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If Tavares wants to sign long term in Montreal you acquire him. You sign him. You don't blow it like Turgeon. You run with it.

Mete is healthy but is being scratched.

I really think that the team peaked in 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 and Bergevin failed to recognize it. Not being snide, but he thought he was building a Chicago and lost sight of all that wasn't three inches in front of his nose. The goal of building a contender to compete year after year was lofty and highly suspect. Only the Penguins, the Hawks, and the Capitals (to an extent) have hung on at that level since the salary cap. And they have the best players in the game, which is why they've been able to shuffle around depth pieces to rejig contenders through multiple iterations. If you have Toews, Kane, and Keith or Sid, Malkin, and Letang, a couple of early exits can be tolerated to find the right mix. They should have gone for it in 2014-2015. They really had the team to make some serious noise and Bergevin's acquisition was Jeff Petry. Pathetic! He totally misread the situation and they went out much like they did this year-with a hermetic defense that wasn't hermetic enough to shut the other team out every game, which was pretty much the only way to the Cup that year and this year. The biggest indictment of Bergevin is player development. In five years, his only draft picks that have made the team full-time are Galchenyuk and Lehkonen. What do they have in common? Neither developed in the organization. Young players consistently struggle to find roles, even the most talented ones.

I've had my doubts about Bergevin ever since the Kassian and Semin ordeals. Whether or not it was correct to get rid of those players for basically nothing is irrelevant because they were simply Bergevin covering up his own mistakes either way. The Subban trade does have its negative aspects but for me I felt as though it wasn't necessarily something that Bergevin had full control over and he got a great player in return. As a result, it wasn't like I had a continual dislike towards him but my skepticism did start a lot earlier than most. With all that in place, I constantly see remarks about Bergevin not addressing our most glaring need(s). Sit in Bergevin's chair for a minute, Close your eyes. What is the most nagging comment you hear ringing in your head from the past decade when it comes to our team and our identity? Open your eyes. Half of you (who aren't actually Bergevin) will hear cries for that scoring top line center. The other half (who also aren't Bergevin) will hear cries about the Habs being too small and needing to get bigger. We're constantly "too soft" and get run over physically by other teams. This year saw the Habs lose the most physical round 1 series and the Habs themselves played a huge part of that physicality despite possessing the puck quite a bit throughout the series. Bergevin transformed this team into a more physical team this year... and it didn't work. What's the point in all of that? Bergevin did actually address one of our most glaring needs, it simply did not work out. What people who criticize Bergevin fail to assess is that not every move works out. That's not a defense of Bergevin, because the better GMs will have more successful moves over their lifespan, but it's not true to say that he wasn't actively trying to correct our most glaring needs. If Bergevin had a shot at Malkin or Toews, I'm sure he'd be all over it. Since that wasn't possible? Let's address our other need, which is to get a little bigger (no more smurf talk). Some will argue that speed is better in today's NHL, and I may agree with that as I missed our speed up front against the Rangers, but it doesn't change the fact that we've been criticized for being too small for an era. Bergevin could have acquired Eaves. He could have acquired Vrbata. He could have acquired Drew Stafford. But when those players didn't work out within our system, how would people have felt? They would have felt the same way and said that Bergevin should have acquired player X instead. There's not a single player that was acquired at the deadline with decent stats who would have produced the same way on the Habs. Eaves on Anaheim is a great fit and Stafford doesn't impress me on Boston. Half of us are pissed that Bergevin didn't do more at the deadline and the other half keep saying that there wasn't anything on the market this season. My personal opinion is that his moves sucked overall, but there really wasn't anything interesting on the market and he was one of the more active GMs in the league at the deadline. He seemingly really was trying to help the team. He's just not as good at the walk. When it comes to our centers and how Bergevin has failed to address this need, I think this is the first moment where we can officially start to have questions about Galchenyuk and his overall potential. Even then, I wouldn't be surprised for him to be able to produce like a first line center as soon as next year. He had an injury riddled season and it's always extremely unfair to judge a player based on a season like that. Next, we throw out comments about Plekanec regressing into a bottom sixer like it was fully and obviously expected but again, the evidence of its profound impact on the forward corps as a whole is only relatively recent. Bergevin did add Radulov (only luckily ) but then had a player like Plekanec regress into a bottom sixer. At the moment, we still need two more top 6 players to be a real, legitimate threat to win a Stanley Cup. Bergevin could have added two top 6 players last summer and we'd still be in a hole. Overall, the expectations are simply a bit unrealistic. He would have had to have added 3 top 6 players to have really done a great job. As for my opinion? I'm not really sure. I definitely think Bergevin has made mistakes along the way which is unacceptable and although there's been too much "new" within the organization recently, I'd be fine with him getting fired. I'm just not convinced that the constant issues people bring up about him are genuinely rational.

Just because you say this constantly doesn't mean it's true. Game six. Last two faceoffs? Galchenyuk. Most important faceoffs of the entire year and he gives it to the guy that's sixth on the depth chart? It's pretty obvious to me that Bergevin doesn't like Galchenyuk while Julien was trying to teach him a lesson. The mistake is when he tried to teach him a lesson late in the year. Should have just let him play and work with him game by game but Julien wanted to work tough love. That's why Bergevin and Julien contradicted each other at the press conference. Julien said he was ideally a centre. But next time just admit you haven't watched the Coyotes play instead of talking out of your ass. Would save you a lot of face and not have you accused of being a troll account.

I'm not convinced this isn't a troll account.

He would surely be a top-6 C - probably a PPG C, or thereabouts - on a team that was willing to tolerate one-dimensional centremen. Therein lies the frustration. I think you're right that he looks increasingly unlikely to be that C in this organization, however.

I miss the excitement and the ability to take over a game. But yes, Weber is very good. That said, in light of the abysmal condition of our talent pipeline, it really is incredible that the GM would trade a 27 year old #1 d-man for a 31-year-old, effectively burning four years of the team's Cup window on a lateral move. Oh well, Weber is a good old boy, so there's that.

Are you seriously calling Galchenyuk a worse centre than Dvorak or Martinook? You do want your opinion to be taken seriously here right? Or just admit you were talking out of your ass. That's fine too.

Watching the Senators light up Lundqvist makes me want to puke....and it illustrates more than ever that MB needs to go. It's time to rid this team of excess plumbers, lazy bastards, and guys who have skill but choke when needed most (MAX). Lundqvist wasn't that great, our crummy team just made him look good by shooting at his crest and being duds on the attack. He's making JG Pageau look like Mike Bossy or Brett Hull ffs...can't stop shots that are actually heading for corners. Anderson played like a sieve and the Sens still won...so let this "Carey got outplayed" shit come to an end...Habs are just a pathetic team offensively. PATHETIC!

i am saying that galchenyuk is not a center...and you don;t have to take my opinion seriously Ps..i don't take your opinion too seriously either M...Chuck is 6th C on the Habs depth chart behind Ott and Michell...behind Shaw...he is sixth in the minds of MT, Muller, Julien and MB. But soemhow i'm supposed to take you seriously??? Really ? yeaah right...have a good summer bro. and keep drinking plently of that kool-aid

how is this a stretch when the GM says in very clear words that he is a winger??? He cannot crack a line-up that has 5 other centers ahead of him. He simply is not a center ...by the logic of some ppl here if Galchenyuk is a #1-2 center then i could just as easily say Pax or Radu or Arturi should be a C. But i wouldn't be taken seriously but (LOL) i.m supposed to take someone who is delusional about this player seriously. sorry take a cold shower. last time i looked, MB CJ, Muller are still running the show and Chucky's playing center well... that ship has sailed.