Can the Montreal Canadiens use a similar system Vegas did to succeed?

The Habs had a lack of scoring and couldn’t find the offense to get the job done. Even with players like Max Pacioretty and Alexander Radulov, who was a focal point most of the year, couldn’t push Montreal over the hump.

That summer was the beginning of a long run of bad mistakes made by Bergevin, which cost the Canadiens dearly. The two big mistakes of that summer were losing Radulov, who decided to sign with Dallas and not replacing him with another superstar goal scorer leaving a huge amount of money on the Canadiens cap hit unused.

From there on, Bergevin has been living in two realities trying to build a team to win now while also building for the future. He tried to fix the issue with a lot of 4th line grinders who he thought could help the team but the lack the offense Montreal needs.

The next draft, Bergevin tried to fix his issue at center and, with the number three draft pick, took Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Kotkaniemi had an outstanding first season but now is in Laval with a lot of work ahead to grow and develop into a number 1 center.

The one thing Bergevin has done well is he was able to stockpile draft picks, and now the Canadiens have 15 picks in the next draft. Bergevin needs to stick to the plan and needs to realize the Canadiens are a good 2-3 years away from being a contender.

So now we go back to the main question: can Montreal do what Vegas did to become a serious threat in the league?

To be honest, Vegas got what they paid for $500 million and an almost star-studded line up while Montreal will just have to draft and properly develop their prospects.

All we know at this point is Vegas is a contender right now with the moves they have made while Montreal is like we mentioned 2-3 years away. The fact that the Montreal Canadiens are getting players such as Ryan Poehling and Alexander Romanov should help a lot.

With the current situation, are we able to give Marc Bergevin a mulligan on this season? If the NHL season were to be cancelled, that would not be good for the GM, who is in year eight of a five-year plan. At the deadline, Bergevin played the role of seller and sold assets in Marco Scandella, Ilya Kovalchuk, Nate Thompson, and Nick Cousins for draft picks.

We will have to see if the moves paid off and if the Montreal Canadiens will be able to bounce back this season or the next.