If he could have done things differently in the case of the hostile offer submitted to Carolina Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho on July 1, 2019, former Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin would have done so. .
In any case, that’s what he admitted during an interview with informant Pierre LeBrun, published on The Athletic website on Thursday.
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“Would I come back to that? Yes, he candidly admitted. But honestly, at the time, we thought we could get the player based on signing bonuses, which [Tom] Dundon [le propriétaire des Hurricanes] equaled. It turned out to be a good deal for them.”
As a reminder, Aho had signed the five-year, $42.27 million proposal that the CH had sent him. In the first year, the Finn received 21 of the $42.27 million in signing bonuses.
What Bergevin doesn’t regret is targeting Aho.
“Aho was the right player to target, but I wish it was a different hostile offer,” said the man who now works in the Los Angeles Kings organization as a special advisor to general manager Rob Blake.
Moreover, a few years later, the Hurricanes took revenge by submitting a hostile offer to Jesperi Kotkaniemi (one year and $6.1 million), which the Canadian did not match.
Don Waddell, GM of the “Canes” at the time, contacted the CH to find common ground to carry out a possible transaction. The player Bergevin was targeting in return was forward Seth Jarvis, but the Hurricanes didn’t want to trade him.
A departure already decided
Even before he was fired in November 2021 after a catastrophic start to the season, Bergevin knew that the 2021-2022 campaign would be his last with the Habs.
Team owner Geoff Molson approached him for a contract extension after the club reached the Stanley Cup final in the summer of 2021. Bergevin turned it down.
“I decided that for me it was best to move forward,” Bergevin said. The time had come. It was good for both of us to go in a different direction.”
