Montreal Canadiens: Best Move Of The Bob Gainey Era

When Bob Gainey came back to the Montreal Canadiens in 2003 to become the 15th general manager in the club’s storied history, he brought instant credibility. He had proven his mettle as an executive after having recently led the Dallas Stars to a Stanley Cup as their GM in 1999. The prodigal son had his work cut out for him though as he returned to take over a team that had missed the playoffs in four of the past five seasons.

The Canadiens would make the postseason and pull off a first round upset of the Boston Bruins in Gainey’s first year at the helm. It was a mild playoff run that would not have been possible without the GM’s first big move, the acquisition of Alex Kovalev.

After the entire 2004-05 National Hockey League calendar was scrubbed due to the lockout, the Canadiens were gifted the fifth overall pick in the 2005 draft following a lottery.

Gainey used the opportunity to select goaltender Carey Price, a controversial pick at the time given the Habs already had a stud netminder in Jose Theodore. It was a bold choice that turned out to be the right one as it charted the franchise’s path for more than a decade.  The decision to select Price could easily be considered Gainey’s best move as GM, I personally have it as a close second.

To me his best work came in the 2006-07 season when the Canadiens were on the playoff bubble as the trade deadline approached. Veteran defenseman Craig Rivet was an impending unrestricted free agent whose days in Montreal appeared to be numbered after having seemingly fallen out of favor with head coach Guy Carbonneau. Gainey was able to deftly move Rivet to the San Jose Sharks for young defenseman Josh Gorges and a 1st round pick in the upcoming draft.

It set the stage for Gainey’s hand-picked head scout Trevor Timmins to assemble some serious talent at the draft in 2007. After using their own pick to select defenseman Ryan McDonagh at 12th overall, the Habs used the Sharks pick to choose forward Max Pacioretty. Timmins followed that up by taking P.K. Subban in the second round and adding Yannick Weber in the fourth. It is remembered as one the best draft classes in franchise history and on its own it certainly belongs on Gainey’s Mount Rushmore of best moves.

The Rivet deal however is still hands down number 1 because the trade was an absolute win for the Canadiens. It helped the team in the short term as Josh Gorges immediately stepped in to play seven solid seasons in bleu-blanc-rouge as a key cog on the blueline as well as in the locker room.

It also helped them in the long run as Pacioretty developed into a prolific goal scorer who put up five seasons of 30 goals or more with the Habs while also serving as the club’s captain for three of his eight years in Montreal.

The best part of this deal may very well be that it is the gift that keeps on giving, as the Habs later parlayed Pacioretty into current captain Nick Suzuki. So while Gainey may be long gone, some of the seeds he planted continue to bear fruit to the Canadiens not only today but also for the foreseeable future.

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