Montreal Canadiens – Ones That Got Away

The Montreal Canadiens have seen many great players come up through their ranks, and just as many promising prospects not work out for them. Today we look at three players who were at one point in the Canadiens organization, and are now succeeding elsewhere.

Victor Mete

Victor Mete was a Canadien just months ago, but after he was waived in order to make roster space for trade deadline additions Jon Merrill and Erik Gustafsson, he found himself claimed and became a member of the Ottawa Senators. Mete looked very good in a small sample size with an advanced role with the Senators, using his strong skating and puck-moving ability. While only racking up two points in Ottawa thus far, he had a very respectable 0.781 Goals Above Replacement per 60 minutes (GAR/60), his best since his rookie season where he was partnered with Shea Weber. Mete is just 23 years of age, and recently signed a one-year, $1.2 million extension in Ottawa. Next season he looks to compete for a top-four spot on Ottawa’s blue line, and continue his strong play.

Mike Reilly

Mike Reilly never really got a chance to succeed in Montreal. Much like Mete, Reilly was moved just before the deadline back in 2020, this time in order to make space for new addition Marco Scandella. One difference is that Reilly managed to get the Canadiens a fifth-round pick in 2021, which has been moved a few times and became Jack Bar, as well as forward Andrew Sturtz. The result also seems eerily similar. Reilly got a bigger role in Ottawa, succeeded, and later was traded to the Boston Bruins at the 2021 trade deadline. He’s always been a good puck-moving defender, that looks good with both. the eye test and through analytics, but for some reason could never really crack the lineup as a regular in Montreal. Reilly signed a three-year, $3 million dollar extension with the Bruins, where he’ll likely be used as their second pairing left defender, behind Charlie McAvoy.

Ryan McDonagh

One of the most infamous lopsided trades in Canadiens history, the Canadiens trading top prospect Ryan McDonagh, alongside Chris Higgins, Doug Janik, and Pavel Valentenko to the New York Rangers in return for Scott Gomez, Tom Pyatt, and Michael Busto. McDonagh became a franchise defender in New York, and Gomez never eclipsed even 60 points in Montreal before departing after three disappointing seasons. McDonagh also recently defeated Montreal in the Stanley Cup finals in 2021, just to rub salt on the wound. He could’ve very easily been Montreal’s franchise defender alongside Subban, but it was not meant to be. He now plays with the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he’s celebrating back-to-back Stanley Cups.

To conclude, these three players could’ve been at least solid contributors to the Canadiens organization, but ended up finding success elsewhere. Hindsight is always 20/20, but there are some things that evidently could’ve gone differently.

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