According to Dany Dubé of TVA Sports, Marc Bergevin had a meeting with a few players yesterday.
Marc Bergevin aurait rencontré ses leaders, dont Max Pacioretty, Carey Price et Shea Weber, hier, sans Michel Therrien, via Dany Dubé. #Habs
— Nicolas Poulin (@NicolasPoulin) February 9, 2017
Translation: Marc Bergevin met with his leaders, Max Pacioretty, Carey Price, and Shea Weber yesterday, without Michel Therrien. (via Dany Dubé)
Marc Bergevin aurait également rencontré Michel Therrien hier (avant ou après le meeting avec ses leaders). #Habs
— Nicolas Poulin (@NicolasPoulin) February 9, 2017
He also met with Michel Therrien in private, after or before the players.
My first reaction is pure cynicism. Why did Marc Bergevin allow a reporter to witness a leaders-only meeting that didn’t include the coach? Bergevin knows that type of scenario is bound to create endless rumours among Habs fans and media.
Let’s look past the skepticism and give this report the benefit of the doubt. If Bergevin did indeed hold this meeting, I’m not convinced it was for any nefarious reasons. Yes, Claude Julien is currently on the market, but the fact of the matter is that Bergevin has hitched his cart to the Therrien horse, and I sincerely doubt he’ll make a change at this point, especially since the Canadiens are still sitting in first place in the division.
What is more plausible, is that Bergevin simply wanted to speak to some of his leaders. A general manager has the right, and the frankly the responsibility, to speak to his players at least a few times a year. Especially during times like these, when the waters are starting to get choppy.
The Canadiens are struggling to create scoring chances, and seeing as Bergevin’s five-year plan is nearing completion, it wouldn’t be surprising if he just wanted to address his troops as to reassure them they’re not veering off course, but they do need to be better. It also could be that the players asked to speak to Bergevin, and not the other way around.
Bergevin has to decide whether or not he’s really “all-in” this year, and part of that decision involves weighing the opinion of his team leaders.
This meeting seems like par for the course when you’re discussing a general manager performing due diligence. Similar to when a scout attends a certain game. More often than not it means the scout is simply performing his job, as opposed to the early signs of a big trade. We know for a fact that Bergevin is a very active hands-on type general manager.
Regardless of what happened yesterday, we’re probably best off taking the assumptions that rise from this report with a grain of salt, and yes, that includes my very own assumptions laid forth in this article.
