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I dislike Bergevin, relatively speaking, but it gets tiring hearing the mistakes he might make rather than discussing the ones he already has made. What’s even more peculiar is that no one agrees on the mistakes he has made. There are groups of people who hate this move, but didn’t mind another, and then there are groups of people who disliked the move other people liked and vice versa. People want him fired. That’s fine. Making up futuristic moves that look bad and saying them out loud won’t get him fired though. Bergevin has been questionable, in my opinion, but our team isn’t the circus act some people describe. I want to wait until late August before I criticize Bergevin for another bad off season. It’s easy to say it’s too little too late, or whatever, but we don’t have the power to fire him and it’s also not true that he can’t right the ship. I personally sincerely feel that Bergevin could produce an effective team with some of the pieces we have, he just doesn’t really deserve that opportunity.

So if Tavares doesn't come to Montreal it is Bergevin's fault, but if he does come, it has nothing to do with Bergevin. Gotcha

Its not just about production numbers, of which Kovalev's were quite good, its about how he produced them and what he was capable of at any given moment. Those capabilities are unmatched by anyone currently, or since, that game breaking dynamic left the moment he did. So its easy to throw shots at him for falling short on his defensive game, but that was never his game, his game was all about dominating a game offensively with what looked like sorcery at times. He was good for at least 25 or so games a year where he was simply sensational, in those games it was pretty good odds for us to win. He was also good for about 6 or 7 games where he just looked like the most dominant player on the planet, in which case, a win was generally a lock, entirely because of him. I try not to define him by the things he wasn't, but by the things he was, and that is, exciting, insanely skilled, offensively dominant, and every bit a Harlem Globe Trotter in the NHL. A little refresher for those who have clearly forgotten, or ignore the positives because he didn't look like Patrice Bergeron or Jere Lethinen out there...

After finding out that Toronto scared Stamkos from meeting with anyone (including Montreal) by bringing the mayor and owner of Canadian Tire, I wonder if anyone tries that with Tavares. But yeah my view is that until Tavares says otherwise, every team has a shot. Every team will make the offer he wants, or thinks he wants. If a team gets him close to the cap, they will make room for him. So Montreal has a shot, but we are trusting Marc Bergevin with that shot. Sorry if my confidence is dirt low. Let me put it this way. It won't be due to a great meeting that Tavares comes to Montreal. It will be because he always wanted to play here and knew he was coming before anyone else did. If that's the case, all Bergevin and Molson can do is change his mind to no.