By Jesse Guerra, special to Rocket Sports
The date was June 24th, 2021. The Montreal Canadiens and the Vegas Golden Knights were deadlocked at two goals apiece after 60 minutes in the Stanley Cup Semifinals. I remember it like it was yesterday.
At 1:28 of the first overtime period, Vegas winger Tomas Nosek won an offensive zone faceoff back to Alec Martinez. The Golden Knights blueliner fired a shot that was blockered away by Carey Price. The Canadiens franchise goaltender deflected the puck in a strategic way to send Brendan Gallagher and mates 3-on-2 break. Gallagher dropped the disc back to Philip Danault, who, in turn, passed it across to Artturi Lehkonen. The Finnish winger wristed a shot past Vegas goaltender Robin Lehner to send the Montreal Canadiens to their first Stanley Cup Final appearance since 1993, nearly a 30 year span.
As most players mobbed Lehkonen, a few teammates skated to celebrate the immense victory with Carey Price. I observed Price as he put his hands on his head like he was in disbelief. Price was then congratulated by Marc Bergevin, the man responsible for assembling the Cup finalist team after nine years of effort.
Given the success in a relatively short period of time by Jeff Gorton, Executive Vice-President of Hockey Operations, and Kent Hughes, General Manager, it got me thinking, what could a healthy Price in his prime have accomplished with a management team in the mold of Gorton and Hughes, instead of Bergevin? Would Carey Price have won a Stanley Cup?
It’s an impossible question to answer, But to figure out what might have been, let’s dissect some of the moves made by Bergevin through the lens of Gorton-Hughes mindset.
To be clear, I’m not suggesting that Gorton or Hughes should have been hired instead of Bergevin in 2012. Gorton had not yet become a general manager at that date and it was prior to Hughes’ association with Quartexx. My argument, will be based on my amateur interpretation of their thought processes. What would they have done?
The Bergevin Era
Let’s begin. At the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, the Montreal Canadiens held the third overall selection. The roster at that time was starved for scoring and included players such as Scott Gomez and Mathieu Darcher. With this in mind, the Bergevin used the third pick to select Alex Galchenyuk.
There were many top defensemen available during the draft, such as Morgan Rielly, Hampus Lindholm, Jacob Trouba, and Matt Dumba, that the Canadiens ignored. There were also some notable forwards, such as Filip Forsberg, Tomas Hertl, and Tom Wilson. Artturi Lehkonen was selected fifty-fifth overall, one of the better draft picks of the Bergevin era.
At the 2013 NHL trade deadline, big names such as Jaromir Jagr, Jarome Iginla, Marian Gaborik were available. Bergevin could have helped the young team by adding a veteran to make a deep run. Instead the Habs were ousted by the Ottawa Senators, a team that made a few good runs in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the 2010’s.
One year later it seemed that Bergevin did take a glance at the roster and made some moves. Montreal added a key player to their mix in Thomas Vanek, a skilled forward that helped bolster the top line of David Desharnais and Max Pacioretty. I believe that Gorton and Hughes may have added a player with size like Brayden McNabb or Stephane Robidas.
The Canadiens fell to the Rangers in the Eastern Conference Final as Carey Price suffered an injury in Game. Price came back the next season with heroic performance winning the Hart Trophy, Vezina Trophy and Ted Lindsay Trophy and sharing the William H. Jennings Trophy. The team fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning, who were a Stanley Cup finalist.
Around the league, there were not many big names traded at the 2014 NHL trade deadline, but Bergevin did acquire some depth scoring in Torrey Mitchell and Brian Flynn, as well as adding a top-4 defenseman in Jeff Petry. I feel this was his best deadline to date, but this would not be enough.
Price is Best on the Planet
The 2015-’16 was a year to forget for Habs fans, as Carey Price’s injury lingered and kept him out for most of the season. Bergevin made one notable move at that deadline, bringing in a young Phillip Danault, as well as a second round pick, in exchange for Dale Weise and Tomas Fleishmann.
Going to 2016-’17, Bergevin added Alexander Radulov in the offseason to a one-year deal, another great move to help the Canadiens top line. He also drafted Mikhail Sergachev with the ninth overall in the 2016 NHL Draft. He also traded P.K. Subban for Shea Weber. These Canadiens were statistically better than 2015-’16, qualifying for the playoffs. I would not be able to confidently say Hughes would do much different.
However, 2017 would prove to be one Bergevin’s more polarizing years in the GM chair. At the 2017 trade deadline, he did not add skill, he added size, bringing in Andreas Martinsen, Dwight King and Steve Ott. Meanwhile, the Canadiens could have added a cheap, veteran piece, like Jarome Iginla for a fourth round pick. I believe that Hughes would have added a skilled veteran with a great personality for another deep run.
The Habs were eliminated in six games, and led to Marc Bergevin to trade Mikhail Sergachev to the Tampa Bay Lightning, acquiring forward Jonathan Drouin. Hughes has said many times that he will not forfeit the future for a short-term fix. While Drouin was still young, I do not believe Hughes would have completed this trade given that Sergachev showed promise to be a top defenseman.
At the same time, Bergevin replaced Sergachev by signing Karl Alzner to a five-year deal, a move that would not progress the Canadiens. This would land the Canadiens with No. 3 overall pick at the 2018 NHL Draft. Had this been Hughes and Gorton, perhaps Brady Tkachuk would be the Canadiens selection. Instead, Bergevin selected Jesperi Kotkaniemi, a player he would later lose to an offer sheet.
An Emotional GM
As poor as the 2018 summer could have been, the handling of Max Pacioretty led Bergevin to trade his captain to the Vegas Golden Knights for Tomas Tatar, a second round pick, and a prospect named Nick Suzuki. Had Hughes and Gorton been at the helm – treating the Pacioretty with respect – this trade may have never happened.
Bergevin added Ben Chairot and traded Andrew Shaw back to Chicago yielding a decent return. Bergevin signed Ilya Kovalchuk to a contract after being bought out by the Los Angeles Kings. He then flipped Kovalchuk to the Washington Capitals for a third round pick in the next draft, which is a good return on investment.
That brings us to 2021, where Bergevin signed big defenseman Joel Edmundson, skilled forward Tyler Toffoli, and acquired Josh Anderson. This would be similar to this past offseason, where Hughes acquired Noah Dobson and Zach Bolduc to push the Canadiens forward.
At the deadline, Bergevin added Eric Staal, which helped the bottom six with a veteran presence, a move that Hughes may have made.
Following the Stanley Cup Final loss, Bergevin re-signed Joel Armia to a four-year contract, as well as Brendan Gallagher to a six-year contract. After signing Gallagher, Bergevin became emotional saying, “He’s a special one. [..] He’s a hockey player through his bones and that’s what I love about him.” I feel that Hughes does not put his emotions into decisions for the business of the Canadiens.
What Could Have Been
I didn’t write this article with the intention of putting down Bergevin, but to give a different perspective. It’s my opinion that Hughes and Gorton have been doing great work with the rebuild.
When Bergevin started, he may have felt pressure to win and to fulfill that need immediately. However, with emotions, personal connections, and panic moves, Bergevin may have pushed the Canadiens further away from their goal.
Hughes and Gorton are entering their fifth year, and the Canadiens look to be primed for a return to the playoffs. Their decisions, such as drafting Juraj Slafkovsky, David Reinbacher, and Ivan Demidov as well as acquiring Noah Dobson, Zach Bolduc, Alex Carrier, and Patrik Laine set the two of them up well for comparisons in the future.
Only one Montreal Canadiens was named to the NHL Quarter-Century team this May: Carey Price. This honor speaks to the fact that he had an exceptional NHL career. Price holds a number of franchise goaltending records for the Canadiens ahead of Jacques Plante, Patrick Roy and Ken Dryden. But with only one Canadien cracking the elite roster of the past 25 years, it also reinforces the fact that Price was hampered in his ability to win a championship by a lack of talent around him.
We can only imagine what could have been if Price had a chance to shine with Gorton and Hughes in charge.
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