A Winning Habit
Fansided

Montreal Canadiens: Five Moves Habs Did NOT Make That Led To Playoff Success

By Ken MacMillan

MONTREAL, QC - JANUARY 07: Montreal Canadiens Marc Bergevin (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - JANUARY 07: Montreal Canadiens Marc Bergevin (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 6
Next
May 20, 2021; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Wayne Simmonds Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
May 20, 2021; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Wayne Simmonds Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports /

Wayne Simmonds

Early in free agency, the Habs were rumoured to be targeting Wayne Simmonds. The 32 year old winger was coming off an 8 goal and 25 point season in 68 games with the New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres. Still, teams were apparently interested in signing him.

Bergevin was apparently the most interested in acquiring Simmonds. It was widely rumoured that he offered more than the Toronto Maple Leafs, but the Ontario native elected to sign with his hometown team instead.

You can say this isn’t a bullet that Bergevin dodged, but one that Kyle Dubas leapt in front of him to take. However, Bergevin clearly set a limit that he was willing to pay and when Simmonds refused, Bergevin wisely walked away.

You might remember Simmonds as the least memorable player from the Canadiens and Maple Leafs series. He scored zero goals and one assist in seven games, after a seven goal and two assist regular season in 38 games. This while starting the year on the Leafs top power play with Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares and Morgan Rielly.

With the savings from not paying Simmonds, Bergevin would eventually turn to Corey Perry to play a similar role. Perry has been excellent in the postseason, scoring the winning goal in Game 7 against the Leafs and he now has six points in 11 playoff games after scoring 21 points in 49 regular season contests.

Taking Perry off this team and replacing him with Simmonds is the difference between losing in the first round of the playoffs and making a run to the Stanley Cup semifinals. At least.

Home/Editorials