Montreal Canadiens: Has Marc Bergevin Been Too Quiet This Summer?
By Emmanuel D
The Montreal Canadiens narrowly missed the playoffs last season. Did general manager Marc Bergevin do enough this summer to make them a playoff team next season or was he too quiet?
With the clock ticking until the start of training camp, the question remains if General Manager Marc Bergevin did enough to improve a Montreal Canadiens that failed to play their way into the NHL playoffs.
The Habs just missed the postseason, finishing with 96 points. It was not enough to crack the top three in the tough Atlantic Division, nor was it quite good enough to make the top eight in the Eastern Conference.
This further begs the question if Marc Bergevin was too quiet and whether or not may hurt the team in the long-run. Before answering this question, it is important to look at the more notable moves the Montreal Canadiens have made since the end of 2018-19 regular season.
April Moves
In the month of April, the Montreal Canadiens extended three players they had acquired before the Trade Deadline. Christian Folin (via the Flyers), Nate Thompson (via the Kings) and Jordan Weal (via the Coyotes).
The biggest signing here was Jordan Weal as he is a quality bottom-six player who can play top-six minutes if necessary and performs well on the powerplay.
Christian Folin and Nate Thompson are more on the expendable side making Bergevin’s activity relatively quiet in April. Depth signings are a necessity for any team and with the team looking very similar to last year, they can prove to be useful.
May Moves
The most notable signing in May was Brett Kulak‘s bargain of an extension at $1.85 million per year for three years.
Brett Kulak has shaped up to be a player the Calgary Flames regret giving away. Ever since being traded to the Montreal Canadiens, Kulak has built on his solid play from Calgary and has come into his own as one of the most reliable defensemen on the Canadiens roster alongside Shea Weber and Jeff Petry. Hopefully this is the gift that keeps on giving.
June Moves
Although this is primarily credited to Assistant General Manager Trevor Timmins, the biggest move of the Montreal Canadiens offseason was drafting the high-scoring RW Cole Caufield.
The Canadiens do not have a player on the current roster who’s mentality is to shoot first and be a high-scoring threat and Caufield can be just that in 2-3 years.
Marc Bergevin also extended defenseman Mike Reilly to a two-year extension at $1.5 million per year along with Laval Rocket defenseman Gustav Oloffson who earned a one-year extension at $700,000.
By the end of the month, the Canadiens traded Andrew Shaw back to the Chicago Blackhawks for three draft picks, essentially making this trade more of a cap dump on the Canadiens behalf as well as maximizing the return on Shaw’s value after a career-year.
July Moves
After announcing Antti Niemi would not return as the Montreal Canadiens backup next season, the organization went and signed Keith Kinkaid. Even though he is coming off a problematic year, he is a definite upgrade over Niemi and will be much improved after putting in time with the team’s goaltending coach, Stephane Waite.
Marc Bergevin’s most notorious move of the off-season came when he sent an offer sheet to star centre Sebastian Aho of the Carolina Hurricanes. Tom Dundon, owner of the Hurricanes, did not seem to have an issue with matching the offer sheet that carried a total of $21 million owed within the first year of the contract.
Although this did not pan out, it showed that Marc Bergevin is willing to improve the Canadiens roster, no matter the cost.
Bergevin also signed Artturi Lehkonen to a two-year extension. Around the same time, Joel Armia was also given a two-year deal, ensuring that both players can reunite alongside Jesperi Kotkaniemi to make up the Finnish Line.
The Canadiens also tried to improve on their defense during free agency by signing Ben Chiarot to a three-year contract at $3.5 million AAV who can be an upgrade over Jordie Benn. Chiarot can slot in as Jeff Petry’s partner this season while Victor Mete sticks with Shea Weber.
It’s Not Too Late
With the month of August coming to a close, the Montreal Canadiens have yet to make any moves which makes it the right time to look back on everything that has happened so far.
Many would consider the summer time to be when teams have a chance to improve their roster but what is important to note is that one of the biggest moves Marc Bergevin made before the start of the 2018-19 regular season was finalized days before the start of training camp.
On September 10th, 2018, the Montreal Canadiens traded Max Pacioretty to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for Tomas Tatar, Nick Suzuki and a second round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.
The huge impact Tatar had on the Canadiens was evident immediately and although Suzuki has yet to play with the team, he is expected to compete for a spot on the roster during training camp and is projected to have a very bright future.
This move should be enough to be patient with waiting for Marc Bergevin to make any moves of impact as they can come at any time.
The Verdict
Whether or not Marc Bergevin improved the team enough to be competitive during the 2019-20 regular season and into the playoffs remains to be seen but opinions will surely start to form a few games into the season whether it be too early to tell or not.
Next. Five Things To Look For At Training Camp. dark
On paper, it does not look like anything Marc Bergevin has done this summer moves the needle in either direction. The team looks relatively the same as it did last season minus the Andrew Shaw trade and the addition of Ben Chiarot. With the Aho fiasco added in, this was by no means a quiet summer, but the end result does not look like an improved product hitting the ice next month.