Montreal Canadiens: How to deal with the Play-In and the first overall pick

Marc Bergevin is in a divisive spot as the Montreal Canadiens could pull off the upset and win or lose but grab the first overall pick.

Robert Frost once wrote, “A diverged in a yellow road, and I took the one less travelled by.” When it comes to the Montreal Canadiens, there are two roads; however, the team can’t necessarily choose which road they want to take. That’s what is likely racking Marc Bergevin‘s mind at the moment as the Habs could surprise the masses and defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins or lose but have an opportunity to win the first overall pick.

Tanking isn’t an option. The optics of a forced loss would be devastating to the Montreal Canadiens considering the personnel in that locker room as well as the state of the team in the last three years. Especially considering every other eliminated team has the exact same odds to get the opportunity to draft Alexis Lafrenière.

Every season has had making the playoffs a top priority, and they have a chance to do so starting July 30th. Keep in mind Bergevin’s most used line regarding the playoffs.

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Elias Laradi: I think Marc Bergevin’s plan remains the same regardless of the draft lottery. It has always been his motto, and I quote, “Get in the playoffs, and anything can happen.” Bergevin needs Montreal to beat Pittsburgh to make sure his team doesn’t miss the playoffs for a 3rd straight year because technically, it’s a playoff qualifier.

For sure, now every Montreal fan and media member who doesn’t think they have a chance to beat the Penguins will be happy to see them lose, so they have a 12.5% chance of landing the number 1 pick and Alexis Lafreniere.

Then again, just because you daft first, doesn’t mean for sure it will work out. 2020 has a very deep draft, and there are a lot of amazing prospects available. It goes without saying the deeper Montreal goes, if they win, the selection will be lower.

Also, people need to realize 12.5% is not a sure thing and that just because they lose the number 1 pick isn’t a lock. So Bergevin will have to support his team as best as he can and figure things out once we reach that point. For now, it’s focusing on beating the Pittsburgh Penguins, and that won’t be an easy task.

For the fan and the blogger, it’s easy to see the pessimism in these scenarios. A lot of things went wrong during the 2019-20 campaign, and Bergevin tried to hold them on injuries. Not completely outrageous, but not an acceptable excuse as other teams in the league were more injured than the Habs were. And that’s not looking at the quantity of games list, but the quality of the player lost.

However, Bergevin has to be thinking along the lines of the optimist.

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Ken MacMillan: Bergevin’s thought process in the play-in series will be that it is a win-win scenario. Now, many fans will be cheering for the Habs to lose, so they have a chance at drafting first overall, and I totally get that. However, Bergevin isn’t a fan, he’s the GM, and he wants to win. He will be able to see positivity whether the Habs win or lose to the Penguins.

If the Habs win, Bergevin can say the team is healthy, it started the season well when healthy, and they are capable of going on a run if Carey Price gets hot, Shea Weber can play big minutes since he is rested, and their young forward group is fast and deep. Not to mention he can sell the fact this team just beat the amazing Penguins squad.

If they lose to Pittsburgh, well, they have a chance at the first overall pick. They will be drafting 9th otherwise, so they will be adding another great prospect to their already deep system, which helps them immensely down the road.

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Bergevin should have contingencies in case things go completely south. If the Montreal Canadiens get swept and don’t get the first pick, it’ll still be a selection in the top ten.

This is a good year to add some high-calibre talent as the organization heads into year three of its retool. But it’s about now where the city needs results. That’s what Bergevin has to keep in mind, “What can I do to get results?”