with bergevin finally gone what direction will a new habs management take?

as fans i think we all know that the habs should rebuild however the owners have invested a lot of money and term in the players last season and may not want to write off that investment so quickly. will a new habs gm try to retool the current core or will they go full rebuild?

the timing of the firing and no with statement from the organization indicating a rebuild i think they'll try to salvage this season first.

The team doesn't need to rebuild too much, in theory, our forward core is fine and Price-Allen should be a good 1a-1b ( mostly depends on Price ), however, our defence does need some help, if Edmundson can't help Petry we have a problem and Savard is going to need a good partner. Also, our prospect and pick situation is good but of course, you can never have enough

Hopefully full on rebuild.

Build around
- Suzuki
- Caufield
- Romanov
- Primeau

Well just by looking at who they brought in, this would appear to be a full rebuild a la NY rangers did in 2016, I think it was. Gorton is much known for that as well as his drafting record from Boston. It would appear that's where the Habs are looking to improve especially when Molson specifically mentioned drafting top 10 3 times under MB and none are still with the team.

Also just to clarify something here, whoever the Habs get to be GM will essentially be the pawn for Gorton. They'll bring their expertise and have a role to play obviously but its abundantly clear in my mind, that ownership wants the best person for the job but because of the language requirement, it can only be in the form of an non french VP who won;'t speak to media often if at all and a french speaking GM who will speak to the media and fans regularly, working in unison. The GM doing all the day to day things still while communicating to the fanbase but the main direction the team takes will be from Gorton and that's the most important thing.

For all the Habs fans out there wanting a true rebuild and with the best person for the job being hired regardless of language cliche, this is quite literaally the closest we'll ever get to it. I couldn't be happier with the direction ownership took today.

Who you think gets moved first, still think they may go into a transition phase rather than a rebuild but in todays NHL anything is possible

I think leaders stay (Byron, Gallagher, Petry)

Everyone else 26+ is available.

Yeah thats what I was thinking.

Suzuki, Caufield, Romanov, Evans, and Primeau are the guys you keep and build around. Petry, Price and Gallagher stay for leadership

Everyone else though besides certain prospects available at the right price

I wonder if the Wild offer the same or a tad more than what MTL paid for Dvorak would they move him. Cause I think its worth a look and in this deep draft who knows.

Im not entirely sure the Habs can even do a "scorched earth rebuild" if they wanted to. If they tried, it would probably take 2-3 years simply to get rid of most of the contracts for them to then actually rebuild afterwards. So thats not an option. It'll have to be a retool but that is heavily focused on drafting and youth. Which I'm not opposed to actually. This team already has some good young pieces. Its the fat that needs to be cut.

Step one is trading pending UFA's. (Chiarot, Kulak, etc)
Step two is moving out valuable veteran players with term to maximize their prospect pool for the future. (Toffoli, Hoffman, Drouin, etc)
Step three will be making the hard decisions. (Petry, Price, Gallagher, Weber's contract, etc)

They haven't even started step 1 yet so it will be the offseason before any major changes happen probably.

I think one guy to keep an eye on is Dvorak. I know I know they just got him but... A team like Minnesota could not only give Montreal what they originally paid for him but even a tad more (i.e. another pick or prospect). I know he has not been great this year but we know what he can do and on that contract a team like Minnesota who still need a 2c would probs pay it.

Yep he could totally be moved also. I didn't include him because this team will need some players in their mid to later 20's to be the veteran presence. Being he's only 25, I'm not opposed to keeping him around to help the transition. As long as the deal is worth it, I'm sure no one is safe outside of Suzuki and Caulfield.

I think Romanov and Primeau are safe as they still are good enough pieces to build around. Once Price is back Primeau can go back to getting development time with Laval. Romanov should get better in the years to come as once the changes commence we should see some settling with certain players. And if not he can be moved and Guhle can be the new kid on the block

Sure, but by no means can't be used in trade for the right piece. Suzuki and CC are untouchables IMO. Theer will not be an offer that will help the Habs involving those two.

IMHO Romanov has really regressed this year and is looking more and more like an Emelin clone which is nice but not what we thought he was going to be when he led the WJC Russian team in D scoring a couple years back and I don't think Primeau is a lock to be a #1 goalie in this league. Still too early to tell but I think if the right deal came along, i wouldn't be opposed to moving him also. Both are not untouchables IMO but because of their age, do not HAVE to be traded either.

Well, this is your moment Marco. You've been pretty vocal about your disliking of Bergevin's tenure throughout the years, even when MB's star was shining at it's brightest level. I clearly remember reading one of your rant as recently as during the last Cup run, when everyone in the mountains of Uganda was praising Lord Bergevin for his brilliant moves and the bright future of the organization. These days seem so distant now... But anyway, kudos for staying true to your appreciation of the man and his body of work. It's always a pleasure to read your thoughtful comments.

This team desperately needs a forward who can drive offense and create scoring opportunities. Until they get one, they'll be mediocre at best. My advice would be, stay patient and build through the Draft. They already have some nice young pieces in place w/ Suzuki and CC. Don't trade any 1st/2nd round picks. Look at how quickly the Rangers and Leafs turned the corner. Habs just need a little luck and a management team that looks more than 6 months down the road.

They have them. It's a coaching problem.

Who do they have?

I always admired his dedication to his players. He showed he really did care and that is a great quality that should be a baseline for any GM.

With that said, I feel his mindset was still stuck in 2011 but the problem is the game has changed decades in that time and he refused to evolve to keep up with the times. That is ultimately what got him fired IMHO.

But If for nothing else, I'm ecstatic the Habs are no longer associated with anyone who was part of that disgusting 2011 Hawks management team.

Suzuki/Caufield/Drouin/Anderson/Hoffman are all capable