On Thursday Marc Bergevin the Montreal Canadiens general manager met the media one day before the NHL draft to answer questions on Shea Weber, Carey Price, and Jonathan Drouin.
Bergevin did start the conference by confirming the worse that his top defenseman will be out next year and there is even concern he may have played his final game in the NHL as the multiple injuries have affected his life on and off the ice.
The key now is trying to find his replacement whether that is via trade or free agency and as of right now there are some interesting pieces available that could help Montreal maybe not fully replace Weber but find a top defenseman who could take his minutes.
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As for Carey Price, it’s not as concerning as Weber as he was in New York seeing a specialist for his hip and the good news is if he gets something done the timeline appears to be six to eight weeks which means barring any setbacks he could be ready for the start of the season.
Reports had surfaced that it was way more severe and that he could be out for the entire season as well hence why he asked Bergevin not to protect himself from the expansion draft and the Seattle Kraken who at the end of the day didn’t bite on it.
There was a little bit more good news to add as it seems Jonathan Drouin will be back for training camp and Bergevin confirmed that they had a good conversation and that apparently he feels good and ready to come back.
Drouin hasn’t played since he decided to take a leave of absence due to some mental health issues he was dealing it and will need to be a big player with the huge possibility that Tomas Tatar and Philip Danault won’t be back next year.
Both Tatar and Danault will be testing free agency and Bergevin was asked about Danault but said until a contract is signed here or with another team, he wouldn’t be able to comment on it.
Near the end of the media availability, Bergevin did confirm that he would like to bring back Corey Perry and that he could be once again a key piece in another Stanley Cup run.
The NHL draft goes Friday night and the Canadiens will have 11 picks to either select their future prospects or use as leverage for trades before free agency begins on July 28 next week.