After rejecting a request to speak to the media a few days ago, Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin decided to talk after Wednesday’s practice.
The mood is slowly starting to change around the Montreal Canadiens. Although it was their first win in eight games, there’s a chance the team could use these good vibrations to get a streak going in the other direction.
However, I’m going to go back to those dark times for a moment. A few days ago, a request was made to speak with Marc Bergevin on the state of the team. The Habs had just returned from that awful road trip where they lost all three games and were outscored 16-5. There was no telling what kind of questions Bergevin would’ve gotten.
It looks like winning Tuesday night changed his mindset on it as he spoke to the media after practice.
The word confidence was repeated. Bergevin stated that the team is playing like a group on their heels every night, and it will be up to them to figure things out. If you’re thinking, “does this mean there won’t be a trade”, then you may be right.
Marc Bergevin on the reality of dealing from a position of weakness: pic.twitter.com/i3sAHxnePe
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) October 25, 2017
Bergevin saying that the team won’t rely on outside help to turn things around at the very least calms the idea of the GM making a desperate trade. At the same time, this is Marc Bergevin we’re talking about here. Additionally, you can argue that the Habs still need some kind of move regardless.
Besides the usual script from management, Bergevin’s words on Alex Galchenyuk was what stood out the most.
“We won’t give up on the kid,” Bergevin on Galchenyuk
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) October 25, 2017
I hope he’s right. Galchenyuk’s development with the Montreal Canadiens has been far from smooth sailings. Despite all the trade rumours that always come up around him, it doesn’t make sense to on both ends to make that move. Mostly due to the fact that he’s kind of damaged goods at the moment.
Galchenyuk has been moved from center, to top winger, to the fourth line. Sure his linemates in Nikita Scherbak and Michael McCarron aren’t you’re typical fourth liners, but Galchenyuk isn’t playing high enough in the lineup to warrant fair value. The Habs themselves know what they have in him, but other teams may not think so based on where he is.
Continuing to work with the 23-year-old is the best move on both ends, and hopefully that leads to another look at center down the road.
If anyone needs the Montreal Canadiens to improve from where they are, it’s Bergevin. The team hasn’t been able to get close to the grand prize in the last few seasons, and expectations were high to play further into the summer this time around. Even though he just signed an extension not too long ago, a change in the position may happen at the end of the year if things continue to go south.
What did you make of Bergevin’s comments? Will he stay true to not making a trade in the near future? Let us know your thoughts down below.