(Buffalo) In 2020, it was Mitchell Miller. In 2021, it was Logan Mailloux.

From time to time, draft prospects get caught up in their past. Each case is obviously different, which will determine whether the NHL, teams and public give up or not. The Coyotes, then the Bruins, quickly understood that Miller’s mistakes were indefensible. Mailloux was subject to a probation period, and his efforts allowed him to play his first NHL game at the very end of the 2023-2024 season.

This year, the hope in this situation is Trevor Connelly. Last February, The Athletic published a rigorous report on this hope with a tainted past.

The main incident: his post on Snapchat, in 2022, where we see one of his teammates in front of children’s blocks assembled to form a swastika. He admitted his fault for this publication and apologized.

But other allegations were raised by The Athletic: racial slurs, an instance of him urinating on a classmate’s belongings, and numerous accounts from parents saying they didn’t want their child to be a teammate by Connelly. The latter, however, does not recognize these allegations, and for one of them (the urine incident), it would be a response from Connelly to an initiation of which he was the victim.

Anyway, the rest of the story isn’t black and white, but the family threatened to sue The Athletic.

The Canadian is one of these 22 teams. For what it’s worth, when Connelly was performing his physical tests on Saturday (he was part of the 1:30 p.m. group, the last of the day), the CH representatives who attended were seen leaving the premises.

He also met with the media, as did most of the 100 prospects on hand. The press scrum was a constant awkwardness. Interspersed between questions about his predicament were more frivolous stuff about his hockey idols and his skills on the ice. And for some reason, NHL Central Scouting Director Dan Marr attended the press conference and even impromptu reporter, asking him what he did to shake off his lethargy.

Connelly’s message to the teams he met with? “I told them I’ve been working on myself a lot and doing community work, volunteering. I don’t want to feel sorry for the past. I want to move forward, be the best person I can be. »

We talked about it this week, but the hopefuls’ dinners with team leaders always get people talking.

However, remember that the value of these dinners is relative. That’s especially true since two potential top-5 picks, Russians Ivan Demidov and Anton Silayev, weren’t in Buffalo. In addition, teams can very well invite hopefuls to a second interview, without it being around tempeh rice. This is what the Habs did with Juraj Slafkovsky in 2022, for example.

Here is what we were able to glean from the teams that speak before the Canadian, excluding San José from the exercise, since the choice of Macklin Celebrini seems obvious. The list is not intended to be exhaustive and should obviously be taken with a grain of salt. Or with Mongrain de sel, the nostalgic will say.

Our interview with Cole Hutson took place late Tuesday afternoon. Lane Hutson’s younger brother had not yet met the CH. He told us that he had prepared for the animal question, and planned to answer in Montreal that he saw himself as a terrier, a nod to the name of the Boston University team, where he will play in the fall. next.

Hutson said he enjoyed his encounter with Montreal, particularly because he knew “quite a few people.” “We acted like we didn’t know each other,” he said.

Leading the drill was Martin Lapointe, perhaps the staff member he knows best. Hutson hails from the Chicago area, where the Lapointe family has been based for years. “I grew up with Noah [one of Martin’s sons]. I’ve played with him for the last two years. We’ve been playing together since I was about eight. We’re super close. It’s a good family.”

Another one who was in familiar territory is Teddy Stiga. We are talking about a forward expected in the 2nd round or later, member of the United States National Development Program, who will be admitted to Boston College next fall.

Stiga played for Boston Junior Eagles in 2021-22. And who was the head coach of this team? Kent Hughes himself! It was during this season that Hughes was hired as general manager of the Canadiens.

Did the young people know that their coach was accepting one of the most high-profile positions in hockey? ” A little. He got the job right before the nationals, so he was gone for a while, but he came back for the championships. It was cool. We were all happy for him. »

Hughes attended Stiga’s interview with the Habs. “It was nice to see him again, and not really awkward. He’s a good guy, so it was easy. »