Rumor: Montreal has offered Bergevin an expensive deal

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T. Tadi
June 13, 2021 (11:38)

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Bergevin's contract was set to expire at the end of the season, but it now looks that the Canadiens plan to keep him around for the foreseeable future, with rumours of a "lucrative" offer on the table. That information comes from Montreal Canadiens source Eric Engels, who reported late Saturday night that Canadiens owner Geoff Molson has offered Bergevin a three-year contract worth an unknown sum. Engels referenced his sources on the subject and stated that the offer, as well as the three-year period, is of great worth, but he did not go into detail on the financial side of the equation.

Bergevin has been a important figure during his time with the Canadiens, with the first-time general manager making decisions that have pleased fans while also causing major anger from the fan base.

Although most people now consider the Canadiens to be the clear victors in the P.K. Subban for Shea Weber transaction, the reality is that the fan reaction at the time of the move was overwhelmingly hostile. There's also the matter of defenseman Mikhail Sergachev being traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for French Canadian forward Jonathan Drouin, a move that now appears to be an unmitigated disaster for the Canadiens, given how valuable Sergachev has been to the Lightning and the fact that Drouin isn't even playing for the Canadiens while eating up a significant portion of their cap space.

On the other side, transactions in which he acquired players such as Phillip Danault and Josh Anderson have paid off handsomely for the Canadiens, as has the addition of forward Tyler Toffoli during the free agent period before to this season. Given his uneven track record as GM, I expect a mixed reaction to this revelation, though I also expect the Bergevin haters to be much quieter than usual given the Canadiens current run of playoff success.

Credit: HockeyFeed