Montreal Canadiens general manager has been very busy, but he was smart to avoid signing these three free agents.
Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin has been extremely busy this offseason. He jumped the gun before the NHL Draft and free agency and has been very active ever since.
Long before players even became free agents officially, Bergevin acquired Jake Allen to give the team a better backup goaltender. He then traded for and signed Joel Edmundson. He was wheeling and dealing during the draft to move out picks for more selections in next year’s draft.
The biggest move he made was to trade Max Domi and a third round pick for Josh Anderson and then sign the hulking winger to a seven year contract extension.
Once free agency actually opened, Bergevin waited patiently but hauled in a pretty big fish at a great price when he signed Tyler Toffoli to a four-year deal. He also re-signed the heart and soul of the forward group when he gave Brendan Gallagher a six-year extension and then he added two more years on to Allen’s contract as well.
It has been a hectic time to be a Habs fan, let alone the man actually pulling the strings.
There were plenty of rumours swirling that Bergevin was in on different players as well. He was clearly looking to make a big splash and he did that. Not only did he make smart moves, he avoided the questionable transactions that he was rumoured to be interested in.
Let’s take a look at the three players who were rumoured to be coming to Montreal at one time or another, but Bergevin was wise enough to pass up on this offseason.