Montreal Canadiens: 5 burning questions for 2018-19 season
By David Rouben
1. Seriously, when is Bergevin getting fired?
Any problems that the Canadiens have start and end with Marc Bergevin. It may seem like he’s an easy scapegoat, especially since Claude Julien deserves part of the blame as well. But every move Bergevin makes takes them further and further away from Stanley Cup contention. The way they’ve gone from two wins away from the Stanley Cup Final to 28th place in four seasons is seriously impressive.
Replacing Bergevin isn’t as easy as it sounds. The one thing that always hamstrings the Habs in a coach and GM search is that they need a Francophone in order to deal with the Montreal media.
With that in mind, Julien BriseBois makes the most sense. He’s currently the GM of Tampa Bay’s AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, and has built a solid foundation there. The Crunch have reached the Calder Cup Final three times in the past six seasons and won it in 2012. He has seen players like Tyler Johnson, Vlad Namestnikov, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point graduate through the ranks, and they’re poised for a re-tool with Taylor Raddysh and Boris Katchouk getting set to enter the fold.
He’s not the only candidate, and perhaps the Lightning will be cognizant of the Canadiens’ attempt to pry him away. If they play hardball, or are simply unwilling to give him up, they might be forced to turn to Patrick Roy, which could even be a step back.
Next. Every current NHL franchise’s most beloved head coach. dark
While firing Bergevin is a move that would be unanimously praised, and long overdue, they can’t do it unless they have a replacement lined up. But while he’s with the team, the most sensible thing to do would be tying his hands together so that he can’t pick up the phone and make a trade.