Montreal Canadiens: Patrice Bergeron Re-Signing Will Finally Put Absurd Habs Rumours To Rest

The Montreal Canadiens offseason promises to be very busy, but they have to be realistic about what is in store in the 2022-23 season. After a wild run to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, the Habs were the 32nd best team in the 2021-22 regular season.

Now, they have an older and highly paid roster and it is not nearly good enough to compete with the Tampa Bay Lighting, Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins or Toronto Maple Leafs. And that is just the top teams in their own division.

Rumours are plentiful these days in the NHL, but there have been two surrounding the Canadiens that really never made sense. Everyone and their dog are trying to link up Patrice Bergeron and Kris Letang to the Canadiens this offseason.

The Canadiens are far from contending, and Bergeron and Letang are aging veterans who will surely be focused on finding a winner this offseason. That is, of course, if either of them were to actually leave the only team they ever played for and tested the free agent market.

Both are from the province of Quebec, and did have Kent Hughes as their agent before he took the general manager job with the Canadiens. So, the two players would be coming home and would be negotiating a contract with their former agent.

But is that really enough to convince Bergeron, who will be 37 when next season starts, or Letang who will be 35 to join the worst team in the league from last season? I would call it extraordinarily unlikely.

Not to mention the Habs have absolutely no cap space now, after trading Shea Weber who is destined for long term injured reserve. Taking on Evgeni Dadonov’s contract in that trade makes it impossible to add a big contract in free agency.

Late last night, it was finally rumoured that Patrice Bergeron has agreed to return to the Boston Bruins on a one year deal. It is the only team he has played for since he was 18 years old. It never really made sense that he would leave a playoff team that he has been part of for 18 years to join the cellar dwellers because they play close to where Bergeron lived 20 years ago.

This signing will finally put those nonsensical rumours to bed. The Canadiens are a team somewhere between completely tearing it down and going through a transition next season. Bergeron makes no sense in that setting, and now he has confirmed he will be playing for the Bruins his entire career.

The Canadiens offseason still promises to be busy, but veteran players will be leaving town, not signing lucrative contracts to join Montreal.

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