Habs GM Marc Bergevin’s Loyalty Could Be His Downfall
The Habs GM is reportedly set to give incumbent coach Michel Therrien a vote of confidence for 2016-17.
Loyalty is proving to be Marc Bergevin‘s Achilles’ Heel. Loyalty is also why he is digging his own grave as the GM of the Habs.
The Habs 2015-16 season began with the team tying a franchise record for wins to open a season and posted an 18-4-3 record over October and November. This season has also seen the team plummet and record one of the worst collapses in franchise history by going 6-18-1 in December and January. The team has played somewhat better since February 1st but remain inconsistent, going 13-16-2 since February 1st. All told, the Habs have gone 37-38-6 and will be looking forward to a Top 10 Draft Pick.
Why show you the breakdown of the Habs season? Well, TSN analyst Darren Dreger reported that GM Marc Bergevin is preparing to give Michel Therrien a vote of confidence for the 2016-17 season.
"“There are a number of reasons why Bergevin continues to support Therrien, but most of it surfaces and swirls around the injury bug that plagued the Montreal Canadiens through much of this season,” Dreger explained on Insider Trading. “It obviously starts with star goaltender Carey Price, you add Brendan Gallagher into the mix and some others along the way, so I’m told Bergevin wants to give Therrien another chance to work with a healthy club.”"
Like his GM, Michel Therrien’s loyalty, as well as his stubbornness, is a big reason why he is not well liked among Habs fans. This loyalty, coupled with injuries, is why the Habs limped so badly down the stretch.
More from A Winning Habit
- Montreal Canadiens: Biggest Questions Going Into 2023-24
- Montreal Canadiens: Quentin Miller’s Poise And Confidence Fuel His Game
- Montreal Canadiens: Laval Rocket Top Defence Pair Could Be Set
- Montreal Canadiens: Worst Move Of The Pierre Gauthier Era
- Montreal Canadiens: Could Casey DeSmith End Up In Colorado?
Loyalty is something that should be a positive and should be a strong foundation to success. But Bergevin and Therrien’s loyalty has become a fault as the team now transitions from contender to a retooling franchise as they look to fix their weaknesses. Weaknesses brought along by their loyalty.
Therrien’s loyalty to specific players like David Desharnais has affected his roster deployment. It is easily seen when he plays depth forwards ahead of his high potential players. You can see it when he continues to play a visibly over-extended Andrei Markov 25+ minutes a night when he should be playing 18-20. You can see it when he plays the teams top prospects fringe 4th line minutes while playing his fringe 4th line players in the top 6.
In turn, Marc Bergevin’s loyalty to Michel Therrien has affected how he has built this roster. Instead of acquiring skillful players who may help generate offense and help the team score, Bergevin has become synonymous with “depth” because of his “depth” acquisitions with guys like Mike Brown, Philip Danault and Stefan Matteau. This is not a knock on those players, they have value as depth role players but not on a Habs roster who already have 6-10 players cut from the same cloth.
Due to these “depth” acquisitions, Montreal heads into an off-season of transition with glaring holes on offense and no way to fill them internally without being creative with their unsigned prospects. But with Therrien’s history of impatience with rookies, is it truly smart to have him coach those players? I don’t believe so.
Next: Habs Prospect Artturi Lehkonen Could Be An Offensive Solution
The definition of insanity is doing and making the same mistakes over and over again but expecting different results.
Montreal is stuck in transition and they need their GM and coach to adjust and evolve in order to find success again. If neither does, 2015-16 could be a precursor of things to come which will ultimately cost both their jobs.