Ford Prefect
Registered User
2002. Columbus traded from #3 to #1 to get Rick Nash. Florida wanted Bouwmeester, which they still got due to some sort of negotiations with Atlanta, who took Lehtonen at 2.It doesn't matter, every year it's the same thing. When was the last time a 1st OA was traded?
GMs and Scouting teams (the only opinions that actually matter) follow these players and have clear favorites. Being more developed doesn't matter when draft time comes. No GM is trading 1st OA, unless it's an overpay. Demidov wouldn't even be the main piece to get 1st OA.
There are probably 5 players on the Habs that are more valuable then Demidov.
And you think someone is giving up 1st OA for the 5th best player?
As an aside, how many people would trade a third liner and two seconds for the #4 pick? Even more bizarre than trading #1, was Philly somehow acquiring the 4th pick from the Lightning for Ruslan Fedotenko who on his best day was a2nd/3rd line tweener, and 2seconds. Worst draft trade I've seen in 35 years. The draft was poor overall, but I'm sure they could have gotten much better value than that.
Further tangent: I would not want to have a high pick in the 2032 draft. For some reason, the drafts ending in 2 have been mostly abysmal. The 2022 draft is (so far) looking to be the worst draft of the decade. 2012 was the worst of the '10s, the 2002 was one of the worst of the new millennium, '92 wasn't quite the worst (there were some horrific drafts that decade) but certainly not very strong.