Bergeron is probably a top 5 centerman in the NHL, at minimum and ~top 10 player in the league. Same with Marchand at his respective position.
A lot of good goalies in the league today and Price based on recency doesn't stand up and above anyone in particular. It's not like Rask is a push over by any means.
Then the depth of the Bruins and their pipeline blow it out of the water. I personally don't think the Boston model retool can be replicated for many older teams and it's not just the Habs. We've seen many times try to retool on the fly and it hasn't provided great dividends, Vancouver is a great example. Montreal is in a tough spot primarily because they haven't built enough pieces from their pipeline beyond the Sergachev pick, and particularly from the 2nd round onwards.
One of the main reasons Boston could retool back into contention is they already had a world-class core (including Rask and Chara, who's declined a bit) and their pipeline restocked with high-end young cost-controlled depth players, McAvoy, Pasta to name a few.
I agree with you, Bergeron is definitely a top 5 C in the league, but so is Weber (top 10 debatable). Don't forget he was voted #5 last year for the Norris and was on pace for 50 points this season with a fractured ankle, which he suffered on game #1 of the season. Price is Price, I'm really not worried he will bounce back next season.
Our current roster looks like:
Pacioretty* - X - Gallagher
Galchenyuk - Drouin - X
Byron/Hudon - Danault - Lehkonen
Deslaurier - JDL - Shaw
X - Weber
Mete** - Petry
Alzner - Juulsen/Rielley/Benn/Schemlko
Price
X
*Most likely will be traded
**Might be bumped to the first pairing if he takes another big step forward next year.
As you can see, we're not that much in trouble. If Pacioretty goes, we will have a bigger whole on our top 6 but we're also going to draft a young Winger or a young LHD (depending on how the draft lottery goes). Add to that our 4x 2nd rounder and we will have a much better prospect pool. Boston had nothing in the pipeline when they decided they needed a retool and only had a much older Chara, Bergeron, Krug, a soon-to-be star in Marchant (he wasn't THAT good, he took a big step forward once they started the retool) and a very young Pastrnak. We have Weber, Price, Drouin, Pacioretty (for now), Galchenyuk and a young Mete who at 19 was better than at least half of the D man in this league, he will be a key piece going forward, but he needs to take another step
What they did very well, as you said, is drafting very well for 3 years and if Montreal can replicate what the Bruins did at the draft table (easier said than done), they'll be as competitive as the Bruins are right now in two years.
As for the Weber & Kessel comparison, I really don't agree with you. As I said, you don't build a team around a guy like Kessel, he simply doesn't have the leadership and competitiveness to be a mentor and a leader. He's such a great hockey player and he's probably the biggest "secondary guy" threat in the league, but as toronto saw, you can't have him as a leader. Weber, on the other side, is a great mentor. So many good D in Nashville grew their game to where it is right now because of Weber. Potential and skills plays a big part of it but I don't think Nashville would have had the D they have right now without Weber showing the way and this is what I think Montreal need (aside from his stellar play) from him. For that reason only, he shouldn't be traded at all.