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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.

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.

when did he learn how to do that? Was he taking lessons? Next you are going to tell me he grew 12 inches.

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?