens: Looking Back on Montreal’s Expansion Draft History

1972 and 1974: Top Prospects Get Fresh Starts

I didn’t really have much to add regarding the 1970 Draft, as the Canadiens really didn’t lose anything of note (Ralph Stewart, anyone)? Heading into 1972 and 1974 however, the Canadiens had two players who were of the upmost interest to the teams present at that year’s draft. The emergence of Ken Dryden as Montreal’s franchise goalie definitely made life difficult for some of their other prospects, most of whom had been selected as hopeful replacements for Gump Worsley and Rogie Vachon.

Phil Myre was seen as a talented starting option coming out of the OHA, with the Quebec native being taken fifth overall by the Habs in 1966. After struggling to find playing time behind Vachon and Dryden however, the Atlanta Flames took Myre as their future franchise player, with the first pick in the 1972 Expansion Draft. Less than two years later, in 1974, and the story repeated itself again, with former first overall pick in 1968, Michel Plasse being taken by the Kansas City Scouts with the first pick.

Both Plasse and Myre had become expendable to the Canadiens in spite of their solid numbers and high potential, something which they unfortunately never truly fulfilled at the NHL level. While Myre put up a solid fight behind a lackluster Atlanta defense, ditto Plasse with the Scouts, both options mostly treaded waters with lackluster, if not downright basement dwelling teams for most, if not the entirety of their careers. Plasse managed a solid season with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 75-76 before recording 10 wins in a season just once more in his career, and Myre drifted off to St Louis and eventually the Colorado Rockies, where he spent his last significant action in 1982-83. In spite of the expectations surrounding these two players, this marked another Draft where some of Montreal’s top prospects went little if anywhere behind some of the NHL’s weaker teams.