Montreal Canadiens: The Embarrassing List of Top Ten Scorers Drafted By Marc Bergevin

The Montreal Canadiens hit rock bottom this season, and though there were plenty of issues, a lack of goal scoring was certainly one of them.

The Canadiens scored 221 goals this season, finishing 6th from the bottom of the league, though a ten goal outburst in Game 82 saw them jump from second last on the final day of the season.

Luring free agents to Montreal is not easy, with the terrible winter weather in the city and the high tax rate that players have to deal with compared to other locales such as Texas and Florida. That puts an even higher emphasis on the NHL Draft to acquire talent for the Canadiens.

The Canadiens have the first overall pick in the upcoming draft that will take place at the Bell Centre in Montreal. That will give the new regime a chance to add an elite talent to the roster.

It shouldn’t be difficult to find a better scorer than their predecessor ever did in his ten NHL Drafts. Marc Bergevin was the team’s general manager since just before the 2012 NHL Draft, and though draft guru Trevor Timmins was leading the charge at the draft table, the general manager is the one that makes the final decisions.

So, a look back at the 2012-21 NHL Drafts shows a complete lack of offensive production. There is some promise from the recent drafts, but the top ten scorers that were taken while Bergevin was the team’s general manager are a pretty laughable bunch.

Points are not the only measure of a player, so it is bit unfair to judge Bergevin’s draft tenure solely on points. Especially since he drafted such great defenders like…. Romanov…. and…. ummmm…. Noah Juulsen?

The goalies must have turned out great right? Zach Fucale and Hayden Hawkey not so much. Cayden Primeau, Frederik Dichow, and Jakob Dobes still have a chance of making it to the Canadiens, but that’s a big question mark.

Let’s count down the top ten scorers that were drafted by Bergevin, regardless of whether they scored their points in Montreal or elsewhere.

10. Jacob De la Rose: 38 career points

A strong defensive player, Jacob De la Rose brought very little offensively. But, very little offence is enough to make him a top ten producer that was drafted by Marc Bergevin.

De la Rose was drafted in the second round of the 2013 NHL Draft and would make his NHL debut with the Habs in 2014-15. He played a total of 119 games with the Canadiens, scoring 19 points in that time.

His best offensive season came with the Canadiens in 2017-18 when he scored four goals and 12 points in 55 games. That’s not exactly top six production. The Swedish centre was a fourth liner at best, but he did have the ability to play a smart defensive game and kill penalties at a young age at the NHL level.

Not many players gained the trust of Michel Therrien quicker than De la Rose did, but it never translated into much offence at all. He was eventually claimed off waivers by the Detroit Red Wings in 2018 and was traded for Robby Fabbri about a year later.

He played his last NHL game in the 2020-21 season with the St. Louis Blues, and played this most recent season in Sweden. His best NHL season included four goals and he was the 10th highest scorer ever drafted by Marc Bergevin.

9. Charles Hudon: 41 career points

Charles Hudon has shown he can be a great goal scorer at the AHL level, but he was never able to bring that to the NHL. Still, he has the 9th most points by anyone drafted by Bergevin.

The Alma, Quebec native was drafted in the 5th round of the 2012 NHL Draft, Bergevin’s first at the helm of the Habs. He has played 215 career NHL games and scored 41 points in that time. That’s a good month for Connor McDavid, but it is 9th most ever by someone Bergevin drafted.

In 2017-18, Hudon set career highs across the board with ten goals, 20 assists and 30 points. He appeared to be on the cusp of making the Canadiens full time, but he struggled the following season. He has always been a great offensive threat in the AHL, but wasn’t able to produce with the Habs.

He played his last NHL game in the 2019-20 season, before heading to Switzerland for a year. Hudon played this season with the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL, scoring 30 goals and 57 points in 66 games. He was just eliminated by the Laval Rocket in the postseason.

A 41 point season is just okay production at the NHL level. But it was enough to make Hudon the 9th highest scorer drafted by Bergevin.

8. Victor Mete: 43 career points

Another Habs draft pick that would eventually be lost on waivers after falling down the depth chart. Though he could really skate, his offensive production was limited.

Mete was drafted in the 4th round of the 2016 NHL Draft. He would make his NHL debut as a teenager, playing in the 2017-18 season and earning some playing time alongside Shea Weber on the top pairing. It seemed like he would blossom into a terrific puck moving defender, but it didn’t work out.

The undersized, but extremely fast left defenceman has scored five goals and 43 points in 236 career NHL games. He played the first 185 games of his career with the Habs before they put him on the waiver wire last season.

Mete’s most productive NHL season was the 2018-19 campaign when he had zero goals and 13 points. It is kind of telling that someone whose best offensive season included no goals is still number 8 on the list of point producers drafted by Bergevin.

Mete finished last season with the Ottawa Senators but it was announced he will not receive a qualifying offer from them and will become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

7. Jake Evans: 45 career points

Jake Evans is a low scoring bottom six forward who has played two full NHL seasons. But even that is enough to get him to 7th on this list.

Evans was a 7th round draft pick in 2014 before embarking on a four year college career with Notre Dame. He made his pro debut with the Laval Rocket in the 2018-19 season and scored 45 points in 67 games.

He was called up late in the 2019-20 season after a few trade deadline deals sent veterans out of town and he has been on the roster ever since. He now has 18 goals and 45 points in 132 career NHL games.

This past season was Evans best, as he put up 13 goals and 29 points. The 25 year old will start the first year of a three year contract next season so he has a chance to continue climbing this list, though the player right in front of him will be difficult to catch.

6. Cole Caufield: 48 career points

Cole Caufield, who played a full college season just one year ago, and struggled to put up any offence in this, his only full NHL season, is the 6th highest scoring NHL player ever drafted by Bergevin.

He was a first round pick in 2019 and was a fantastic selection. The fact he fell all the way to 15th seems impossible in hindsight just a few years later. “What were the Oilers thinking” has been asked many times, but can you imagine Caufield on a line with McDavid?

Anyway, Caufield is likely to climb to the top of this list before his tenure with the Canadiens is complete. He has really only produced for half a season, but it was enough to put him just outside the five most productive players the Bergevin ever drafted.

The 21 year old scored 43 points in 67 games this season, though most of that production was in the second half after Martin St. Louis was hired to coach the team. It won’t take him long at that rate to get to the top of this list.

5. Sven Andrighetto: 83 career points

Sven Andrighetto in the top five? Did he even play much in the NHL? Good questions to ask. The answers are yes, and not really.

Andrighetto was a small, but skilled winger drafted out of the QMJHL in the third round of the 2013 NHL Draft. He immediately stepped into the AHL and had two decent seasons, scoring 44 and 43 points.

The native of Switzerland would score a total of 83 points in 216 career games split between Montreal and Colorado. He was traded to the Avalanche at the trade deadline in 2017 for Andreas Martinsen. In parts of three seasons with the Canadiens, Andrighetto would score 28 points in 83 games.

He caught fire immediately after landing in Colorado, scoring 16 points in 19 games to close out the season. But that was his only real taste of offensive success in the NHL. He had two more seasons of 22 and 17 points before heading back to Switzerland to continue his pro career.

He scored 38 points in 47 games for Zurich this season.

4. Jesperi Kotkaniemi: 91 career points

A bit of a polarizing player in Montreal, Kotkaniemi’s tenure was much shorter than expected but he was able to get near the top of this list already.

The 21 year old now plays for the Carolina Hurricanes after the offer sheet last summer. As surprising as it was to see him get a contract offer over $6 million after a five goal and 20 point season, it was even more wild to see him sign an eight year extension with a cap hit close to $5 million during this 29 point season.

But, the jokes kind of on Habs fans because this kid with a career high of 34 points in the 4th best career scorer to be drafted by Bergevin. That 34 point season was his rookie year in 2018-19 immediately after being selected third overall.

Kotkaniemi will continue to climb this list as well, though only 62 of his career points will ever come in a Canadiens jersey.

2. Mikhail Sergachev: 174 career points

Remember how the Habs have never really had a good puck moving defensemen on the left side and have struggled to find a quarterback for their power play for years? Yeah, me neither.

One of the best picks ever made by Bergevin was in 2016 when he nabbed Mikhail Sergachev with the 9th overall pick. Great pick, but the trade a year later that sent him to Tampa Bay for Jonathan Drouin has been widely disliked in Montreal.

The big, Russian defender has consistently put up between 30 and 40 points for the Lightning while playing a bit of a sheltered role on a team that includes Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh on the left side of its defence.

He is 23 years old and now has 174 career points, all with the Lightning, in 362 career games, all but four with the Lightning. There is no question he would have been a good fit on a pairing with Shea Weber for the past number of years.

His career high is 40 points from his rookie season in 2017-18, but he had 30 points in 56 games in 2020-21. He has also helped the Lightning win the past two Stanley Cups.

1. Alex Galchenyuk: 354 career points

The highest scorer that Bergevin ever drafted was the first player he ever drafted. He also might go down as one of the most disappointing picks Bergevin ever made.

Galchenyuk was picked third overall in the 2012 NHL Draft. He was hailed as the future number one centre that the team needed so badly for so many years. There were some flashes of brilliance from Galchenyuk, but he ultimately didn’t live up to expectations.

The 28 year old has played 643 career games and has put up 354 points in that time. He has now played on six different teams after playing his first 418 games with the Canadiens. He had 255 points in his Habs tenure before being dealt to the Arizona Coyotes for Max Domi.

His best season came in 2015-16 when he scored 30 goals and 56 points. He appeared headed destined to fill that first line centre role after that season, but two more mediocre years followed and then he was off to Arizona.

He returned to Arizona for the 2021-22 season, after stops in Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Ottawa and Toronto. I guess he was the most successful pick made by Bergevin, though Caufield and Kotkaniemi will likely blow past him in career points soon enough.

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And that’s the whole list. In ten years, Bergevin oversaw 77 selections at the NHL Draft. Three of them have over 100 career points and only one of them has more than 200. Only five of them have more than 50 career points. It is mind blowing that Sven Andrighetto is the fifth highest scorer ever selected by Marc Bergevin.