Marc Bergevin 1st interview since being fired

  • Xenforo Cloud will be upgrading us to version 2.3.5 on March 3rd at 12 AM GMT. This version has increased stability and fixes several bugs. We expect downtime for the duration of the update. The admin team will continue to work on existing issues, templates and upgrade all necessary available addons to minimize impact of this new version. Click Here for Updates
Believe what set the last management group back was the poor drafting/development of the first years. They didn't inherit much of a prospect list from the Gainey/Gauthier era (from THN):

1. Nathan Beaulieu
2. Louis Leblanc
3. Jarred Tinordi
4. Brendan Gallagher
5. Aaron Palushaj
6. Michael Bournival
7. Andreas Engqvist
8. Alexander Avtsin
9. Danny Kristo
10. Patrick Holland

The irony is they had done a strong job towards the end before they were fired (from the 2021 prospect thread}:

1. Kaiden Guhle
2. Mattias Norlinder
3. Ryan Poehling
4. Logan Mailloux
5. Cayden Primeau
6. Jordan Harris
7. Jayden Struble
8. Jesse Ylonen
9. Luke Tuch
10. Jan Mysak
11. Sean Farrell
12. Josh Brook
13. Riley Kidney
14. Oliver Kapanen
15. Gianni Fairbrother
16. Raphael Harvey-Pinard
17. Cameron Hillis
18. Dmitri Kostenko
19. Joel Teasdale
20. Joshua Roy
21. William Trudeau
22. Lukas Vejdemo
23. Jakub Dobes
24. Jacob Olofsson
25. Michael McNiven
26. Brett Stapley
27. Xavier Simoneau
28. Daniil Sobolev
29. Blake Biondi
30. Joe Vrbetic
31. Alexander Gordin
32. Rhett Pitlick
33. Otto Leskinen
34. Frederik Dichow
35. Michael Pezzetta
36. Jack Smith
37. Arsen Khisatmudinov
38. Jack Gorniak
39. Arvid Henrikson

Add: Arber Xhekaj (signed Oct 2021)

Plus recently graduated to the NHL at that time: Cole Caufield, Alexander Romanov & Jake Evans

A night and day difference prospect wise, in my opinion, to what was inherited in 2012
 
Last edited:
Not if you get one on an expiring contract. Eller would have been an upgrade till the TDL, not a star but a solid center hence the reason the Caps got him back.
We need a guy who can put up 50-60 points on the second line. I thought Dach would be that guy - maybe he still will be but we can't count on it now - and if he can't do it then we need somebody else.

Like I said, we don't need to give up on Dach. But we shouldn't depend on him either. He's supposed to be our 2nd and we've played him on the wing. If we don't have faith enough to play him as our 2nd line center now then it's clear that we need somebody there. So keep Dach and hope he finds his game. Best case scenario we have two guys who can play 2nd line center if we go out and get somebody else.
 
  • Like
Reactions: OldCraig71
Such a bad look for Molson. But also lol @ Bergevin for 'moving on' without having another job in the bag. Dude had to take a demotion because he's a joke league-wide.
f6TfqVe.gif
 
Unpopular opinion but underrated GM. Here was a local(French) management talent the hand rushed and made him learn on the job in the biggest market. If he had gotten more experience first he would’ve been better.

I know people will go on about how he sucks and it was old boys club but we literally have 2 GMs and they hired a dude with zero coaching experience to be coach because they’re friends.

The one thing Molson learnt was to put a layer between him and the GM. Best decision made to let someone more hockey focused manage the GM.
He’s a very mixed bag. He’s underrated by default just because of the amount of vitriol he gets lol.

The contracts were bad. His dealings with players and the infrastructure was bad. Really really bad.

His moves were generally pretty good. The Drouin trade was awful but it was heavily lauded at the time if not unanimously.

He left us some very good pieces. Arguably better than what he inherited but I’d say it’s a wash at the very least.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LyricalLyricist
Believe what set the last management group back was the poor drafting/development of the first years. They didn't inherit much of a prospect list from the Gainey/Gauthier era (from THN):

1. Nathan Beaulieu
2. Louis Leblanc
3. Jarred Tinordi
4. Brendan Gallagher
5. Aaron Palushaj
6. Michael Bournival
7. Andreas Engqvist
8. Alexander Avtsin
9. Danny Kristo
10. Patrick Holland

The irony is they had done a strong job towards the end before they were fired (from the 2021 prospect thread}:

1. Kaiden Guhle
2. Mattias Norlinder
3. Ryan Poehling
4. Logan Mailloux
5. Cayden Primeau
6. Jordan Harris
7. Jayden Struble
8. Jesse Ylonen
9. Luke Tuch
10. Jan Mysak
11. Sean Farrell
12. Josh Brook
13. Riley Kidney
14. Oliver Kapanen
15. Gianni Fairbrother
16. Raphael Harvey-Pinard
17. Cameron Hillis
18. Dmitri Kostenko
19. Joel Teasdale
20. Joshua Roy
21. William Trudeau
22. Lukas Vejdemo
23. Jakub Dobes
24. Jacob Olofsson
25. Michael McNiven
26. Brett Stapley
27. Xavier Simoneau
28. Daniil Sobolev
29. Blake Biondi
30. Joe Vrbetic
31. Alexander Gordin
32. Rhett Pitlick
33. Otto Leskinen
34. Frederik Dichow
35. Michael Pezzetta
36. Jack Smith
37. Arsen Khisatmudinov
38. Jack Gorniak
39. Arvid Henrikson

Add: Arber Xhekaj (signed Oct 2021)

Plus recently graduated to the NHL at that time: Cole Caufield, Alexander Romanov & Jake Evans

A night and day difference prospect wise, in my opinion, to what was inherited in 2012

Your conclusion is bad as it includes Caufield as a prospect yet was already on the team and on the other hand ommits Subban and Pacioretty who were 22 heading on 23. Price 24 heading on 25. What Bergevin inherited was much much better ainec.

Do the list again with 25 and under players.
 
Everyone talks about the Subban - Weber trade.

But the real moment I knew we were doomed is summer of 2015.

Jeff Petry, great deadline acquisition. Gave us two solid D pairings.

Carey Price was God.

Vanek showed us we could take a step forward with elite talent.

We were at a crossroads...go all in or re-tool.

Marc we need offense buddy. Marc we nee-

Jiri_Sekac_-_Montreal_Canadiens.jpg
 
But Bergevin feels he left Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes decent pieces to rebuild with.

“I never traded a first-round pick when I was there,” Bergevin said. “Not that I wouldn’t, but I didn’t. And you can look at the draft picks I left them. And I’m proud of that. I didn’t put that franchise in a bad spot. People might argue that, but I don’t know where you would argue that.”

MB is a clown
He has to mean our own 1st rounders? I mean he traded a first round pick for Dvorak which was beyond stupid.
 
This is some old school HFboards talk going on straight out of the time machine , A little Bergevins inheritance from Gainey discussion, sprinkle a couple of Bargain Bin memes , and the full shot Jiri Sekac picture courtesy of my boy Skip Bayless to top it off

Thank god nobody mentioned lars eller to really get me going , I still think about those two 2nd picks we reflipped , jesus christ, the asset management skills of a monkey.

This has been covered a million times , and my boy Bergie still has defenders in here , At this point I respect it
 
Last edited:
I can't believe he's gone. Didn't he have a chance to get ROR but wouldn't trade Ryan Poehling to make the deal happen? "Centers, they're just not available" oh yeah and the one about Karl Alzner being Shea Webers best D partner lol.

The Subban trade and the treatment of Markov were poison pills for me along with so many other things. He must have led the league in GM press conferences as well lol.
 
Classic Bergevin - from the day he was hired

'The new GM is also in favour of increasing the French presence on a team, once known as the Flying Frenchmen, that had only two francophone regulars last season, Mathieu Darche and Desharnais.'
"The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is here in our backyard," he said. "My vision is to put people in place to make sure we don’t miss guys from Quebec.
Proceeds to miss out on every decent Quebec kid the rest of his life here lol.
 
How is Kuch an accessory piece? He was drafted by TB and has stayed with them throughout his career.. you need those players.
And yes, so far Kane is an accessory piece to a Cup contender. If you are one of the Contenders, you absolutely go out and grab a Kane..at this point draft capital wins out, proper Cap control reigns supreme

1 cup every 10 years should be the goal.
I think you misunderstood. The OP said that small players are accessory pieces and don't win cups, and I was pointing out that Kane and Kucherov were instrumental in winning theirs
 
I will never forgive him to have wasted the prime career of Carey Price.
That's the biggest picture for me of the Bergevin era.

Whatever great season we had, it was 100% on Carey Price that carried a not so good team on his back. Not because of the coach or what Bergevin did as a GM, but because we had for once the best player in the world at a position (most important one). Bergevin wasted Price.

Bergevin never did anything to actually help him out, never made the big move, never been able to actually improved the team. Everytime he added a plus, a minus was following.
 
This is some old school HFboards talk going on straight out of the time machine , A little Bergevins inheritance from Gainey discussion, sprinkle a couple of Bargain Bin memes , and the full shot Jiri Sekac picture courtesy of my boy Skip Bayless to top it off

Thank god nobody mentioned lars eller to really get me going , I still think about those two 2nd picks we reflipped , jesus christ, the asset management skills of a monkey.

This has been covered a million times , and my boy Bergie still has defenders in here , At this point I respect it
Two words.

Karl Alzner.​

 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad