I really don't get why some feel this way. Ever since Bergevin took over, he hired and placed more scouts in Quebec. The result? Since his first draft in 2012, Habs have drafted 7 players from the Q out of the 32 picks they've made under his reign. That's about 22% of their draftees coming from the Q.
Since MB has GM'ed 5 drafts, if you look at the Habs previous 5 drafts from 2011 back to 2007, the previous administration had picked 5 players from the Q out of the 34 picks they made in all those years combined. That is 15% of their draftees coming from the Q.
From '07 to '11, the team went from 15% of their picks coming from the Q to 22% of them from '12 to '16. Bergevin promised he will put more focus in our own "backyard" and you can't say he hasn't done this.
Folks need to remember that the Q isn't the only Junior league in the country. We have the USHL and not to mention more eyes on the European circuit as well.
Bergevin's picks from the Q: Hudon, Andrighetto, Fucale, Reway, Gregoire, Audette, and Bourque.
Gainey/Gauthier picks from the Q: Fortier, Dumont, Ellis, Archambault, and Beaulieu.
Interesting, as I don't think about it but clearly they have done a better job drafting out of the Q then in the past, although I would add Leblanc to the Gainey/Gauthier era since he was from Quebec. Plus they picked up guys like St-Denis, Bournival, James Sanford, DD, Cedrick Desjardins, Dany Masse, MAB, Robert Mayer, Maxime Lacroix, Benoit Pouliot, Eric Neilson, Mathieu Darche, Olivier Latendresse, Thomas Beauregard, Peter Delmas and Philippe Lefebvre. So they did bring in some local FA's or undrafted FA's out of the Q assuming all the players I named were signed under Gainey/Goat. I know they appeared in Hamilton between '08 and '11 seasons.
Under MB they have brought in Barberio, Matteau, Alex Belzile, Maxime Macenauer, Stefan Fournier, Jack Nevins, Angelo Miceli, Alexandre Ranger, Jérémie Blain.
In the end I don't have a problem if they go to their backyard more, my only concern is that you don't chop off your foot to save your hand. I just want them to pick the best players and not be pressured into picking ones because of where they are from. I can understand it might sell more tickets and that many fans might prefer to have a local vs someone else but at the end of the day this is the most storied franchise in hockey that hasn't been to a cup finals since '93. It's bad enough they limit themselves in the coaching department so hopefully they just find players that they think can help them win. Guys like Hudon, Ghetto, Reway, Bourque I don't have any problem with picking them where they were picked.
One thing I have always said is why not sign more undrafted kids out of the Q to AHL contracts to play in the ECHL, don't see how it can hurt. Every year they are forced to bring up some ECHL call ups anyway so why not try to see if you can find a hidden gem from a bigger amount of players on AHL deals. I wanted them to sign/re-sign Belzile and Ranger to AHL deals.
When was the last time the Habs had a forward with McCarron's physique? If he can put it to good use, fans in other cities will be muttering to themselves.
not many teams have ever had a forward with McCarron's physique at 18 that could skate and produce offense. I've been a big supporter of McCarron since day 1, I think he's going to be a beast for us, even if it is just as a 3rd or 4th liner. The work he does on the PP in the crease alone is going to be gold for us.