Marc Bergevin, Executive Director of the Montreal Canadiens, is committed to a plan

Aside from a few selected people, no one knows if the Montreal Canadiens day on July 1 played as it should. This list begins with Habs general manager Marc Bergevin

Bergevin Dreams in Technicolor

It's nice to think that this was the case, but that Bergevin was able to properly evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of his team and determine The mediocre free agents were simply not the best for the long-term health of Canadians. Just look at what Canadians did not give up for now-St. Louis Blue Ryan O'Reilly, anyway. Canadians have just one center, let alone three.

Ryan O'Reilly, former Buffalo Sabers player – ( Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY (HUI Sports)

If Bergevin took the opportunity, he deserves some measure of congratulation because it's about a game plan that he's apparently managed since the owner Geoff Molson admitted the unused space of this last year had been reserved to Alexander Radulov and Andrei Markov ; Once they jumped the boat, the Canadians would not spend it just to be a cap team

Take the NHL draft for example. It was at this point that Bergevin chose to leave the table to join center Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who will probably not be ready for NHL action for a few years. In doing so, he doubled winger Filip Zadina, who, in many ways, would have been ready to jump right away, especially in a team as shabby as normal among Canadians.

Of course, Bergevin tells A very different story, saying that the Habs are still looking to make the playoffs next season, which would go against all the logical impulses of badysts, looking at an alignment largely unchanged from the one that just finished the fourth.

Tavares

Of course, Max Domi is in and Alex Galchenyuk is out, but it's a downgrade on paper. And, yes, the acquisition and buyout of Steve Mason before July 1 was a sneaky way to use the ceiling space available to Bergevin to acquire a mid-middle winger in six. Joel Armia. But, the last time anyone checked, Armia was only a long distance player in a good Winnipeg Jets team … and almost no one thought of a savior.

Finally, by bringing back Tomas Plekanec's acquisition of an agent on July 1, Canadians almost guaranteed that they would be more likely to be racing for the last place than the eighth in the Eastern Conference.

Montreal Canadiens forward Tomas Plekanec – (Amy Irvin / Les Ecrivains of hockey)

Of course, the move made for what could be the worst exchange between the Canadiens and the Maple Leafs, with the center that Toronto got rather an improvement over the one they left free agency. And it's conveniently John Tavares who represents the only hiccup in the narrative this is part of a master plan

Seeing that there had been undeniable interest in Tavares des Habs, who only discovered that it was not reciprocally after the first Bergevin and company could have chosen to go ahead with their hypothetical reconstruction after choosing Kotkaniemi.

Canadians discovered that they were in Tavares when the open dialogue window opened. "We were disappointed, but that's his decision." Marc Bergevin in French

– Eric Engels (@EricEngels) July 1, 2018

Canadians vs. Leafs

So supporters of Canadians can trust Bergevin when he says ]: "I'm not ready to say that we're doing a reconstruction?" Hell, no. Why separate from tradition now? Especially when the Plekanec recovery says that Canadians are more focused on the past than on the future? All of this means that no one apart from Canadians can be sure that Bergevin's failure to obtain a free agent of any kind whatsoever on July 1 was part of a tendency to futility that goes back to several years

To be honest, if Canadians' fans are jealous of the Leafs, consider how the long-standing rivalries of the Canadiens ended a few years ago to kick off Sending to what had just been organization that literally spent 12 years with only one playoff appearance. And that is finished far from good.

In other words, Canadians need to suck for a while to recover. And, as fate would have it, Bergevin has badembled the perfect team for such an impossible mission, even if it has been in spite of himself. Look at it the following way: if you want someone at the helm of the team, responsible for making the Habs as bad as imaginable, would not Bergevin be the man of the situation? His qualifications are astounding (with that respect).

A real reconstruction begins at the top

Marc Bergevin – (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

Of course For it to be a real reconstruction, Canadians should Exchange Carey Price and Shea Weber, baduming there are takers for one or the other. At the very least, because Price has a no-move clause, Weber has to leave, but Bergevin can not reasonably expect to trade the guy he has recovered for P.K. Subban.

This would be an admission of fault and incompetence, and, since Bergevin can not even pronounce the word "rebuild". "If so, it's time for him to go.

Even if you want to give him all the benefits of the doubt and claim that he's finally on track with a plan Legitimate quinquennial, it is not special.Even if you believe that it must deny that the Habs are coping from here for the financial well-being of the team, it has always become the face of the organization … and this is part of the problem.It should not be, in any capacity.He has become a caricature of the contradiction, to the point that We can not be sure if he even believes most of what he says.Once he should not be