MONTREAL – It feels like years ago, but it’s only been eight months.
Surely you remember when Marc Bergevin stood on trial with reporters in December, just two weeks after the Montreal Canadiens lost eight games in a row, when he reiterated for the 1,000th time in the past three years that he was not for the future A mortgage burden would be quick fix. Boy, was he ever right at the time his team was making its way to the bottom of the NHL rating?
But if Bergevin still thinks that way after what he has just seen of this team in those Stanley Cup playoffs, the Canadians will never lose their neutrality under his watch.
To experience young centers, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Nick Suzuki are making massive leaps in development in just over three weeks to see Carey Price and Shea Weber play as well as they ever did in their illustrious careers, and to be right there To feel the Canadians gel together in a way that allows the future-is-bright narrative to actually sound true, is to know that the time for a strike is right now.
Because as good as the Canadians were – and they were anxious to take out the Pittsburgh Penguins in the qualifying round and give the Philadelphia Flyers with the best seeds all they could, and then some in the first round – needed they still had everything they had to go as far as they did, which was nowhere near as far as they wanted to go.
They need more and they need it right now while the mojo is as positive as it is. The fact is, the Canadiens aren’t the only young team that’s on the rise National Parity League.
If they want an advantage over a few others, Bergevin must do the best job of his eight-year tenure before the puck falls next season.
The good news is that he will never be in a better position than what he is in right now.
Managers dream of having the leverage that Bergevin currently has. He’s desperate for points at the elite level – and some depth on defense and the net – and he has 14 tips in the upcoming draft, an loaded pool of prospects, good non-core squad players to split with, and plenty of space for the acquisitions necessary to meet these needs.
“In terms of fortune, I think we have 10 picks in the first three rounds over the next few years. [and] We have a total of 25. So that’s our attitude, ”said Bergevin. “We have put ourselves in a good position to look around. If something becomes available, we should take care of it … If we can improve our team by moving a selection or players that we believe can improve us over a long period of time, we will. “
If not now then when?
Here’s another argument for Bergevin: The NHL’s salary cap will stagnate at $ 81.5 million for at least another season, and some of its competitors will have to lose salaries (and some pretty good players) to make that happen.
And Bergevin can downplay it as many times as he likes – and he said several times over the course of his 30-minute season-end press conference on Saturday that he needs to be careful and careful about how he spends Canadian owner Geoff Molson’s money – but he does has just over $ 63 million for a near-full roster for next season and about $ 18 million to play with to make the team better.
This is the part you reply with: Bergevin has had a lot of space on the cap for the past two seasons and has done little with it from this advantageous position.
But do you know what the GM didn’t have at that time? The evidence he needed to see to believe that only a few sacrifices were made to improve the Canadians in the short term would go a long way in solidifying their place as perennial playoffs.
“Today we see a team heading in the right direction that team fans should be proud of,” said Bergevin, before highlighting the virtues of his fresh faced and talented Suzuki-Kotkaniemi in the middle.
Bergevin also spoke of his unwavering trust in Price and Weber, saying that both players had proven by the ages of 33 and 35 that they were still ahead of the game.
So how can he not try to bridge the gap between these four parts as quickly as possible?
A lot has changed here in a short period of time. So much so that in March the best for the Canadians is no longer the best for them, which is a reality Bergevin acknowledged when he said he wouldn’t take the experience his players had just gained against a top 10 – Select this year swap design.
“Our young players’ experience and the way they showed their progress have no price,” said Bergevin. “To move back seven picks (from the ninth to the 16th) is a very low price. What we have seen in the last month will really help the organization to move forward … The compromise was worth it, having lived this experience with our children, as they have shown their character and also the development of our organization. “
It won’t be worth so much if Bergevin doesn’t take the opportunity at his feet.
