Who do you prosose as a GM that would be better? I place Bergevin atleast in the top 15 in terms of being a GM overall. If he wasnt in Montreal. He would be rated alot better.

Top candidate in my books, is Julien Brisebois, current assistant GM of Tampa Bay Lightning.

He was with the Habs from 2001-2009 in legal affairs and became director of hockey operations in 2003, and was headhunted by Yzerman because he is the master of contracts and managing the salary cap, ans look at TB today, they arguably have the best contracts for their star players in the league.

Brisebois already has a firm understanding of the Habs organization, and having been under Yzerman’s wing all these years. I would take him in a heartbeat, especially since Brisebois biggest strength is one of the hardest areas for Montreal, contracts.

1. You expect him to just sign?
2. What makes him better than Bergevin?

I added more to my previous post

Only reason Tampa has such good contracts is because they have 0 tax.
He would be a great AGM to have, but i honestly wouldnt risk it

Wrong, the State of Florida does not have a state tax, but federal taxes still apply.

An NHL player in Florida would still have to pay roughly 38% in taxes, still a lot better than Quebec’s 52%...

You can use this to compare NHL city tax differential

http://gavingroup.ca/personal-income-tax-rates-in-nhl-cities/

KSI, the Montreal bias is showing in immense ways here. I remember looking at your twitter when you first joined the GM game, and there were a whole bunch of tweets with you calling for a full rebuild, something which Bergevin will never do unless management tells him to.

Yes i was commencing a full rebuild because at the time it looked like we needed one. But with the way Julien has us playing as well as the emergence of Schlemko and Jerabak. My opinion has changed. I never bashed Bergevin for his trades or his signings though.

Also, what have I said that makes me Bias?

That he's a top 15 GM in the league, because he's certainly in the bottom half. Most of his big trades have been horrible for the team (Subban for Weber, Andrighetto for Martinsen, Shaw for picks that turned into Debrincat, and Sergachev for Drouin is about to look horrible real soon), he failed to resign Radulov even though he had the cap space to do it, he signed Galchenyuk to a contract that makes him able to walk ASAP, and he hasn't drafted particularly well either. (Poehling looks good so far, and Sergachev was a great pick before he traded him). Getting a top six winger with the third overall pick has to be considered a fail. Galchenyuk was supposed to be this teams' 1C of the future, and when you pick that high and don't get a high end player, it's an automatic fail. McCarron is a bust, De La Rose isn't good, Lehkonen is good but he traded Andrighetto for nothing, so that's a fail.

We can't be seriously giving a guy props for a waiver claim. It's a free player. You blame the guy that waived Byron. The Danault trade and Schlemko trade were both good, and the Eller trade was fair. He's not someone that I'd ever want running my team, because he would run it into the ground.

other than bad contracts, what has he done?

bad drafting, bad UFA signings

Jarnkrok trade, Janmark trade, and the Svechnikov selection looks questionable at the moment. Dude is struggling mightily in the AHL, even though he tore it up last year. He never should've traded back with Arizona in 2016 so he could've taken Chychrun, do you get the point yet?

The bad contracts make the players nearly untradeable, which makes the rebuild that much more difficult since he can't acquire future assets in return for said players. Plus, the fact that they are having to utilize LTIR to gain more cap space when they aren't even a playoff team is proof of poor asset management. Teams that are that tight against the cap should be playoff teams at the least.

he also traded a 1st round pick that turned into Vasilevskiy for Quincey

I think your bias is showing in this comment. Subban for Weber was a good trade for both teams. Andrighetto for Martinsen was awful your right, but Andrighetto just didn't fit on our team. Even PA Parenteau scored 20 for the leafs. We traded Eller for 2 2nd round picks but then we traded 2 2nd picks for Shaw which in my mind makes it Eller for Shaw essentially. Drouin for sergechev.. hm. We all know if Sergechev was on the Habs he wouldn't have the points he does simply because the Habs cannot offer him Stamkos and Kucherov meanwhile Drouin is our best offensive player. You can't honestly say Galchenyuk is a bust when the entire draft sucked. When you get the 2nd best pick out of the draft with 3rd overall, that's good in my eyes. If there were 20 better players than him it would be different but that isn't the case. Mccarron is still young and was always projected as a project. Same could be said for De La Rose but he's currently our 1st line center with Drouin out. I can't give him props for picking up a waiver claim? Why can't I. It just proves he can see the potential. He's done a pretty good job in my eyes

I think you're giving a lot of credit for moves that are around the edges. If you had to list the five BIGGEST moves Bergevin has made in his career, what would they be?

Another point of note is that Habs fans, including yourself as you said it, are "quick to judge". It's important to note that, even after this run of recent success, Montreal is on an 82-point pace and should be surpassed - by a Boston team that not only has superior forwards and defensemen but more games in hand - in the coming days. If the Habs miss the playoffs this year, does that change your opinion on Bergevin?

If we miss the playoffs it changes everything of course. As it would with every team. What I'm saying is long term things. Typical Montreal fans want him gone right now because they are panicking. This team keeps getting better and better every year since Bergevin started here. Yea 2015 wasn't great, Price was hurt and we relied on him alot. But every year we rely on him less and less.

The question part is hard to name off the top of my head (I'm at work)
1. Paul Byron waiver pick up (then resigned him cheap)
2. Raphael Diaz for Dale Weise
3. Dale Weise for Philip Danualt and a 2nd
4. Alex Radulov free agent signing (everyone said he sucked before they saw him on the ice) also would like to add resigning him wouldve been a mistake as Dallas will soon find out.
5. Finishing top of the league every year and still somehow getting good players out of the draft

I'm sure it would be better if I was home on my computer, but he's done alot more good than bad in Montreal. He's alot better than the montreal GMs of the 2000s thats for sure

We can use that list later, but I'm talking BIGGEST (i.e. involving the biggest players and major pieces, either traded away, traded for, signed, extended, or lost to free agency. Exclude draft picks.

Really? He did?

2009-2010: 88 points, eighth in the east, Eastern Conference Finalists (lost to Philadelphia)
2010-2011: 96 points, sixth in the east, ECQF (lost to Boston)
2011-2012 (season before Bergevin): 78 points, 15th in east, missed playoffs
2012-2013 (48GP): 63 points, second in the east, ECQF (lost to Ottawa)
2013-2014: 100 points, third in the Atlantic, Conference Finalists (lost to NYR)
2014-2015: 110 points, first in the Atlantic, ECSF (lost to Tampa Bay)
2015-2016: 82 points, sixth in the Atlantic, missed playoffs
2016-2017: 103 points, first in the Atlantic, ECQF (lost to NYR)

Things have absolutely not gotten better every year since Bergevin got there. Unless you reset the scheme after the Price injury, 103 points is still a decrease, and it ended with an embarassing exit to the Rangers in the first round.

I don't think his resume says he should be fired YET, but man, he's sure trending in that direction. I don't think that's a refutable statement.

seriously? bad drafting?

1. Subban for Weber
2. Drouin for Sergechev
3. Signed Radulov
4. Weise for Danault
5. Petry for a 2nd?

If that was the rapsheet of any other gm in the league, they would be praised.

2010-2011: 103 Points, 2nd in the Atlantic, Lost CF to Bruins
2011-2012: 84 Points, 3rd in the Division, Did not Qualify
2012-2013: 40 Points, 4th in the Division, Did not Qualify
2013-2014: 101 Points, 2nd in the Division, Lost FR to Montreal
2014-2015: 108 points, 2nd in the Division, Lost SC to Chicago
2015-2016: 97 Points, 2nd in the Division, Lost CF to Pittsburgh
2016-2017: 94 Points, 5th in the Division, Did not Qualify

So according to your logic Yzerman should be fired because his team is trending down the last 3 years?

yes, in recent times.

I see a Stanley Cup Final appearance on there, and unlike the year Montreal was injured, the bottom didn't fall out on Tampa: in fact, in most years, they would have easily qualified for the playoffs. They just happened to have 94 points in the one year 95 was needed.

Also, if you read the full post, you would have noticed that I don't think Bergevin should be fired yet.