Cornwall Ontario – Well Habs GM Marc Bergevin signed his centre. Peter Holland. I know. A Coyote cast off.
Now this is Sunday July 2 at 10:30 AM and it’s still early days, but Mr. Bergevin’s signing of Karl Alzner also was not a sign to get excited about.
Alzner’s a decent enough 4th or 5th d man, but not a game changer. Certainly not a move forward; like the skill lacking in Alzer’s game, of moving the puck forward.
In the cap age you can’t keep giving away more than you get in a trade and you certainly can’t give too much term and too much salary to players or end up looking like Detroit. And that’s not pretty.
PK Subban for Weber? The team lost value. I’m not going to criticize Weber as he’s a fine player, but at his salary point and term left?
The Eller for Shaw fiasco? Frankly Eller might be the 1C for this team if he was still here. That’s not a good thing, but what the team gave up for Shaw and then signed him for is another step backwards.
Giving up on Nathan Beaulieu for a 3rd?
The brutal trade for Jonathan Drouin. You don’t give up the best d prospect in a draft and potential franchise player for a winger who just had the best year of his career which all amounted to what’s been said to be the worst year for Jordan Eberle. And Eberle was traded for a failed prospect, had a comparable cap hit. Of course Eberle isn’t a “chez nous”. What happens if Drouin turns into PA Parenteau? Too add insult to injury the habs kicked in a 2rd pick in the deal getting back a 6th.
The team picked up Zach Kassian and gave up on him at the first sign of his personal struggle. Edmonton just gave him a 3 year contract after he put up numbers that no other Hab forward did last season. The closest being Mr. Shaw who earns about double of what Kassian just signed for.
Trade deadline last season? Out went Pateryn, Desharnais, Andrighetto, a 4th, and a conditional 4th & 6th.
All that’s left of those moves is Jordie Benn, Brandon Davidson, and Andreas Martinson.
The pantry isn’t full either. There are a few options with the team keeping Sylvain Lefebvre who’s been Bergy’s guy and had about as much success not much is to be expected from Laval this season. This year’s 1st rounder, Ryan Poehling is a project at best.
Now the team looks like star single season signing Alex Radulov, and long time Hab Andrei Markov may not be coming back. I’m not sure which would be worse, losing RADULOVE, or overpaying him?
So Bergy, with his $15M in cap space may have some magic up his sleeve, but then again many of his supporters were hoping to see some of the magic exposed before the expansion draft, before the amateur draft, and on the opening of Free Agency. Nada. Not even a ripple. Simply some weak lateral moves.
It looks like the blood in the water is not helping Mr. Bergevin when it comes to agents and other GM’s.
And that’s why the sooner Geoff Molson steps in and does the right thing, the sooner the team can start to rebuild before they Bergy the asset value of Carey Price and Max Pacioretty.
Right now the Habs look to be a veteran team that’s complacent about simply making the playoffs. That might sell more beer, but frankly it’s not what the Montreal Canadiens should be about, and it’s certainly a lot less than the fans who buy the beer and jersey’s expect.
What do you think Montreal fans? You can post your comments below.
The coming days / weeks will determine which teams benefitted from free agency and which teams took a nosedive.