Habs @ Kings 10:30 PM EST

[Machine of Loving Grace]

What should Bergevin done in December? Traded Gallagher for Yakupov? Traded Beaulieu & 1st pick for OK top six forward? Traded Galchenyuk for Nugent-Hopkins?

Exactly what should Mgmt have done in December to make this team a contender this year?

From 12-13 till December Habs were top of standings, you would of all of a sudden swung a couple big trades to fix all? Acquire a top notch goalie and upgrade top six forward just like that.

Lets hear it!

Moved a body to acquire a fresh player that didn't play like the other Habs to spark the locker room.

Bergevin did nothing. If he tried something and it didn't work, I would have defended it. Instead he sat on his hands until it was too late.

I'm not saying make a big deal like you're suggesting. This team needed a shakeup in December and proof their GM was paying attention. Instead? Silence until Therrien had to be defended. It's inexcusable. All he did this year was trade minor guys out (Thomas, Kassian, Tinordi, DSP), he never tried filling the Semin spot when he was exiled, and when we did bring in some young blood that looked good, it was a bigger concern to not lose anyone on waivers than it was to keep a guy who was scoring goals for us up in the NHL.

The team needed support. Only the coach got it.

[Commandant]

The games in December were lost more on lack of scoring than bad goaltending. January was a combination of both with goaltending being worse. February is once again a combination. Condon played well when Price went down and it wasn't until mid December that he stopped looking like a starter. Remember the talk he was going to be the new Cam Talbot?

Lack of Offence hurt this team first and Bergevin did nothing in December to address it. Heck, he sent down Daniel Carr, one of our only semi consistent goal scorers, instead of addressing it.

This season is the blame of management.

The team also had the worst goaltending in the entire NHL in December. Did they have scoring issues, sure. And no one thinks they should have had a winning record for the month, but league average goaltending gives them a few more points as well.

They have scoring issues but even with that, they would still be in the playoffs with league average goaltending, and they got far worse than that.

You keep saying its NHLer's jobs to score goals.

Well its an NHL goalies job to shut the door too. Even a team with league average goalies gets 4-5 shutouts a year. We didn't get any games with shutouts and what 1 in all of december where we limited the opponent to a single goal?

I'm not asking for that every night... but league average goalies do this once in a while.

[Commandant]

What should Bergevin done in December? Traded Gallagher for Yakupov? Traded Beaulieu & 1st pick for OK top six forward? Traded Galchenyuk for Nugent-Hopkins?

Exactly what should Mgmt have done in December to make this team a contender this year?

From 12-13 till December Habs were top of standings, you would of all of a sudden swung a couple big trades to fix all? Acquire a top notch goalie and upgrade top six forward just like that.

Lets hear it!

Exactly

Management shouldn't be chasing short term moves with the goal of just a playoff spot. It should be long term thinking with the goal to build a cup team.

We aren't a cup team, we have a couple holes. When the goalie got hurt it was another hole. You can't plug every hole (including the goaltending) to get the team to cup calibre level in december.

The issue was never about what Bergevin did or didn't do in December

Its entirely what he didn't do well enough (get scoring) last summer.

[Chris]

If you are the bottom of the league in offense, defense and goaltending you are a bottom feeder looking for a top 5 pick.

Something needs to change

[Machine of Loving Grace]

Management shouldn't be chasing short term moves with the goal of just a playoff spot. It should be long term thinking with the goal to build a cup team.

This is absolutely silly. Why is it always either trading everyone for a superstar or trading nothing? We saw Carl Hagelin get traded for David Perron. Two players struggling. You're saying we couldn't find a similar deal for Lars Eller? We kept Jarred Tinordi until he started curdling. You're telling me we couldn't have moved him sooner for a player of similar value at forward? Why was it impossible to make a Nicklas Jensens for Emerson Etem type deal?

In November of 2013-14, the Blackhawks added Kris Versteeg because they knew he'd gel with the locker room and provide some additional offence at a good price. The return for that didn't come until the year after when they won the Cup, but that was a move they made in November knowing they had to get better (Ray Bourque didn't win the Cup with Colorado when he was dealt. He won it the next year).

This idea that it's either hit a home run or do nothing is ridiculous. Bergevin just bitched and moaned about the difficulty to make a big trade or add a superstar but he never bothered to consider trading David Desharnais, Lars Eller, Alexei Emelin or Tom Gilbert for a player of similar value that would change the locker room a bit and show that the team was listening and trying to help. Nope.

There was a lot of circumstances out of his control, like Price's injury and the falling shot percentage, but the most he did to try to show he supported the team was trade for Ben Scrivens. Does this really seem like a GM who has faith in the team? At what point does he suddenly turn it on and realize this team can win a Cup? We got one more year of Markov before we have to find a top six LD to replace him, we got one more year of Alex Galchenyuk before he asks for double his salary, we got two more years of Carey Price before we have to add $5M more to the cap to pay him, we got two more years of Plekanec before he probably regresses to a third line grinder and we got three more years before that happens with our captain. At what point does Marc Bergevin start hitting the gas pedal and pushing this team to a Stanley Cup?

[Link67]

how quickly everyone forgets we were the best team in Hockey for 2 months out of 5 played so far.

you really think the sky is falling approach is warranted? Does anyone think the real Bottom feeding teams like Toronto, Edmonton, Columbus, and Buffalo could be the best team in hockey for 2 straight months? Didn't think so. Do we have some dead weight? yes, guys like Desharnais and Emelin need to be moved to create cap space to upgrade our forward position.

But i would be willing to bet that with a similar line up, with Price in net and one solid addition into the top 6 of some kind, we would be far from the position we are in now, and a lot closer to the place we were in late November. Accept this season as a strange anomaly we may end up picking up a real good young kid in June for, and expect a huge bounce back next season without the complete destruction of the current roster.

[Commandant]

If you are the bottom of the league in offense, defense and goaltending you are a bottom feeder looking for a top 5 pick.

Something needs to change

But we are bottom of the league in all three.....

Goaltending - Yes our save percentage is shit.

Defense.... - We are top five in preventing shots, and preventing scoring chances.

Offense - Weve started to improve already. overall on the season are about middle of the pack. yes we need help, but not as bad as made out.

[DON]

MoLG, how do you know he never considered trading a mediocre asset, pure speculation and possible 100% incorrect? And you still only give vague actions for Mgmt to of done, trade for a fresh body like Versteeg? What about the goaltending issue? And Versteeg is not an All-Star, so still have a team with ZERO all-star forwards, unlike Hawks who had all-stars Toews-Kane-Hossa + solid top 4 d-core + good goaltending.

is like comparing apples to road apples.

Bergevin was repeatedly asked why he never traded for top-6 upgrade, so he answered over and over with pretty much same answer every time. Is that bitching?

Of course it is Mgmt who is responsible for state of team, but is short term slim chance fix more important, when have little in way of real good asset to deal with, or attempting to build a real contender?

[Lovett's Magnatones]

MoLG, how do you know he never considered trading a mediocre asset, pure speculation and possible 100% incorrect? And you still only give vague actions for Mgmt to of done, trade for a fresh body like Versteeg? What about the goaltending issue? And Versteeg is not an All-Star, so still have a team with ZERO all-star forwards, unlike Hawks who had all-stars Toews-Kane-Hossa + solid top 4 d-core + good goaltending.

is like comparing apples to road apples.

Bergevin was repeatedly asked why he never traded for top-6 upgrade, so he answered over and over with pretty much same answer every time. Is that bitching?

Of course it is Mgmt who is responsible for state of team, but is short term slim chance fix more important, when have little in way of real good asset to deal with, or attempting to build a real contender?

The point MoLG is circling is that these issues with the roster started long before Carey Price blew out his whatever. Then, when his absence turned them into major deficiencies, Bergevin threw up his hands, said "trades are hard" and then rushed to get into his fancy suit and play Calvin Klein Jr for Satorialto. Sickening.

[KoRP]

I'm happy Bergevin "sat on his hands", selling to compete this season is absolute lunacy, knowing Price was probably done for the season. No one could have imagined the team would slip this far, it was a calculated gamble, and although we lost, we get a good pick and look for a complete turnaround next year, like Link said... this season was lost long ago, as soon as Price went down

All this shoulda woulda coulda stuff is just one way to look at it, as is mine... none of us know what Bergevin has up his sleeve, or the dilemma's he had to get deals done.

[DON]

I know what MoLG is getting at, but it is too easy to speculate Bergevin simply sat on his hands last spring/Free agency and 'missed' on a top-6 upgrade (when we all know he made good offers to numerous UFAs) and again after Price & Gallagher went down, he didn't just sit back with fingers crossed.

But by no means are Bergevin, Timmins, Dudley blameless for state of team.

[KoRP]

I know what MoLG is getting at, but it is too easy to speculate Bergevin simply sat on his hands last spring/Free agency and 'missed' on a top-6 upgrade (when we all know he made good offers to numerous UFAs) and again after Price & Gallagher went down, he didn't just sit back with fingers crossed.

But by no means are Bergevin, Timmins, Dudley blameless for state of team.

Yup, well said Don.

[Machine of Loving Grace]

I know what MoLG is getting at, but it is too easy to speculate Bergevin simply sat on his hands last spring/Free agency and 'missed' on a top-6 upgrade (when we all know he made good offers to numerous UFAs) and again after Price & Gallagher went down, he didn't just sit back with fingers crossed.

But by no means are Bergevin, Timmins, Dudley blameless for state of team.

Did he make calls? Yes.

Was no price ever good enough for him? Yes. Friedman said in the summer that Bergevin wanted two second round picks for Tinordi. Of course no price was good enough to pay to improve the team.

Do you have faith in Bergevin to make a trade like Los Angeles did to acquire Jeff Carter? Or Marian Gaborik? Or will he balk at any price that's not a Vanek style steal? Because at this point, Bergevin had shown no aggression on making this club better. He'd rather just tinker with the bottom six and tell everyone the cost is too high.

[DON]

What does 2 future picks have to do with this season's "blame", you are just piling on to make a case.

He opted for Petry instead of top six; and you got to admit a top-4 d man and top six forward were two 'holes' in the roster and I would bet your paycheque; that if he hadn't signed Petry, he would of used that cap room for some top six forward (or a different top-4 d-man I suppose).

But he couldn't simply afford to sign both 'needs' and yes you can blame him for 51-81-74 eating too much cap room, but those deals are what they are.

[Lovett's Magnatones]

I'm happy Bergevin "sat on his hands", selling to compete this season is absolute lunacy, knowing Price was probably done for the season. No one could have imagined the team would slip this far, it was a calculated gamble, and although we lost, we get a good pick and look for a complete turnaround next year, like Link said... this season was lost long ago, as soon as Price went down

All this shoulda woulda coulda stuff is just one way to look at it, as is mine... none of us know what Bergevin has up his sleeve, or the dilemma's he had to get deals done.

If he did his job as a GM, and added one piece to the top-6, (which he'll have you believe a top-6 winger is as hard to acquire as a #1 D/center or #1 goalie) and a real backup instead of Tokarski/Condon, the Habs are a bubble team right now. Add in keeping Therrien and he gets an F for this year.

[DON]

Is funny, SN is showing WHL game and Kamloops are wearing "Cooperall's". I remember wearing those things 30 some year ago, still look goofy.

[hab29RETIRED]

Florida was aggressive last year. Picked up Jagr. How much better would our team have looked with Jagr in last year's playoffs. Look at how Barkov's responded to jagr. How much would a positive influence Jagr have been to Galchenyuk???? But nope. Jagr wasn't deemed a good target. We stood pat with our offence at the deadline last year. Than over the summer signed Kassian and Semin.

We could have gone after Jagr when we signed a washed out Briere.

MB needs to grow a pair and take a chance at some point. For now it looks like he refuses to make a deal unless he can fleece someone. There aren't any milbury's left and you can only fleece Snow only so many times.

What does 2 future picks have to do with this season's "blame", you are just piling on to make a case.

He opted for Petry instead of top six; and you got to admit a top-4 d man and top six forward were two 'holes' in the roster and I would bet your paycheque; that if he hadn't signed Petry, he would of used that cap room for some top six forward (or a different top-4 d-man I suppose).

But he couldn't simply afford to sign both 'needs' and yes you can blame him for 51-81-74 eating too much cap room, but those deals are what they are.

[BCHabnut]

I argue that Condon is a legitimate back up. Not a starter for sure but he can play as a back up to Price. A high end back up will cost 500 though or more that could be used on a top six player. I am also disappointed that he cheaped out and didn't sign a good winger last season, but in the end it probably would not have mattered with Price out. I think Emelin will be tough to move. So will desharnais. Eller is also overpaid but should be easier to move because he suits the third line shutdown role very well. He is also the one I would want to move less out of the three. If Berg can move Emelin and one of DD (who plays very well as a third line c as well) or Eller or both, and picks up a top 6 player or two, I will be very happy with his work.

My breakdown of Bergy's work so far.

Hires Therein and drafts Galchenyuk. Dumps Cole's bad contract and gets Ryder in return. Leaves chucky up and is rewarded immediately. Huge turnaround from worst team in the league. Playoffs show a lack of grit so signs prust.

Team looks strong at the deadline so goes out and gets Vanek for a song. Team goes deep in the playoffs.

Team still going strong but obvious lack of #3 defenseman is glaring. Trades for and signs Petry. Team finishes 2nd in the league and gets to the second round. On Prices back but reasonably successful nonetheless.

Price injured. Retread signings fail. Year screwed. Reveals some big holes which need to be filled.

I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he will fill them. Based on recent decisions which I think made sense at the time they were made.

[Lovett's Magnatones]

Florida was aggressive last year. Picked up Jagr. How much better would our team have looked with Jagr in last year's playoffs. Look at how Barkov's responded to jagr. How much would a positive influence Jagr have been to Galchenyuk???? But nope. Jagr wasn't deemed a good target. We stood pat with our offence at the deadline last year. Than over the summer signed Kassian and Semin.

We could have gone after Jagr when we signed a washed out Briere.

MB needs to grow a pair and take a chance at some point. For now it looks like he refuses to make a deal unless he can fleece someone. There aren't any milbury's left and you can only fleece Snow only so many times.

I agree with you on Jagr, but Barkov is a different class of player than Galchenyuk. His health concerns me, but I think his upside is a player like Anze Kopitar. When I saw him the first game of his career, what stood out to me is how well he backchecks. There were no real growing pains on the defensive side, and he was physically mature as an 18 year old. Galchenyuk is a better stickhandler, but Barkov is a superior player, and he would be talked up more if he weren't injured often.

[Commandant]

This is absolutely silly. Why is it always either trading everyone for a superstar or trading nothing? We saw Carl Hagelin get traded for David Perron. Two players struggling. You're saying we couldn't find a similar deal for Lars Eller? We kept Jarred Tinordi until he started curdling. You're telling me we couldn't have moved him sooner for a player of similar value at forward? Why was it impossible to make a Nicklas Jensens for Emerson Etem type deal?

In November of 2013-14, the Blackhawks added Kris Versteeg because they knew he'd gel with the locker room and provide some additional offence at a good price. The return for that didn't come until the year after when they won the Cup, but that was a move they made in November knowing they had to get better (Ray Bourque didn't win the Cup with Colorado when he was dealt. He won it the next year).

This idea that it's either hit a home run or do nothing is ridiculous. Bergevin just bitched and moaned about the difficulty to make a big trade or add a superstar but he never bothered to consider trading David Desharnais, Lars Eller, Alexei Emelin or Tom Gilbert for a player of similar value that would change the locker room a bit and show that the team was listening and trying to help. Nope.

There was a lot of circumstances out of his control, like Price's injury and the falling shot percentage, but the most he did to try to show he supported the team was trade for Ben Scrivens. Does this really seem like a GM who has faith in the team? At what point does he suddenly turn it on and realize this team can win a Cup? We got one more year of Markov before we have to find a top six LD to replace him, we got one more year of Alex Galchenyuk before he asks for double his salary, we got two more years of Carey Price before we have to add $5M more to the cap to pay him, we got two more years of Plekanec before he probably regresses to a third line grinder and we got three more years before that happens with our captain. At what point does Marc Bergevin start hitting the gas pedal and pushing this team to a Stanley Cup?

Who was available? James Reimer? Cam Ward? Anton Khudobin? I don't care which one of these you got, you are giving up assets to get someone who isn't replacing price and isn't winning a cup.

You want to move assets to get a soon to be free agent David Perron? Why? Is that really making a difference for this team. And then what, make the playoffs lose first round and have dealt assets for Reimer and Perron?

Lastly, you want Emerson Etem, or Nicklas Jensens.... Please tell me how those guys are better than Lucas Lessio, Stefan Matteau, Max Friberg, or calling up a Sven Andrighetto or Daniel Carr. All prospects, and Bergevin clearly had different prospects that he wanted to acquire than you wanted, but saying he didn't make these types of moves is false?

Do we have a limited time frame with Price and Max on their contracts? Yup. But the time to use our assets to go all in is when both are healthy and able to help the team.

I have zero issues with what Bergevin did in season. The only place i can even see criticizing is his lack of getting a scorer last summer. Thats the failure, not the lack of inseason moves. The season was lost on November 25th and no gm tinkering was fixing it and making us a contender.

[KoRP]

If he did his job as a GM, and added one piece to the top-6, (which he'll have you believe a top-6 winger is as hard to acquire as a #1 D/center or #1 goalie) and a real backup instead of Tokarski/Condon, the Habs are a bubble team right now. Add in keeping Therrien and he gets an F for this year.

Do we want to be a bubble team though in light of Price's injury?

I would rather take my lumps this season in light of Price's injury and get a good pick, as go into the playoffs short of scoring like last year, and stay in the last 5-10 draft positions, with assets burned up on a "no chance for a cup" season, that's all there is for me.

Could Berg have done more? Debateable, but we don't know what Berg and Molson know or see as the direction...

This next off season may very well decide Bergevin's fate and legacy with us fickle Hab fans

Commandant's last post was a good one...

[Lovett's Magnatones]

Yeah, I'd love to be a bubble team right now. The season was over a month ago. We're going to have another seven months until they play a game that means anything. That's a long time, and I'm already tuned out.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Good discussion on here. I'm with those who don't really fault Bergevin for

1. Accurately figuring he had a team that could do very well, and therefore could bide his time until the right deal came along before addressing its remaining holes; you don't NEED to risk the whole ball of wax when you're in a good position.

2. Accurately figuring that the team could not possibly contend without Price, and therefore declining to panic and trade away the future in a desperate attempt to stay competitive in the short term.

Next year, with Price back, the team will be in the top-10 again and all this nonsense will be forgotten.

That said, I've been consistent on this: Bergy HAS to address the glaring weaknesses that this slump has exposed beyond doubting. And he has to do so by next year's trading deadline IMHO.

[DON]

Well who actually will be available as a UFA to upgrade scoring & centre this July? Backes & Stamkos seem like it.

So will need to trade for it most likely.

Nugent-Hopkins or someone like that.

And at least can add Emelin to a deal come July and shipping him to Edmonton becomes a possibility.

[Lovett's Magnatones]

I'd do Emelin/Plekanec for RNH/Salary Dump. Pick a loser, any loser, Edmonton. Pouliot? Ference and the Habs buy him out?

McDavid/Draisaitl/Plekanec might be the best center corps in the league.

I'm advocating for the complete rebuild of the forward corp. Pacioretty/Gallagher/Galchenyuk are the keepers, and then the kids. Blow er up, MB. Prove you have a nut sack under those seven hundred dollar Sorialto pantaloons.