The important legacy of Marc Bergevin in the reconstruction of CH

Last Thursday’s confrontation against the Leafs and that guy Max Pacioretty reminded us of two things.

First, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since his exchange for Suzuki, a notable moment of the reset on the fly.

But above all, out of curiosity, this question: what will be the contribution of the Bergevin era to the possible “dominant” core of the Canadian?

The roots of reconstruction

We had already written that the real roots of the CH reconstruction – well sold these days in a sort of infomercial on Crave – date back to spring 2018.

There is no need to review in detail all of Bergevin’s good or bad actions from 2018 until his dismissal.

Let’s just remember the general spirit and a few key moments.

From 2018, until the dismissal of Bergevin in November 2021, the CH of course did not try to tanker strictly speaking.

As proof, Caufield (15th, 2019) and Guhle (16th, 2020) are mid-first round picks.

But we will also remember that had it not been for COVID and Gary Bettman with his “very inclusive” summer mini-tournament, the Canadian would never have participated in the series in 2020…

Normally, he should have been drafted in 8th place and not 16th!

Sans tanker, 2018 to 2020 are therefore the years where Bergevin did not go out of his way to ensure that CH made the playoffs at all costs.

Son all in, he did it in preparation for the second season shortened by the pandemic, that of 2021. An almost successful bet, three victories from the Cup!

But the work accomplished from 2018 to 2020, the reset on the flyclearly constitutes the first phase of the work that “the house” of the Canadian needed and from which its new managers still benefit today.

A “reset” that allows you to get your hands on young star or impact players like Suzuki, Caufield, Romanov and Guhle has actually become a damn good start to a rebuild, a start to a rebuild that is already 7-8 years old and without which it would have been impossible to envisage any return to relevance before 2030!

But, of course, the post-Stanley Cup final mess (departure of Danault, retirement of Weber and Price, a Bergevin without a contract and quite sour and at the end of her rope, etc.) was going to require a more radical operation and led to a very clear rebuilding mandate for Gorton and Hughes…

Just without the loss of Danault, it would have been difficult to be able to “select” Slafkovsky…

A significant contribution from the old regime
But, following our recent methodology attempting to establish the value of the cores by granting a score for the different categories of players, approximately what percentage of the future “big core” of the team, let’s say the one we should see counting of 2026-2027, will still be attributable to the Bergevin era?

Today we will use a more nuanced version of our methodology, drawing freely from a recent article published on The Athletic, where we will no longer classify “superstar” and “elite” in the same category that was once worth 15 points.

Also, let us clarify that the minimum threshold to be considered a complementary player worthy of being part of the core is to be projected as an above-average 3rd line player or an above-average 5th defender.

Finally, players attributable to the old regime which allowed Hughes/Gorton to obtain new players will be counted fairly accordingly (50/50).

*ADDITION : This table and these data were developed before the frightening injury suffered by Laine in yesterday’s match against the Leafs… If his injury were to compromise the rest of his career, we are confident that the Canadian will be able to reinvest his salary of $8.7 million on a player of similar caliber for the 2026-2027 season.

We first understand that this is really a projection, because if we had analyzed the current core, the one who will start the season in Montreal, even without counting Armia, Anderson and company, the percentages would be still to this day in favor of the Bergevin era!

We would still have 57 points for the old guard, but only 44 points for the new, and this is already counting generously Slavs and Hutson as the superstars they are destined to become, but are not yet… as well as an injured Laine.

But even in two years, there should still be around 40% of the core strength of the team that will still be attributable to the Bergevin era!

In 2026-2027, 5-6 years after the departure of the little guy from Ville-Émard, this will be far from being a negligible legacy…

Beyond the quantitative, there is the qualitative…

That said, there is more to life than numbers.

The Bergevin era served to establish the foundations of a great culture inside the locker room. Moreover, the importance of “character” has not at all disappeared from the vocabulary of new managers, both at the draft and during the season. Quite the contrary.

Moreover, according to the latest news, Suzuki, a unifier who excels under pressure, is the captain of this team.

And if you ask Pierre Gervais, he will also tell you that he is a little better in this role than Max Pac, taken out of the locker room by Bergevin…

In this regard, it is still extraordinary that a first round pick from 2007 (22^e), was transformed, 11 years later, on the eve of his thirties, into a first-round pick in 2017 who will still be captain of the team in 2030!

Great asset management over a period of 23 years and maybe more! Bergevin’s finest legacy. A masterstroke.

For his part, whatever one thinks of the height of Guhle’s “ceiling”, he is still the one who best embodies the heart and soul of the Montreal defense in its primary function: defending and sacrificing for the team.

Hughes and Gorton clearly recognized the character and self-sacrifice of the Albertan in the contract that the latter signed last summer…

If we turn to Caufield, in addition to a good scorer, Timmins seems to have got his hands on a fairly good team player, a tight end appreciated in the locker room. We don’t know if he will become the 40-goal scorer we anticipated following his NHL debut, but his goals per game average over fairly long stretches tells us he certainly has the potential. In short, he is certainly also part of the soul and identity of the team.

And we haven’t even talked about the bionic Beauceron, Joshua Roy, nor the trio of defenders (Xhekaj, Mailloux, Struble) from whom at least a good 5th defender should emerge, nor the excellent trio of goalkeepers (Montembeault, Primeau, Dobes) of whom we can clearly hope that at least one of them becomes an impact goalkeeper.

Oliver Kapanen, 64th overall in 2021? Let’s breathe… Let’s wait… In any case, these chances of remaining in Montreal have logically increased following the injury of his talented compatriot Laine…

Never mind, if the Canadian puts on a few good seasons crowned with nice playoff runs following his reconstruction, Bergevin, Timmins and Churla will deserve to be thought of for them.

We may have gotten a little head start today by measuring and qualifying our contribution.