HABS PICK UP SIZE, NOT SCORING
Bergevin says team can move forward without major overhaul up front
Marc Bergevin said the trading deadline offers teams an opportunity to meet their needs and, with one notable exception, he felt the Canadiens did that.
The one exception — and this is the one which will have many fans grumbling — was scoring.
“We always try to add scoring and this goes for every team in the league,” said Bergevin. “Scoring is at a premium and you like to add scoring but it’s not out there. And if it was, the price was too high. You don’t get something without giving up something and then you’re going sideways. You try to move forward.”
With the salary cap and the impending expansion draft acting as a drag on the market, Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog remained in Colorado while there were no takers for Arizona’s Radim Vrbata.
But Bergevin, who addressed such issues as size and depth, felt the Canadiens can move forward without a major overhaul up front.
“For us, we felt we had a good start (and) we had four lines producing,” said Bergevin. “Of late, that hasn’t been the case but I feel comfortable that, as guys get more confidence as we move forward, they’ll be able to chip in. And down the road, there won’t be as many goals and there will be those one-goal hockey games 2-1, 3-2, 1-0. It’s a tight league.
“I always say you can play with a bad shoulder or a bad foot but if you have no confidence, you can’t play,” said Bergevin. “Also down the stretch, it’s hard to score. You look at Columbus last night, one of the highest scoring teams in the league. You have to grind it out to score goals down the stretch.”
As the Canadiens prepare to meet the Nashville Predators Thursday at the Bell Centre (7:30 p.m., Sportsnet, RDS, TSN Radio 690), they are on a three-game win streak, which featured some grinding. They beat Toronto and New Jersey on the road and then beat Columbus 1-0. All three games went to overtime.
“The game in Toronto, we played a good team that’s young but headed in the right direction,” said Bergevin. “We were flat in Jersey and we’re down two goals and came back right away and then we came home and beat a well-rested team. I feel like it’s coming.”
One reason for that optimism is that Carey Price has regained his form and that has Bergevin tossing out the tried-and-true axiom that anything can happen in the playoffs.
“You have Carey Price, you get in the playoffs,” said Bergevin. “Look at Pittsburgh. Last November, they were willing to sell the team, fire the coach, which they did, and the next thing they have a run and win the Cup. San Jose the year before didn’t make the playoffs and they’re in the Stanley Cup final. Our core is still pretty young. We have Carey, (Alex Galchenyuk) is getting better, we have (defenceman Mikhail) Sergachev coming up. In the salary cap world, you can’t load up hoping (to win) and then find yourself in the next four years with nothing.”
Bergevin did make a series of trades this week, which addressed the need for size, grit and experience. If you’re into numbers, the Canadiens are 467 pounds heavier than they were last week, but Bergevin stressed that the team didn’t sacrifice speed.
It started Monday with Greg Pateryn going to Dallas for Jordie Benn, who made a good first impression Tuesday against Columbus.
Here’s a look at the other deals in chronological order:
Brandon Davidson, a defenceman who has dealt with numerous injuries in the past year, came from Edmonton in exchange for David Desharnais. He’s a puck-moving defenceman who adds depth to the bottom pair.
Steve Ott is 34 and had trouble getting ice time in Detroit, but the Canadiens surrendered a sixthround draft choice in 2018 to get a master agitator. He comes highly recommended by Kirk Muller, who coached him in St. Louis. He can kill penalties and has a 57.95 success rate on faceoffs.
Dwight King, a 6-foot-4, 229-pound left winger, was acquired from Los Angeles for a conditional fourth-round draft pick in 2018. King has two Stanley Cup rings and has the ability to move up and down the depth chart.
Andreas Martinsen is a 6-foot3, 220-pounder who says he’ll “bring my game and my physicality and try to be a good bottomsix player.” The Canadiens sent Sven Andrighetto to Colorado to obtain Martinsen who collected 146 hits while averaging fewer than 10 minutes a game. Bergevin said Andrighetto was expendable because the Canadiens have Charles Hudon and Chris Terry in the AHL.