Marc Bergevin: Draft? Edition (XIV)

[GordonGraham]

So after all those interviews from today expect another big 4 line guy and that will pretty much be it

 

[Captain Mountain]

There very well may be an injury to kk, Suzuki or Danault. But whether Domi gets good linemates if/when there is is still a concern for me.

I don't see him bouncing back on the wing. His game is based on generating speed from the center position. And, I don't think Julien does enough trying out line combinations to find him a place that will work for him on the wing.

Domi just needs someone to bury the chances he creates. That's it. Montreal needs goal scoring ability and Domi would be the biggest beneficiary. It doesn't really matter if its on the wing or at center.

 

[26Mats]

Domi just needs someone to bury the chances he creates. That's it. Montreal needs goal scoring ability and Domi would be the biggest beneficiary. It doesn't really matter if its on the wing or at center.

Well although I see him as better at center, I agree that he could produce with Suzuki, KK, or Danault at center - if there's a good offensive player on the opposite wing. Not sure he can with Armia, Lehnonen, Byron or even Drouin though. I think he could with Tatar or Gallagher. But guess what: CJ never tried it!

Tatar Domi Suzuki were great in the pre-season. If Suzuki's going to be the center, why not try Tatar-Suzuki-Domi? It might not work, but that CJ never tried it once annoys me to no end.

Tatar-Suzuki-Domi
Kovalchuk-Danault-Gallagher
Drouin-KK-Armia
Byron-Evans-Lehkonen

 

[Canucks LB]

That was one of the craziest interviews I have ever heard on the radio, if that happened in Vancouver, Jim would not last three minutes.

wow

 

[Trembz]

So after all those interviews from today expect another big 4 line guy and that will pretty much be it

Also said he's willing to trade his first right away and some prospects to improve the team, that must be one hell of a fourth line player to be willing to give up both a first and prospects for.

 

[417]

Personally... I'd say that every team, every season, from the coaching staff down, should be focused on making the playoffs and if they succeed, on trying to win a cup.

That focus should not be the GM's priority. The GM needs to be focused on "winning the war", not on "winning the battle". It's the difference between tactics and strategy...
Coach/Players - focus on and execute tactics, with winning in the moment the priority.
GM/Hockey Ops - focus on the executing the strategy necessary to build a cup contender

This GM has confused the two since day one, and frankly, his ongoing public commentary and the bulk of his actions point to a lack of stategic roster/asset management.

Just today, when speaking about the difference between the flyers and us in the series, he immediately spoke to the "lack of experience of our key players"... WTF? Outside of JKO & Suzuki, who were surprise contributors vs expected "key players", the bulk of our core are very much vets and more experienced than most of the key guys on the flyers... Price... Weber... Gally... Tatar... Petry... even Danault, Chiarot, Armia, Byron, while not playoff experienced, are certainly not "inexperienced".

what that comment highlighted, is that MB doesn't really have a clear plan and assessment of his roster, he literally makes it up as he goes, updating it from season to season, from month to month... that's the coach lens, not the GM lens, and that distinction is what is problematic.



The habs won't be there so long as the GM isn't capable of building and executing on a plan to get there...

Again, "wanting to make the playoffs" is fine. It's just not at all the same mindset or approach as "wanting to build a contender".

i don't buy that a GM can't state that the priority is something other than making the Playoffs... We are watching in real time as a franchise is reaping the unbelievable benefits of a GM that clearly stated a vision and plan to build a contender... The rangers publicly owned their intent a few seasons ago, and the net result has been a team that has continued to "try & want" to make the playoffs, but a management group that has strategically focused on building towards a contender by leveraging assets to that end...

Yes, they've got lucky along the way & yes, they have also leveraged the benefits of their marketplace and ownership ability to spend, but MB/Habs have done the exact opposite and as result, even when we were getting extremmely lucky (as we did in his first 3 years, where the team led the league by a wide margin in player healt/man-games not lost to injury), the best we could manage was being a mediocre playoff team with no real shot at winning unless absolutely everything went our way.


The organization, right now (or at least, before we dropped 8M on luxury but unneeded depth) was, imo, very well positioned to aggressively target the 2-3 assets needed to push this group into the cup contention territory... it would've rested on JKO/Suzuki continuing to improve, but our roster depth, goaltending, and mix of ELC & expiring UFA/RFA deals for vets giving more bang for the buck than present day market would value their services (Tatar, Gally, Petry, Domi, Danault) was a perfect setting for a competent GM to go "all-in" and add the top-6 & top-4 pieces needed to put this team into contender status next year.... and with the expiring contracts and prospect depth we have, we could have then pivoted next summer to either re-tool, or ride a 1-2 year wave until the promising group of young players we have brought us back up.

Instead... we took yet another middling approach... one that all but ensures another season of hoping to make the playoffs, and then next summer we're back at square one, either with those UFA vets (who aren't enough as is) carving up that cap space, or losing them and still stuck hoping young players progress fast enough to keep us in the borderline playoff team mix.

You can't build success by aiming for the middle, yet that's the approach MB is anchored on.

I generally agreed with the entirety of your post but wanted to discuss the bolded here.

This has to fall in line with where the team is at today.

The Tampa Bay Lightning can state their priority is winning the Cup because their roster demands it. Same with the Colorado Avalanche.

The Montreal Canadiens can't IMO because there roster, as presently built, sets an unrealistic expectation and puts pressure on the players/coaches unfairly.

Now granted, that in itself is an indictment because heading into year 9 of never have been able to state that the Stanley Cup was the objective is just that, an indictment of your job as GM. We should have already been at that level by this point.

But i'm not big on talking about what didn't happen or re-living the past.

We are where we are.

Hopefully in the next year or two, our objectives can change to the point where making the playoffs is just assumed and no longer has to be mentioned.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Speaking as a goalie and for a guy his age.. he's never gonna win a starter job against Carey Price. He is gonna go to a situation like in NYI where they had Greiss and Varlarmov, because he will have an opportunity to win starts and become their play-off starter in that environment.

I would be beyond surprised to see Allan do anything but test the market and look for an opportunity where he can win a starters job. It isn't happening in Montreal and he knows that.

It's possible. I guess we'll have to see how the season and various goalie situations play out. Who knows how many such opportunities and how many goalies will be made available?

 

[Miller Time]

Did he really said that? The Flyers top 4 at D is young and inexperienced. Provorov is 23. Sanheim was 23 last season. Myers is 22. They had Niskanen as vet in their top 4 in playoffs and that was pretty much it. The have an experienced offense but their defense is green when it comes to the playoffs.

Yup, he did lol....

Not to mention Hart in nets & even up front with konecky & farabee.

The excuse habit is bad enough, but how completely faulty his assessment is... That's both shocking & inexcusable. He literally has no clue how to evaluate what he's watching.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Don’t see domi bouncing back, he’s a liability on the ice. His 72 point seasons was an anomaly that he will never repeat. It’s time to move on.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Domi just needs someone to bury the chances he creates. That's it. Montreal needs goal scoring ability and Domi would be the biggest beneficiary. It doesn't really matter if its on the wing or at center.

He sucks.

 

[Miller Time]

A bit of cherry picking....MB also clearly said in that same sentence “players who we expect to perform did not perform”.

Not at all.
I didn't make up his words. That was his direct answer when asked what/why the Flyers did better.

But, your additional point is frankly just as bad...

The team that beat the pens and lasted 6 games vs the Flyers overachiever any reasonable expectation. We didn't have a lineup that was playoff worthy, which he himself assessed and acted on before COVID hit...

To then say that the players didn't play up to expectations is, again, reflective of his poor ability to properly asses his roster.

 

[sampollock]

I say Domi is a piece that gets moved in a package....book it

 

[Miller Time]

I generally agreed with the entirety of your post but wanted to discuss the bolded here.

This has to fall in line with where the team is at today.

The Tampa Bay Lightning can state their priority is winning the Cup because their roster demands it. Same with the Colorado Avalanche.

The Montreal Canadiens can't IMO because there roster, as presently built, sets an unrealistic expectation and puts pressure on the players/coaches unfairly.

Now granted, that in itself is an indictment because heading into year 9 of never have been able to state that the Stanley Cup was the objective is just that, an indictment of your job as GM. We should have already been at that level by this point.

But i'm not big on talking about what didn't happen or re-living the past.

We are where we are.

Hopefully in the next year or two, our objectives can change to the point where making the playoffs is just assumed and no longer has to be mentioned.

Total aggreement here.

Though id argue that where we sat before the Allen/Edmundson moves was well positioned to take the risks necessary to go "all in" next year...

Since that isn't something he was willing/able to do, next best option would've been to focus on "building a contender" for 2-3 years from now, which would've meant making strategic moves that may have weakened the roster in the short run...

In which case, PR lines about "building for the future" & "opportunities for growth" would fit without anchoring to making the playoffs as the focus.

Instead, he bolstered depth that will up the odds of making the playoffs (though far from assure it), but puts us no where near close enough to realistically contend... At the cost of assets & cap space that should have been focused on contributing to the ultimate goal.

We sit today, where we've sat through most of his tenure... A borderline playoff team. More of the same approach and thinking will only give us more of the same.... Mediocrity.

 

[Whitesnake]

Insane to hear Bergie talk. He stats with excuses like injuries, while we were more healthy than almost any team, and then says that Domi is looking for excuses...lol

 

[Whitesnake]

I saw on Twitter that the idiot in charge said that if Brisebois and Co would have been in MOntreal following their Columbus debacle, there would have been tons of demands to fire everybody......And yet...there was. Tons of article about Cooper having to be fired. Insane to even try to compare TBay situation to ours...lol