News Article: Bergevin interview on 98.5

[habsfanatics*]

I don't see where Plekanec will be gone in 2-3 years. He's a guy that should have 5-6 or more years left in the tank. Even if he declines a bit we have guys like Eller and Galchenyuk that should be hungry for big minutes.

Gionta, we have a slew of young wingers that should be knocking on the door the next couple years, plus Gallagher looking to grow into a bigger role. I'm not very worried about the wings, lots of good options...LeBlanc Holland McCarron Bozon Collberg Hudon Lehkonen etc Even if we had to replace Gionta with a UFA, it would hardly be a big deal.

Markov will not be easy to replace, but guys like Subban Gorges and Emelin are already in place getting 20+ minutes. In 2-3 years guys like Tinordi Beaulieu Pateryn Nygren should all be approaching their NHL prime. I'm also not discounting the fact that Markov may be retained for another 2-3 years, he's looked good in preseason, not like a guy on his last legs.

Don't kid yourself, Gionta isn't easily replaced either. There is currently no one in the system capable of offsetting the loss of Gionta, but the goal shouldn't be to get back to where we are now, but to make the roster better.

There is nov one in the system capable of replacing a 80% healthy Markov. Tinordi ect, will be replacing Boullion/Murray, so a slight potential upgrade there, my point is if you continue to defer success until later you'll be unsuccessful forever.

 

[Darth Joker]

What Chicago did in adding Hossa was the right move because they added him without having to give up any of their good, young players. If a guy like Hossa becomes available as an UFA, then sure, the Habs should gun for that guy. We're close enough that an addition that big could make a real difference.

But the Summer 2013 UFA class just wasn't that good at the really high end, imo. There were lots of good 2nd/3rd liners and depth D, but no Parise, Hossa, or Suter out there. And most of the 2nd/3rd-Tier guys that were there ended up getting overpaid and/or on overly long terms because of it. I'm glad we mostly sat out the Summer 2013 UFA class.

I'll admit that Bergevin can come across as a bit too conservative sometimes, but after the gong show of the Gauthier era, and the desperation of the Gainey era, I'll take the slow/steady of the Bergevin era.

 

[Kriss E]

What Chicago did in adding Hossa was the right move because they added him without having to give up any of their good, young players. If a guy like Hossa becomes available as an UFA, then sure, the Habs should gun for that guy. We're close enough that an addition that big could make a real difference.

But the Summer 2013 UFA class just wasn't that good at the really high end, imo. There were lots of good 2nd/3rd liners and depth D, but no Parise, Hossa, or Suter out there. And most of the 2nd/3rd-Tier guys that were there ended up getting overpaid and/or on overly long terms because of it. I'm glad we mostly sat out the Summer 2013 UFA class.

I'll admit that Bergevin can come across as a bit too conservative sometimes, but after the gong show of the Gauthier era, and the desperation of the Gainey era, I'll take the slow/steady of the Bergevin era.

The thing is Hossa has a cap hit of only 250K more than Brian Gionta and Tomas Plekanec.
Chicago despite having Toews, Kane, Hossa, Sharp, Seabrook and Keith, and having just won the cup, still has more cap space than us. The main reason for this is they have a bunch of players signed to long term front loaded deals that aren't possible anymore. I mean, only two of those guys have cap hits of over 6M, and it's only by 300K, can you believe this?

If you want to sign Marian Hossa today, or next summer, or any time under this new CBA, then expect to dish out a lot more cash. Expect his cap hit to be around 8M+, not 5. That's why when you have a chance to sign a player like Subban to a cheap long term deal at an earlier stage of his career, you do it. Market prices have gone up big time with the 6-8 year limit and salary difference between the first and last year of contracts. Saving from RFAs over longer periods of time is that much more important under the new CBA. Some people still don't understand this, I'm not sure Bergevin gets it either after his negotiation with PK.

 

[la25ecoupe]

The thing is Hossa has a cap hit of only 250K more than Brian Gionta and Tomas Plekanec.
Chicago despite having Toews, Kane, Hossa, Sharp, Seabrook and Keith, and having just won the cup, still has more cap space than us. The main reason for this is they have a bunch of players signed to long term front loaded deals that aren't possible anymore. I mean, only two of those guys have cap hits of over 6M, and it's only by 300K, can you believe this?

If you want to sign Marian Hossa today, or next summer, or any time under this new CBA, then expect to dish out a lot more cash. Expect his cap hit to be around 8M+, not 5. That's why when you have a chance to sign a player like Subban to a cheap long term deal at an earlier stage of his career, you do it. Market prices have gone up big time with the 6-8 year limit and salary difference between the first and last year of contracts. Saving from RFAs over longer periods of time is that much more important under the new CBA. Some people still don't understand this, I'm not sure Bergevin gets it either after his negotiation with PK.

Hurry send your cv to Molson! I want the cup next year and you will so it!

Btw, Subban was a risk that MB didn't want to take.

 

[Kriss E]

Hurry send your cv to Molson! I want the cup next year and you will so it!

Btw, Subban was a risk that MB didn't want to take.

That makes so much sense..

 

[Sorinth]

Don't kid yourself, Gionta isn't easily replaced either. There is currently no one in the system capable of offsetting the loss of Gionta, but the goal shouldn't be to get back to where we are now, but to make the roster better.

There is nov one in the system capable of replacing a 80% healthy Markov. Tinordi ect, will be replacing Boullion/Murray, so a slight potential upgrade there, my point is if you continue to defer success until later you'll be unsuccessful forever.

Great post!

What Chicago did in adding Hossa was the right move because they added him without having to give up any of their good, young players. If a guy like Hossa becomes available as an UFA, then sure, the Habs should gun for that guy. We're close enough that an addition that big could make a real difference.

But the Summer 2013 UFA class just wasn't that good at the really high end, imo. There were lots of good 2nd/3rd liners and depth D, but no Parise, Hossa, or Suter out there. And most of the 2nd/3rd-Tier guys that were there ended up getting overpaid and/or on overly long terms because of it. I'm glad we mostly sat out the Summer 2013 UFA class.

I'll admit that Bergevin can come across as a bit too conservative sometimes, but after the gong show of the Gauthier era, and the desperation of the Gainey era, I'll take the slow/steady of the Bergevin era.

Suter/Parise are prime examples of why you should jump at the chance to get elite players whether you are close or not. In the summer of 2012 almost everyone would have said not to go after them because we are too far away from being a contender. And now 1 year later they are the missing piece that makes us a contender. When you have the chance to get elite players you do it because those opportunities don't come around very often.

There's a big difference between wanting to go for it but not seeing any good players to add, and simply not wanting to go for it. Bergevin seems to be in the later. If you wanted to go for it but couldn't find the player you were looking for then the smart play would have been to holdoff signing anyone and either sign discount players like Murray/Morrow and/or try to trade with a team in cap trouble. Ottawa managed to snag Ryan in part because Anaheim didn't have the cap space and because Ottawa made a reasonable offer. If we couldn't find the right fit then we should have kept the cap space to give us more flexibility.