A question that has been at the back of Montreal Canadiens fans minds for quite some time now; “Is Marc Bergevin doing a good job at managing the Canadiens?”
It’s a fair question to ask, considering how bad the team has played since December and how no major deals have occurred to help them. Although there have been a handful of minors trades, there have also been some puzzling moves with some rookies that have been producing.
After getting off to a hot start in 2015, the Canadiens were enjoying a NHL-leading record of 19-4-3 and looking like a well-oiled machine. Goaltenders Carey Price and Mike Condon looked like an unstoppable duo, while the forwards were playing exciting and offensively minded hockey. The defense wasn’t leaving the goalies out to dry and was looking like one of the best defense corps in the Eastern Conference. Then nearing the end of November, the injury fairy came around and doled out some big blows to the team, namely Price and Brendan Gallagher, arguably two of the biggest pillars of the team.
Examining the Work of Marc Bergevin
Since Price went down on November 25th, the team has struggled mightily with a record of 5-17-2. They have scored 44 goals, only to be scored on 73 times during this stretch. The Canadiens haven’t shut out an opponent since October 20th, when Price turned away 38 shots to keep the St Louis Blues off the scoresheet.
Despite this ugly blemish on what seemed to be an incredible season, they are still hovering around the top ten in many statistical categories, including scoring 2.70 (10th) goals for per game, allowing 2.57 (17th) goals against per game, shooting 31.8 shots per game (4th) and 27.7 shots against per game (4th). The penalty killing unit has been solid with a 4th overall 84.9% success rate, including a league leading 90.9% while at home. While the power play success does look bad with a 16th overall 18.2%, it’s worth noting that they have had the second most opportunities with 159. They have also scored the second most goals (27) with the man advantage while having at least 150 power play chances. They are also one of 10 teams that have not scored on a 5-on-3 power play.
Despite the freefall of the team and multiple injuries, Bergevin has not made any trades that would help the scoring woes. He did call up numerous rookies such as Sven Andrighetto, Daniel Carr, Michael McCarron, and Charles Hudon but all of these rookies have since been sent back to St John’s IceCaps. While Hudon and McCarron did seem to need more development in the minors, Andrighetto and Carr were more than ready and were a big part of the Canadiens lowly offense; Carr having five goals in 17 games since December 5th and Andrighetto scoring four goals in the same amount of games since November 22nd. They were both sent down on January 15th in favor of defensive prospect Jacob De La Rose. This move came before the announcement that Jarred Tinordi and Stefan Fournier had been traded in exchange for All-Star Game Pacific captain John Scott and defenseman Victor Bartley.
Bergevin has made a total of five trades this season. In chronological order; Brandon Prust to the Vancouver Canucks for Zack Kassian and a 2016 5th round pick (Bergevin’s favorite), Christian Thomas to the Arizona Coyotes for Lucas Lessio, Kassian to the Edmonton Oilers for goalie Ben Scrivens, Dustin Tokarski to the Anaheim Ducks for Max Friberg, and the aforementioned trade involving Tinordi.
Now realistically these trades are not bad per se, Lessio and Friberg are two young left wingers who could play in a bottom-six role for the Canadiens. Tokarski had been struggling ever since the ill-fated Canadiens-New York Rangers Eastern Conference Final two seasons prior. Tinordi just never made a lasting impression on the coaching staff, although one could make a case that he was not given a proper chance. The only trade that may be seen as a loss was Kassian. While he did screw up off the ice before the season began, and the fact that Montreal does not like negative publicity, he could have been a useful player in the line-up, especially since the team is lacking players who can get in the dirty areas, crash/screen the net, and be an intimidating force on the ice.
Bergevin’s game plan for building a team has always been building from within, which he learned from working in the Chicago Blackhawks organization under two regimes, Dale Tallon (2005-2010) and current GM Stan Bowman. This is why Bergevin is rarely seen making major trades, but rather only relying on drafting, free agency, and minor trades/rental players. He did hit a home run by acquiring Jeff Petry for next to nothing, but as of right now that remains his best trade. Thomas Vanek was a great trade as well but since he bolted in the summer, it might be seen as a loss.
Right now the Canadiens are in a crucial point. They have seven players hitting UFA/RFA in the next two years, including Alex Galchenyuk, Nathan Beaulieu, Andrei Markov, and Condon. After that it’s Tomas Plekanec, Max Pacioretty, Price, etc. Rookies such as Carr, Andrighetto, and Hudon will all be needing new deals within the next two years and will most likely be looking for NHL jobs. With the salary cap not expected to rise by much, the time to win is now.
Building through the draft and within is a great plan, evidenced by the Hawks three Stanley Cups in six seasons. But even the Hawks made splashes in free agency/trades for names like Marian Hossa, Nick Leddy, Brad Richards, and Artem Anisimov, among others. Now, don’t get me wrong. In the hard salary cap era, it is harder to make big free agency signings and trades. The scouting staff has done an excellent job of drafting while the Canadiens have yet to miss the playoffs, and Bergevin has done the best with what he has and he’s done a good job of saving money. But the problem is he hasn’t used that saved cap in the right area. Signing and trading for bottom-six players and depth players isn’t going to fix the scoring issue.
The Canadiens have reportedly been in the running for Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin, who has asked for a trade. This is exactly the kind of trade that Bergevin needs to capitalize on. Acquiring Drouin, a young forward who has scored 40 points in 89 career games and has the potential to be a first line forward, would certainly help the team’s scoring problems. With Bergevin’s reluctance to make those statement trades, it seems unlikely that this could come to fruition.
Another area where Bergevin seems to be slacking on is recognizing that head coach Michel Therrien may not be the right coach for the team. Therrien has made some very questionable line-up decisions, almost always opting to use veterans and bottom-six players instead of rookies like Carr or Andrighetto in the top-six. He’s had these same rookies sit in the press box numerous times. He may very well be the reason that Tinordi was traded before he could be given a full shot in the line up.
The notion that he thinks David Desharnais is more responsible than Galchenyuk is silly and that he’s taken Galchenyuk off his natural center position is again silly. Firing a coach mid-season rarely works out, unless Bergevin himself takes the reins or one of the assistant coaches, but if Therrien does not change his dump-and-chase strategy, along with misusing players and refusing to use the young players he has to create the offense the Canadiens desperately needs, a change behind the bench is needed once the season is over.
Bergevin hasn’t done a horrible job of managing the team thus far but this isn’t to say he has been perfect either. His strategy of building from within and rarely acquiring suitable talent to help the team is putting them in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
Last season the common narrative of the Canadiens season was that Price was the whole team. Many, myself included, didn’t believe it. Even though Price having the year of his life was a big part of the success, they still had a solid team in front of him. Now we are seeing that two months without Price has a disastrous result and that maybe the team is not as solid as we once thought. Bergevin has the opportunity to fix the scoring woes by shipping out some of the prospects/draft picks they have accumulated to acquire a scoring winger.
Your move, Marc.
Main Photo.
