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Jim Benning knows to expect the unexpected at the NHL Entry Draft.

The Vancouver Canucks’ general manager knew The Fab Four of Rasmus Dahlin, Andrei Svechnikov, Brady Tkachuk and Filip Zadina were early locks to go in that order when the first round is held Friday in Dallas.

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He also knew better. His peers have been working the phones and the trickle-down effect of pre-draft trades or moving picks could alter the selection order. After all, the only certainty is Buffalo selecting Dahlin first overall and Carolina following with Svechnikov.

After that, who knows?

“I agree on that,” said Benning. “I’m keeping all my options open, but I would think we would be making the pick at No. 7 — and if the draft was today — we’d be making it.”

When Montreal shipped Alex Galchenyuk to Arizona last week for Max Domi in a swap of underachievers, it didn’t solve a problem, but created a new one. The Canadiens need help everywhere and general manager Marc Bergevin is suddenly sweet on 17-year-old Finnish centre Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who’s shooting up in the rankings. Bergevin has even talked of shopping the pick.