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Marc Bergevin

Montreal Canadiens “Very Active” As Deadline Approaches

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The Montreal Canadiens, losers of four of their last five games including three at the hands of the Boston Bruins, are now 19-22-6 on the season and well out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. In his latest 31 Thoughts column for Sportsnet, Elliotte Friedman reports that GM Marc Bergevin is more active than normal trying to “get something going.”

Friedman lists only Carey Price, Shea Weber, Victor Mete and Jonathan Drouin as unlikely to be traded, making the rest of the roster ripe for speculation. Max Pacioretty has obviously been in the news quite a bit recently, something Alex Galchenyuk has dealt with for years. There are also lesser-known names like Paul Byron, Andrew Shaw and Brendan Gallagher who would all draw interest as well as expiring contracts for Tomas Plekanec, Jakub Jerabek and Antti Niemi.

Montreal has had a season to forget, but Friedman points out that everyone in the league can see what Colorado is doing this year. After putting up historically bad numbers in 2016-17, the Avalanche are now on a ten game winning streak and find themselves right in the thick of the Western Conference playoff run. Montreal knows first hand what that bounce-back can be, after struggling without an injured price in 2015-16 only to return to the playoffs a year later.

If anything, the Canadiens are more likely to reload than rebuild, as Price’s huge extension kicks in next season and there is plenty of other money tied up in Weber, Drouin, Jeff Petry and Karl Alzner. Even if they do move out some significant pieces, you can bet Montreal won’t be tearing down the whole thing.

Canadiens Notes: Bergevin’s Presser, Drouin, Mete

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At the halfway mark of the season, Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin spoke to the media of the state of the team, which currently sits at 17-20-4 and is in sixth place in the Atlantic Division. The team is floundering and can’t seem to find its way back into a winning situation and have lost six of their last 10 games. However, Bergevin said the team still is focused on the present.

“Today, we’re in a tough situation, but we haven’t lost hope,” Bergevin said about the state of the team. We haven’t thrown in the towel, but we for sure have a lot of work to do.”

However, after an offseason in which Bergevin signed defenseman Karl Alzner to a five-year, $23.1MM deal, traded for forward Jonathan Drouin, and extended goaltender Carey Price to a new eight-year, $84MM deal, there were hopes the Canadiens would fare even better than last year’s playoff appearance. However, that hasn’t happened. The team allowed long-time defenseman Andrei Markov and center Alexander Radulov to walk and many of his most recent moves haven’t fared as well as others would have hoped. Many have called for the Canadiens to make a change.

“Have I made mistakes? Yes. Have I done some good things? Yes. But that’s the reality for a general manager. But I’m proud of what we’ve done.”

Shockingly despite their poor record, the Canadiens are just six points out of a playoff spot. Granted there are several teams in between them and any possibility of a spot, but the team is hardly out of it.

“I believe [making the playoffs] is possible, but a lot of things have to change,” said Bergevin. “There are times where I’ve seen them capable of doing it.”

  • With a team that has struggled immensely on defense, much criticism has fallen on Bergevin for trading top prospect Mikhail Sergachev, the team’s ninth overall pick in 2016, for winger Jonathan Drouin, the third overall pick in 2013. Despite initially being deemed a successful trade for Montreal, Sergachev surprised a few by making the Lightning squad out of training camp and has been tremendous in Tampa Bay, while Drouin has struggled since his arrival, having only totaled five goals, while spending much of his time adjusting to the center position, something he is not used to. “Jonathan Drouin has had some good stretches at center, and he’s had some stretches that have been more difficult. When I say that some players have needed more consistency, he’s a part of that,” Bergevin said.
  • Bergevin added that defenseman Victor Mete, who was loaned to Team Canada for the WJC and is expected to return next week, is “probably” going to spend the rest of the season with the Canadiens. The 19-year-old, who shocked everyone by making the team out of training camp has had an on-and-off season so far, but has shown a lot of potential. However, if he is returned to his junior team before he reaches 40 games, the team can delay his eventual free agency by an extra year. “From what I’ve seen of Victor Mete in Buffalo, because I was there, he’s a young player, and he can help us,” Bergevin said. “He’ll probably be here for the rest of the season.”

Atlantic Notes: Canadiens, Matthews, Bertuzzi

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The Montreal Canadiens seem to be having a roller coaster of a season, although it seems much of it is down. The team had a seven-game losing streak early in the year. Then they rebounded with a three-game mini win streak, followed by another five-game losing streak. Then a five-game winning streak looked like the team might turn their fortunes around until now, a three-game losing streak.

After a 6-2 defeat at the hands of the struggling Edmonton Oilers, The Athletic’s Mitch Melnick writes (subscription required) the team has major flaws and needs to be rebuilt as the team lacks one key philosophy that most teams have adjusted to, which is speed. The Oilers skated right past the slow-moving Canadiens on their way to an easy win.

Melnick writes that captain Max Pacioretty basically admitted that he was intimidated by the speed of the Oilers and has scored only once in the last 13 games. Much of the blame falls on general manager Marc Bergevin, who believes that players such as Jordie Benn and Tomas Plekanec are key pieces to the team’s success and believes they deserve big minutes for the franchise. But blame should also be thrown at Claude Julien, who didn’t play one of their fastest skaters in Victor Mete against the speedy Oilers.

  • Rumors of a concussion circle around Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews, who is doubtful to play in tonight’s matchup with the Edmonton Oilers, tweets James Mirtle of The Athletic. Matthews took a blow to the head from teammate Morgan Rielly during Saturday’s 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh  Penguins. He was turning around in the defensive zone when the two players collided in the third period. Matthews took the brunt of the hit, mostly in the chin. The 20-year-old wasn’t put into concussion protocol and played two more shifts after the hit. He had already missed four games earlier this year due to back issues and has only scored once in his last nine games.
  • Max Bultman of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that Tyler Bertuzzi’s stint with the Detroit Red Wings Saturday didn’t go as plan. As the team found itself on special teams for a large chunk of the game, Bertuzzi saw little time on the ice (9:23) as he doesn’t play on either unit. Unfortunately with Luke Witkowski returning from a 10-game suspension and a possible return of David Booth, the team will have to make a decision on whether to return Bertuzzi to the Grand Rapids Griffins or allow him to develop his game in Detroit at the expense of some veterans who are struggling. Considering that many feel he is a player that the rest of the team would want around, the move might suggest what direction the team is trending towards in the near future. Regardless, a move will have to be made within the next day or so.

Trade Rumors: Canadiens, Canucks, Maple Leafs

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The Montreal Canadiens are not even 12 hours into their latest trade and the team is already thinking about their next move. A report from Sportsnet’s Eric Engels states that defenseman Brandon Davidson could soon be on his way out of town. Habs GM Marc Bergevin is not just listening to offers for Davidson; he emailed the entire league informing the other 30 general managers of the blue liner’s availability. While the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Ian Cole is also known to be on the block right now, Davidson should come at a much lesser price and be much easier (and more timely) to move. The 26-year-old has been a frequent scratch this season and has just one point in 13 games. It wasn’t long ago that Davidson was thought to be an up-and-coming rearguard, playing major minutes for the 2015-16 Edmonton Oilers after a long stretch of solid AHL play. However, when he was shipped to Montreal for a rental in David Desharnais at last year’s trade deadline, it was clear his stock had dropped. Davidson could still be a valued depth addition for many teams, though. The Canadiens likely won’t have to shop him for very long.

  • Following the difficult news about Derek Dorsett, Vancouver Canucks GM Jim Benning was very clear with the media today that he won’t be looking to trade for a replacement for the veteran grinder. Instead, Benning said that the situation “gives guys a chance to play more and step up.” The Canucks plan to fill Dorsett’s void internally, with the recently-promoted Nikolay Goldobin getting the first shot. After a hot start, Vancouver has been slipping of late and more than anything needs to put the puck in the net more often. Goldobin should be an offensive upgrade over Dorsett, but can he handle a big role?
  • Following the Anaheim Ducks-New Jersey Devils blockbuster today, many in the hockey media are asking a predictable question: Why weren’t the Toronto Maple Leafs in on Sami Vatanen? It feels like the Leafs have been searching for a top-pair right-shot defenseman to play alongside Morgan Rielly for years now, yet couldn’t top an offer of Adam Henrique and Joseph Blandisi to get an elite righty puck-mover in Vatanen? Nazem Kadri is perhaps the closest comparable in the NHL to Henrique and, although three years older, Tyler Bozak compares favorably to Henrique as well. With a wealth of young talent in the AHL to boot, it seems unlikely that Lou Lamoriello and company couldn’t have outbid the Devils if they wanted to, so perhaps the better question is why didn’t they want to? In a relatively weak Atlantic Division, no one will be surprised if Toronto makes a run to the Eastern Conference Finals this year and maybe farther. If they don’t reach that goal, they may find themselves regretting missing the chance to strengthen the defense both this season and beyond.

Trade Rumors: Coyotes, Canadiens, Jets, Islanders

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In all likelihood, the recent three-way trade that sent Matt Duchene to the Ottawa Senators and Kyle Turris to the Nashville Predators will be the biggest deal made this season. Yet, that hasn’t stopped the whispers of an bustling trade market, especially this early in the season. At the quarter pole of the 2017-18 campaign, it’s been an unpredictable season, prompting an unexpectedly active market. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch has had his ear to the ground and has plenty of input on who the buyers and sellers are right now:

  • To no one’s surprise, Garrioch states that the floundering Arizona Coyotes are “willing to talk about pretty much every player on their roster”. That of course doesn’t include Calder-hopeful Clayton Keller or many of their other 21-and-under starters, but the rest of the roster may as well be up for grabs. The big off-season acquisitions of Derek Stepan, Antti Raanta, Niklas Hjalmarsson, and Jason Demers have done nothing to change this team’s ability to win hockey games. At some point, GM John Chayka is going to go from “up-and-coming” to “up-and-went” and that pressure could force him to make some major moves as he rethinks his rebuild. While impending UFA’s like Raanta, Brad Richardson, and Luke Schenn would be the easiest pieces to move, the stakes are high for a Coyotes team whose core has done next to nothing for years and key pieces like Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Max Domi, Anthony Duclair, and Tobias Rieder could soon be on their way out.
  • Perhaps the only team more disappointing than Arizona in 2017-18 is the farthest team from them across North America: the Montreal Canadiens. Under new head coach Claude Julien, the Habs have fallen apart. However, the newly-signed coach isn’t going anywhere, putting GM Marc Bergevin, who Garrioch calls ” the NHL’s most active GM”, on the hot seat. Bergevin may be willing to make a big move to save his job, and of course the first name that comes to mind is young forward Alex Galchenyuk, who has predictably struggled under the defense-first Julien. Galchenyuk seems lost in Montreal, without an identifiable position, role, or spot in the lineup, and could use a change of scenery. However, he is not wholly to blame for the Canadiens’ struggles. Tomas Plekanec has long been on the block and if the team truly commits to a rebuild, big names like Max Pacioretty, Shea Weber, and (if anyone is willing to take on his monstrous new contract) even Carey Price could soon join the list.
  • Garrioch mentions both the Winnipeg Jets and New York Islanders as possible sellers, but given the surprising success of both clubs thus far, neither is likely rushing to trade pieces away unless they can make their teams better this season. Impending Jets UFA’s Shawn Matthias and Matt Hendricks may draw interest, but if Winnipeg is in playoff position come deadline time, they would want veteran depth for themselves. It seems more likely that GM Kevin Cheveldayoff could use his overflow of young forwards like Marko Dano, Joel Armia, Andrew Copp, Adam Lowry, or Brandon Tanev as trade bait to bring in another top-six forward for a team that doesn’t shoot the puck nearly enough. As for the Islanders, Garrioch singles out first-time UFA Calvin de Haan as the player to watch. Yet, de Haan is one of, if not the best shot-blocker in the NHL, can play major minutes, and is reliable in both ends. If the Isles can resign him, wouldn’t they? Obviously, John Tavares is the main focus and the team thinks highly of younger options like Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock, but the loss of a player like de Haan, especially with Travis Hamonic now in Calgary, could cripple a playoff-bound Islanders squad. Odds are de Haan sticks around, at least as long as New York remains playoff-bound.
  • So who’s looking? Garrioch mentions the Florida Panthers, Calgary Flames, Columbus Blue Jackets, and the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins as suitors for forward help, with the Dallas Stars potentially looking to make another big blue line trade to turn their season around. With that many buyers and several disappointed sellers, the trade NHL trade market may not wait until 2018 to heat up.

Canadiens Notes: Potential Rebuild, Bergevin, Price

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The Montreal Canadiens find themselves at a crossroads. Expecting to compete for a playoff spot this year and beyond after what fans considered a solid offseason in which they traded for sniper Jonathan Drouin , signed veteraen defenseman Karl Alzner away from the Washington Capitals and locked up their star goaltender Carey Price for another eight years, the team has struggled all season, including a recent three-game losing streak to Columbus, Arizona and Saturday’s 6-0 loss to the rival Toronto Maple Leafs. The Canadiens suddenly find themselves 8-11-2 with little optimism that things might get better.

In fact, NBC Sports Joey Alfieri writes that it might be time to break up this team now and begin a proper rebuild. Up until now, general manager Marc Bergevin has been unwilling to trade the team’s veteran players such as center Max Pacioretty, but that could change soon as it doesn’t look as the team is a quick-fix away from repairing its on-ice problems. Saturday night on “Headlines,” Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos said that ownership and management would soon have a discussion about the direction of the team. Pacioretty would be a prime trade candidate, who has one more year on his contract at $4.5MM.

The scribe looks at their offseason moves and wonders if the team’s big trade to acquire Drouin might be looked as a major blunder as the team did trade away star defensive prospect Mikhail Sergachev, who is thriving for the league-leading Tampa Bay Lightning. He is also quick to point out that it was a major mistake to let go of Alexander Radulov and veteran defenseman Andrei Markov for nothing when the team quite obviously needed them.

  • Jack Todd of the Montreal Gazette writes that this latest 6-0 defeat to the Maple Leafs could spell the end for not just the current roster, but also for Bergevin, who has been responsible for constructing this roster and look to be going no where. The GM has been running the team for six years now and has little to show for it, but a team heading towards a lottery selection in June next year. The general belief is that if you aren’t competing for a playoff spot by the American Thanksgiving, then you have little shot of reaching the playoffs and the Canadiens aren’t close to competing. The scribe writes that while many feel that the team’s trade of P.K. Subban was the start of the downfall of the team, Todd suggests that Shea Weber is not to blame, but things may not look so bad had the team kept both Markov and Sergachev to form a Big Three. Instead, the team only has Weber to show for it, which falls under Bergevin’s domain.
  • Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette writes that the team has always had an identity, starting with their goaltender and then with a solid defense in front of him. Boring, but respectable. Instead, the scribe writes, the team is starting to look like the 2015-16 team that had lost Price for most of the season and finished in 13th place in the Eastern Conference. Now the team has gutted their defense and have removed their identity, which the franchise so often has depended on.
  • After a column in which he questioned the health of Price, Stu Cowan tweets that Price was the first out to practice Monday morning.

Canadiens Notes: Bergevin, Mete, Shaw

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With the Montreal Canadiens struggling considerably out of the gate with a 2-6-1 record, some have speculated that they could be a team that looks to make an early trade or two to shake things up.  However, GM Marc Bergevin tried to put an end to that speculation at a press conference today, stating to reporters, including Sportsnet’s Eric Engels, that they won’t be making a move for the sake of merely doing a trade and that he feels the solution to their early struggles can be found by their current team.

Despite saying that, the speculation likely won’t stop, especially with the amount of cap space the team has to work with; they have the room to add another $7.7MM in salary at the moment per CapFriendly, an amount that will only increase by the day.  Considering that the cap room doesn’t carry over to next season, they’ll be expected to make use of that room sooner than later.

More from Montreal:

  • Bergevin also noted during his press conference that rookie defenseman Victor Mete will be staying with the team and burning the first year of his entry-level contract (via Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette). The 19-year-old has spent the majority of the season on the top pairing alongside Shea Weber and is averaging just shy of 20 minutes per game.  As is the case with the other junior-aged players, the next threshold will be 40 games on the active roster (not necessarily played) that will result in Mete accruing one season towards eligibility for unrestricted free agency.
  • In his latest 31 Thoughts column, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggests that Montreal might be willing to move winger Andrew Shaw and retain part of his $3.9MM cap hit to do so. Shaw is in his second season with the team but is signed through 2021-22 which would likely complicate things as moving secondary players with that much term hasn’t happened particularly often in recent years.  Through nine games this season, Shaw has two assists and has been surprisingly sharp at the faceoff dot, winning over 61% of his draws.

Eastern Notes: Bergevin, Skinner, Sproul, Harpur

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At 1-6-1, the Montreal Canadiens are off to their worst eight-game start since the 1941-42 season. Sounds shocking. Doesn’t it? Much of the problem is the team’s inability to put the puck in the net as the team is currently ranked last (31st) in the NHL in goals scored at 1.5 per game (just 12 goals scored all year). However, despite that fact, Elliotte Friedman said Saturday on the Headlines segment on Hockey Night in Canada (via Emily Sadler of Sportsnet) that the team isn’t going into panic mode just yet.

“It’s the biggest story in the league and probably for no good reasons,” Friedman said Saturday. “I think the sense you get just from looking around is the Canadiens are determined not to make any panic moves.”

Sadler writes that the team’s start looks even worse compared to last year’s phenomenal start to the season when they were 7-0-1 after the first eight games. To make matters worse, the team is also among the worst in goals allowed as they are ranked 29th after averaging 4.13 goals in these first eight games. That’s with the NHL’s top goalie in Carey Price.

Friedman also said that it’s unlikely the team would make a general manger change and get rid of Marc Bergevin, even though Friedman said that four of the last five GM changes the Canadiens have made were in-season changes.

“I don’t get the sense … that there’s any desire to remove Bergevin right now. He’s under contract until 2022,” Friedman said.

  • Michael Smith of NHL.com writes that Carolina Hurricanes winger Jeff Skinner, who added his fourth and fifth goals of the season in Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the Dallas Stars is continuing where he left off. Skinner attempted to fuel a comeback with his team down by four goals, but the team fell short. Already a three-time 30-goal scorer, the 25-year-old has been the main offensive firepower for the Hurricanes this season. Smith writes that if you go back to March of last year, Skinner has scored 22 goals in his last 25 games.
  • Peter Wallner of MLive.com writes that the Detroit Red Wings traded defenseman Ryan Sproul Saturday to the New York Rangers to alleviate a logjam of defensemen. Sproul was not likely to ever crack Detroit’s defensive rotation. Talking to Detroit general manager Ken Holland, the scribe writes that the Red Wings made the move to open up playing time in Grand Rapids, where the team hopes to give more minutes to prospects Filip Hronek and Vili Saarijarvi. Hronek, the team’s second-round pick in the 2016 draft, has only played in two games for the Griffins this year, while Saarijarvi, a 2015 third-round pick, had an assist in three games for Toledo of the ECHL, but is expected to get promoted to Grand Rapids shortly.
  • The Ottawa Senators announced that they have reassigned defenseman Ben Harpur to Belleville of the AHL. The 22-year-old was called up early in the season to help with the team’s defensive depth only to get injured in his first game with Ottawa. He was placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury, and now that he is healthy again, will return to his AHL team.

Montreal Sends Streit, Schlemko To AHL

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UPDATE: TVA’s Renaud Lavoie confirms that Streit will not report to Laval and will take some time to evaluate his options. It seems the two sides are likely headed toward a mutual split, which is best for both.

12:00PM: The Montreal Canadiens have sent defensemen Mark Streit and David Schlemko to the AHL’s Laval Rocket, according to a pair of team releases. However, for those proponents of keeping Streit in Montreal, it is not just a clean-cut demotion for Schlemko. Schlemko is coming off an injury – the exact reason why Streit was placed on waivers yesterday and cleared today – but for now he will play with Laval on a conditioning stint. Once Schlemko is healthy, he will be back with the Habs and nine defenseman would be one too many to fit on the roster.

There will remain increased focus on the play of young Victor Mete and a fringe talent like Joe Morrow, but for now the easiest move was to waive 39-year-old Streit and subsequently loan him to Laval to make eventual room for Schlemko upon his return. On a one-year, 35+ deal, the entirety of Streit’s $700K contract can be buried in Laval for now, while the team further evaluates their blue line situation.

However, the question becomes what the next step is for Streit and the Habs. The nearly-40-year-old defenseman can’t be happy about being placed on waivers, nevertheless being assigned to the minors. Having cleared waivers, it will be easier for Streit to be traded now, but the market may not be there for his services. The most likely result is that Streit asks for his release and heads overseas, likely home to Switzerland and perhaps later Pyeongchang. Stay tuned.

Noah Juulsen Out Six Weeks With Broken Foot

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Noah Juulsen suffered a broken foot on Monday night, and will be out for six weeks. It’s a disappointing outcome for the young Montreal Canadiens defenseman, who just this month was the topic of conversation between GM Marc Bergevin and TSN’s Bob McKenzie. Bergevin at that point said that Juulsen was “very close” to being NHL ready, and would be given a chance to compete at training camp. Unfortunately, this will end that chance.

Juulsen was a first-round pick of the Canadiens in 2015, and made his professional debut last season with the St. John’s IceCaps during the AHL playoffs. While it would have been extremely tough for him to jump right from junior hockey to the NHL this year, he does have an impressive skillset and the ability to make fans jump out of their seats with his open-ice hits. He’ll not certainly start the year with the Laval Rocket (Montreal’s new AHL affiliate) after rehabbing from this injury.

The Canadiens, who dealt away Mikhail Sergachev and Nathan Beaulieu this offseason, will need Juulsen to become a legitimate NHL player in short order. Though Shea Weber, Jeff Petry and Karl Alzner are locked in long term, they’ll need some entry-level players to start filling out the ranks as Carey Price’s big extension comes into play. Jakub Jerabek, another newcomer signed to an ELC, will be an unrestricted free agent after just one season with the club, and could earn a bigger contract right away. Juulsen’s deal, which includes relatively few performance bonuses, could be very important to the team.

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