Absolutely Dreadful Observation: Marc Bergevin's Legacy Has Significant Repercussions On The CH
Nearly a year and a half after his departure, there's a glaring observation to make about the former general manager of the team, Marc Bergevin.
He was an excellent negotiator for trades, as he successfully executed most of his trades at the helm of the Canadiens. His only notable blunder was the deal that sent Mikhail Sergachev to Tampa Bay in exchange for Jonathan Drouin.
On the other hand, apart from the draft which isn't entirely his responsibility, Bergevin was terrible in one specific area: contract signings.
As proof, Dom Luszczyszyn from The Athletic recently showcased just how dreadful the legacy left by the former GM of the Canadiens truly is.
As you can see from the image detailing the performance of each of the organization's current contracts, all the agreements signed by Bergevin that are still with the team today have a negative value in terms of their output.
Unsurprisingly, the four worst contracts on the team belong to Brendan Gallagher, Josh Anderson, Mike Hoffman, and Joel Armia, all handed out by Bergevin. In contrast, every contract that Kent Hughes has signed since his arrival in Montreal, except for Rem Pitlick, are the only ones showing positive returns relative to their salaries.
Currently, the Canadiens rank 26th in the league for their contracts, thanks to the commendable work done by Hughes, a significant improvement from last year's 32nd position due to Bergevin.
What's even worse is that the list of bad contracts signed by Bergevin during his tenure doesn't stop there.
Here's a list of contracts that have also aged poorly:
Paul Byron: 4 years x $3.4M
Karl Alzner: 5 years x $4.625M
Andrew Shaw: 6 years x $3.9M
PK Subban: 8 years x $9M
Carey Price: 8 years x $10.5M
The only successful contracts by Bergevin were those of Brendan Gallagher in 2014 (6 years x $3.75M), Carey Price in 2012 (6 years x $6.5M), Max Pacioretty in 2012 (6 years x $4.5M), and let's also add Tyler Toffoli in 2020 (4 years x $4.25M).
Credit: The Athletic
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