Dach was Hughes' plan B and the CH almost acquired another big center during the draft

Despite the fact that the 21 year old hasn't broken anything since his arrival in the NHL, he remains a nice project and the organization will give him every chance to make his mark next year.

Did you know that Kirby Dach was not the Habs' plan A?

As reported by Marco Normandin of Habsolumentfan.com, a source close to the Habs organization said that Kent Hughes had his sights set on probably the seventh pick, the one owned by the Ottawa Senators, and that he intended to use that pick to acquire a certain Pierre-Luc Dubois from the Winnipeg Jets.

Imagine for a moment: acquiring Pierre-Luc Dubois via trade in the middle of the Bell Centre. It would have been big. It is said that he was even present at the Bell Centre that night.

However, Hughes' plan fell through when the Senators traded their first round pick to acquire Alex DeBrincat from the Chicago Blackhawks.

It is not known if defenseman Alexander Romanov was part of the discussions in a possible trade with the Jets, but it is assumed that the price to acquire the seventh overall pick would have been higher than what the Habs gave the New York Islanders in the trade involving Romanov.

In the end, the Habs settled on Kirby Dach and the organization hopes he can blossom into a Habs uniform.

As for Dubois, he is expected to test the free agent market in the summer of 2024 and it will be interesting to see if the Habs continue to have interest in the center.