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The Ottawa Senators passed on Vasilevskiy at the 2012 draft for the wildest reason ever

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Dorin Canaday
May 30, 2022 (3:37 PM)

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Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning is arguably the best goalie in the NHL, and honestly, it's not close. The 27-year-old goaltender already has two Stanley Cups, a Vezina Trophy and a Conn Smythe Trophy.

Looking back, it's hard to believe Vasilevskiy was available at the 19th overall selection of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, where of course, the Lightning ended up picking him.

It turns out another team that picked before the Lightning had their eyes on the Russian goaltender as well. The Ottawa Senators, who chose 15th, had a massive interest in Vasilevskiy, but everything changed in the strangest way possible.

According to reports, a meeting with the Senators and his agency was set up but never happened, here's why:

Tyjnych said there were a few teams picking ahead of Tampa Bay at No. 19 that were interested, including Ottawa, who was at No. 15.

Tyjnych said Senators GM Bryan Murray asked after the combine if they could interview Vasilevskiy in Ottawa, where the goalie prospect was training. They were going to fly in Russian defenseman Sergei Gonchar to help in the talks. But the day before the scheduled interview, Vasilevskiy went to a water park for a few hours.

" It was a very, very hot day," Tyjnych said. "He was burned. He was so red. So I called Ottawa and said, I'm so sorry, He's feeling bad, maybe some fever. Can we postpone for two or three days?

They said, "OK," but seemed disappointed.

"They never called me back."

Basically, the Senators missed out on Andrei Vasilevskiy because of a bad sunburn. Easily one of the wildest ways a team basically passed on a prospect at a draft.

The Senators would go on to draft defenseman Cody Ceci with the 15th overall selection, who is revitalizing his career with the Edmonton Oilers right now. While Vasilevskiy joined the Lightning in 2014 and has a record of 355-229-101, with a goals-against-average of 2.50, a .919 save percentage and 28 shutouts.

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NHL players in this story
Cody Ceci
Andrei Vasilevskiy

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