How long does Marc Bergevin have to turn the Montreal Canadiens around?

Marc Bergevin’s perception with the Montreal Canadiens has gone up and down for years, and it makes you wonder if there will ever be a time when he isn’t the general manager.

Every general manager has a shelf life. The only GMs who have been in office longer than ten years are David Poile, with the Nashville Predators holding the position since 1997 and Doug Wilson being the main decision-maker with the San Jose Sharks since 2003. Besides them, the holder of the position has changed league-wide although the Montreal Canadiens have had Marc Bergevin as GM since 2012.

Bergevin walked into a Habs organization that had a core of Max Pacioretty, P.K. Subban, Tomas Plekanec, Andrei Markov and Carey Price as well as budding stars in Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher. Since then, he’s created a core of his own, which still includes Gallagher and Price but also has Shea Weber, Jeff Petry, Philip Danault and Paul Byron.

The Habs have done some good work on the draft floor recently as well, adding prospects to the program such as Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Nick Suzuki and Cale Fleury.

The only downside, and probably the most frustrating aspect of Bergevin’s tenure, is the playoff success. The Montreal Canadiens cashed in a ticket to the postseason in each of the first three seasons in the Bergevin era, finishing first in the Atlantic Division twice.

Many Habs fans argue the 2014 run was the closest the team has been to a Stanley Cup as they looked unbeatable. Price was putting the team on his back but was unfortunately injured in their Eastern Conference Final series against the New York Rangers.

The Michel Therrien coached Canadiens only missed the playoffs once as the team couldn’t fight through a season without Carey Price resulting in a top-ten draft pick. Then the Claude Julien era began halfway through the 2016-17 season, and after that year, the Montreal Canadiens have yet to make the playoffs.

The pressure is on, but at the moment, it’s mostly on Claude Julien. That’s not to say to Bergevin hasn’t had his phases of hatred thrown his way. I mean, #FireBergevin is still a prominent thing on Twitter at times, but it seems like all eyes are on the head coach to turn things around next season. It is one of the easiest positions to change after all.

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The NHL saw eight head coaches lose their job this season and seven of them found permanent replacements while the Minnesota Wild were the only team to add an interim option. If the Montreal Canadiens don’t manage to make the playoffs next season, regardless of the reason, Julien’s tenure is likely over. And what will be next?

Bergevin looks as if he has complete trust and faith from Geoff Molson and the rest of the Habs ownership. His team is somewhat doing things the right way in focusing on the draft to add elite talent to the organization, but it’s the claim to want to stay competitive that is making things complicated.

So how long does Marc Bergevin have as the general manager? What if it takes another two or three years for this reset to result in playoff berth? Can Bergevin survive another two or three years without the playoffs? I’m not sure, and the sad thing about it is when these prospects grow into fully-fledged NHL players, there’s a good chance he won’t be there for that.

It could be reminiscent of what the Chicago Blackhawks did with Dave Tallon. He joined the Blackhawks in 1998 as director of player personnel and was promoted to general manager in 2005 after being the assistant general manager for two years.

In his tenure, the Blackhawks already had Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Corey Crawford and Dustin Byfuglien in the system, but they Tallon added that successful core that led to three Stanley Cups in five years. Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Andrew Shaw and Brandon Saad were added through the draft while Tallon made trades for Andrew Laad, Patrick Sharp and Kris Versteeg. And let’s not forget signing Marian Hossa to a 12-year contract in 2009.

Tallon did all of these things, and then he was demoted after their first Championship and pushed out for Stan Bowman. The Blackhawks continued to win after Bowman took the general manager’s position, but the bulk of their success came off the backs of Toews Kane and Hossa.

Tallon was able to withstand three seasons of playoff-less hockey before the team hit their stride. And again, the Montreal Canadiens are walking into three years in the same situation.

Bergevin may be able to last one more, but I find it difficult to see a scenario where he is still the general manager if the 2020-21 Montreal Canadiens are not in the playoffs. No one is denying the infrastructure Bergevin has put in place with Trevor Timmins. But professional sports is all about “what have you done for me lately.”

The Montreal Canadiens may be on the verge of taking a positive swing, and if that’s the case, Marc Bergevin needs that swing to rise a little faster.