Montreal Canadiens: Is Marc Bergevin Looking To Reunite Ryan Getzlaf With Corey Perry?

Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin has already been tweaking his roster ahead of today’s trade deadline.

He picked up Eric Staal from the Buffalo Sabres for third and fifth round picks and then he added left defenceman Jon Merrill from the Detroit Red Wings for a fifth round pick and minor league forward Hayden Verbeek.

With the deadline just a few hours away now, what will his next move be?

Well, according to Chris Johnston and Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, Bergevin has called the Anaheim Ducks to assess the availability of Ryan Getzlaf. The two hockey insiders were discussing this call on their “Headlines” segment in the second intermission of Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday night.

They certainly weren’t saying that the Canadiens are pushing hard to acquire Getzlaf, but they did mention at the end they believe Bergevin called to ask about him.

The rumours fly around at this time of year but this was an interesting tidbit for sure. It was also key to note that they said it was in the past few days, meaning this call would have occurred after the Canadiens landed Eric Staal.

Getzlaf and Perry won a Stanley Cup together in 2007 with the Ducks and were one of the most dynamic duos in the Western Conference for over a decade. Getzlaf is a big centre who was more of the setup man and Perry was the beneficiary of those passes and the big skilled, gritty winger who would put the puck in the net any way he could.

Could the two rekindle some of that magic with the Canadiens? Perry has looked really good lately and has nine goals and 16 points in 31 games for the Habs this season.

Getzlaf remains in Anaheim, where he has played his whole career and has 15 points in 36 games for the lowest scoring team in the NHL. They certainly aren’t the same duo that put Ducks teams on their backs and dominated physically and offensively.

However, it is interesting to see that Bergevin has added some veteran pieces lately and he might not be done yet. If Getzlaf were to land in Montreal, he might end up playing on a fourth line with Perry and Staal as his wingers when everyone is healthy.

They aren’t the same superstars they were, but there is something to be said for safe, smart, veteran players in depth positions. That line wouldn’t blow by anyone on the ice, but they would definitely have chemistry, know how what it takes to win a playoff series and would provide invaluable experience.

Young centres Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi could learn a thing or two from a veteran centre of 1089 games like Getzlaf.

The Canadiens would have to get creative to make a trade work financially. The 35 year old centre is in the final year of a monster contract that comes with a $8.25 million cap hit. However, we have seen teams use a third party to spread cap hits around in a trade.

The Tampa Bay Lightning acquired David Savard from the Columbus Blue Jackets days ago but they used the Detroit Red Wings to take on some salary. The Blue Jackets retained half of Savard’s salary and technically sent him to the Red Wings who retained half of his remaining salary before shipping him to Tampa Bay. Then, the Lightning got the player for 25% of his cap hit and all it cost them was an extra fourth round pick sent to the Red Wings.

If the Canadiens wanted to acquire Getzlaf at the smallest cap hit possible, they would have to get the Ducks to retain half of his contract and then have another team eat half of his remaining contract. This way, the Habs get their player at 25% of his original cap hit which in this case is just over $2 million.

Another potential roadblock is, Getzlaf has a no movement clause. The Ducks are one of the worst teams in the league so would he consider waiving it? His whole NHL career has been in Anaheim, but if he were going to move, Montreal would be an attractive choice if they told him Corey Perry would be on his wing.

It’s an interesting thought for sure. Getzlaf and Perry had tremendous chemistry and were an awful pain to play against for many years in Anaheim. Bergevin already made one call at least. Will he made another today to try and bring Getzlaf to Montreal?