Round Up: Ensuring a succesful offseason for the Montreal Canadiens
By Omar L
Omar White: What can speak to Bergevin’s track record of highway-robbery contracts is linked to two things. Firstly, when he gets the players signed, secondly, for how long, and thirdly, the player they are. Let’s take Max Pacioretty, for example.
Bergevin managed to get Pacioretty on one of the filthiest contracts in the NHL signing him to a six-year deal with a $4.5 million AAV. Pacioretty was coming off his first 30-goal performance in his first full season with the Montreal Canadiens. There was no telling whether he would be able to be a consistent sniper making a $2.875 million cap-hit increase more than stomachable.
And then Pacioretty went on to score 30 goals in four of the next five seasons. He was outscoring players making more than him, which was surely frustrating for him but great for the Habs.
The Brendan Gallagher extension in 2014 (6 years at $3.75 million per) looks incredible as well. Bergevin signed him to it early in the 2014-15 season after scoring 19 goals the year before. He finished up with 24 goals and ran into some injuries that restricted his ability before having these two incredible 30-goal campaigns.
Bergevin isn’t the only general manager to get away with this, and the new youth are starting to catch on. Nowadays, players are being signed for what they’re expected to do and not for what they have done already. At the same time, the Montreal Canadiens now have players that can be paid for both situations.
Think of Jesperi Kotkaniemi and what he will ask for if he continues to play well. The same goes for Victor Mete. Bergevin is going to run into issues when the likes of Max Domi are due and when Gallagher needs a new deal in two years.
He still has some time to squeeze out some good contracts, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him get Artturi Lehkonen and Joel Armia to name a few on breathable deals. But the time is coming when Bergevin is going to have to shell out some serious cash, and it could easily come as early as this summer if he chooses to dip his toe into the free agent market. Hopefully, the value of the contract matches the player, and we don’t get another Karl Alzner situation.