When a team languishes in the bottom of the rankings, it is in the process of reconstruction or, if it has not yet been done, that it is thinking of adopting provisions in this direction.
The Canadian is there. He is preceded by the 31 other formations of the National Hockey League.
Think about it, last in the general classification out of 32 teams!
Who would have thought that this organization would come to this point one day?
But that’s the reality.
The Canadiens have the worst record in the NHL. Even the Seattle Kraken, which is in its first season, is ahead of it. He cannot hope to move forward with the staff in place.
The window of opportunity for a Stanley Cup conquest is double-barred.
Lack of succession
We may say that the COVID does not help, all the teams are affected by the virus. Those betting on good reserves remain among the leaders, while those with poor relief cannot keep their heads above water.
For 25 years, the Canadian has been patching. The organization fills the gaps from one season to the next.
Yes, there was the beautiful course of last summer, at the end of which the Habs went to the final.
As much as it was pleasant to watch, it is far in the collective memory.
The very obvious
The Bergevin diet is over. The legacy he left to his successors is very slim.
Jeff Gorton has not yet announced his colors, but the decision he will take for the future seems obvious.
Everything has to be redone.
Behind the Rangers
We know that Gorton has experience in the art of rebuilding a team.
Four years ago, he was general manager of the New York Rangers when Glen Sather, who was the team’s president of hockey operations, published a message in the city’s daily newspapers letting fans know that the time had come for a major overhaul.
At that time, the Canadiens were behind the Rangers in the overall standings. The New York team finished 24and overall with 77 points, 25 less than the previous season.
The Habs ranked 28and with 71 points, down 32 points.
Good transactions
Gorton has traded players like Rick Nash, Ryan McDonagh, JT Miller, Mats Zucarello and Kevin Hayes.
Its best acquisitions have been through transactions. He obtained, in particular, the defenders Adam Fox and Jacob Trouba.
And he was lucky that Artemi Panarin wanted to continue his career on Broadway.
An acquisition like this goes a long way in making a team better.
On the repechage side, the results have been mixed so far. Vitali Kravtsov, Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafrenière, first picks from 2018 to 2020, are still in the learning stage.
The best take to date is defender K’Andre Miller, who is used on the second defending pair alongside Trouba.
Rangers are back in the group of dominant teams four years later. It’s fast compared to other teams that have been there and are struggling to get into the front runners.
Hinge step
Admitting that the selection committee for the next general manager is not a hoax, Gorton and his acolytes Geoff Molson, Bob Gainey and Michael Andlauer have to sound out the opinion of the candidates on the method to be followed to put the Canadian back on track.
Timing is crucial.
Everything must be put in place to restore this organization to its former glory.
It’s now or never.
It will take time and patience, but recovery requires reconstruction.
The famine years have gone on long enough.
Hughes would have changed his mind
Agent Kent Hughes would be the third candidate still in the running for the position of general manager of the Canadian.
Originally from Montreal, Hughes has been living in Boston for twenty years. He speaks French.
History says that he was not ready to abandon the agency he set up and which has around fifty clients when the Canadian began his search for a new CEO.
big customers
However, he would have revised his positions.
Patrick Bergeron, Kris Letang, Josh Anderson, Darnell Nurse and Anthony Beauvillier are notably part of his stable.
Vincent Lecavalier was his first big client. His brother, Phillipe, is part of the company’s team of agents led by Hughes and his partners Darren Ferris and Giordano Saputo.
Two former DG agents
Two former agents are currently general managers in the NHL.
They are Chuck Fletcher of the Philadelphia Flyers and Bill Zito of the Florida Panthers.
Pittsburgh Penguins president of hockey operations Brian Burke represented the interests of NHL players before serving as GM of the Hartford Whalers, Vancouver Canucks, Anaheim Ducks, which he led to the Stanley Cup, and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
He was also president of the hockey sector with the Calgary Flames.
Several others have made the leap from agent to general manager in the past.
Think of Pierre Lacroix (Quebec-Colorado), Dean Lombardi (San Jose, Los Angeles), Mike Barnett (Arizona), Peter Chiarelli (Boston, Edmonton), Ray Shero (Pittsburgh, New Jersey), Mike Gillis (Vancouver) and Brian Lawton (Tampa Bay).
In addition to Hughes, remember that Mathieu Darche and Daniel Brière would be the two other candidates in the running.
Patrick Roy would not have been recalled after having passed his interview.