Another link John Tavares has to the Montreal Canadiens
Selling John Tavares on signing with the Montreal Canadiens may be tough, but there is a link between him and the team that could help in negotiations.
Talk and interest in this summer’s free agent class have died down a bit now that we’re in the nitty gritty of the regular season. There are a handful of teams in an ongoing battle to secure a playoff spot, and the Montreal Canadiens are one of them. However, as long as John Tavares remains without a contract for next year, fans will always have their eye on him.
Tavares said that he would be willing to negotiate terms during the season, but there hasn’t been any news of any of that happening. The closest thing was the presentation of the plans for the new arena at Belmont Park. Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos tweeted out that the first showing of it was in Tavares’ living room, so you can tell that the Islanders are doing all they can to drop as many bombs of persuasion his way to get him to stay.
We’ve gone through most of the things the 27-year-old would consider in a new team already: location, opportunity to win, and money. As it stands, the Montreal Canadiens can offer him two of those three things guaranteed. Tavares has had an average annual salary of $5.5 million since the 2012-13 season. Considering what he’s done in that time span (169 goals 203 assists in 346 games as of the writing of this post) a pay raise is a sure thing, and it’ll most likely be a minimum $10 million per year.
The Tavares Effect
The Habs will have money coming off the books and in combination with the cap increase, affording Tavares shouldn’t be a problem. Winning is something that the entire organization needs to work together to fix. The likelihood of another playoff appearance is higher than it was at the beginning of the season and doing damage once the Habs get there is something else they need to break down.
However, a player like Tavares could be a difference-maker in the playoffs. He’s one of the few guys in the league who can make anyone around him better. Here’s an example for you, remember Matt Moulson? He had three consecutive 30+ goal seasons playing on Tavares’ wing but fell off a cliff offensively after he was moved.
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Imagine the kind of impact he could have with the likes of Alex Galchenyuk or Max Pacioretty (assuming they’re still around by then). Combine that with Carey Price who is still set to be a top goaltender in the league for a number of years and anything is possible.
Peddling back for a minute, the Montreal Canadiens still need to get him here. Besides the previously mentioned factors, there is another personal link that could help management work out a deal with the number one center, and that’s his agent.
Pat Brisson has been one of the best and most powerful NHL agents in the last decade. He represents many players including Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and most importantly, in the case of this discussion, Tavares. Additionally, Brisson has Pacioretty and Galchneyuk in the fold after the latter fired his previous agent in 2015.
NHL Connections
Obviously, Brisson will be a large part of whatever possible negotiations Tavares has with the Habs in the future, but the fact that it is him may work to their advantage. Brisson wasn’t always an agent; in fact, he took his first step into the hockey world when he was drafted in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League by the Verdun Juniors back in the 80s. As fate would have it, that was the same draft as Bergevin’s who was taken by the Chicoutimi Sagueneens.
The two became friends that day, and their relationship grew into a professional one as well after Bergevin was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks as Brisson took him on as a client.
In an interview with the Montreal Gazette back in 2016 and was asked about his relationships with former NHL players where he said:
Hockey was something I played and I did a lot of sacrifice playing the game and learning, but I made a lot of friends and I capitalized on that and the ability to understand the game. I was able to speak the language because I played the game. So, of course, I knew Luc and I knew Mario (Lemieux) and Marc Bergevin — Marc was a client for some 15 years and we’re very close friends.
Maybe the friendship Bergevin has with Brisson could be the trump card we didn’t take into account. Of course, separating that from business is most likely something that has made his career as an agent so successful over the years, and it may be a long shot, but who knows? If the Montreal Canadiens can find a way to turn things around, make the playoffs and perhaps make some kind of trade in the process, Brisson could prove to be the subtle push they need.
This could prove to mean absolutely nothing, but it is an interesting piece of information to keep in mind. We’ll have to wait for the end of the season and most importantly what happens with the Islanders as no matter what, they’ll be Tavares’ first choice.
Next: A Final Chance at Center
Do you think Brisson’s friendship with Bergevin could help the Habs’ cause in all of this? Let us know down in the comments.