Canadiens Analysis

Montreal Canadiens State Of The Rebuild – Management

Published

7 months ago

May 15, 2024

Our ‘State Of The Rebuild’ series is nearing an end, but before we shift to the overall grades given to the Montreal Canadiens in various departments we have to examine one final, crucial element: team management.

State Of The Montreal Canadiens Rebuild Series – Published

A Fresh Start

The best decision owner Geoff Molson made upon deciding his team needed a new direction was adding an important element of oversight before hiring a new general manager.

Kent Hughes is given most of the credit for the changes in Montreal, but I’d like to suggest hiring Jeff Gorton as the executive vice president of Hockey Operations was perhaps the most important change made to the organization.

He’s the one who suggested the team needed to revamp its data analysis system, not to mention the development program.

During Marc Bergevin’s tenure, there was little to no pushback within the organization as he held all the cards due to his dual role as general manager and executive vice president.

The only person who could hold him accountable was Molson, however, the owner of the Canadiens has a longstanding history of explicitly trusting the people he put in place to run his team. For the most part, that’s a very logical approach. Many team owners around the international sports landscape could learn a thing or two from how Molson has run the Canadiens. The less you hear from an owner, the better.

However, a lack of accountability inevitably leads to an atmosphere of nonchalance when the long-term employees show little to no thirst for innovation.

With Gorton in place, the Canadiens have not just added oversight, they’ve paired Hughes with an executive who is overflowing with experience, giving them a solid combination of raw energy and hockey expertise.

Communication Is Key

We recently discussed how Bergevin’s boisterous and affable personality was slowly but surely replaced with domineering behaviour that led to a bevy of awkward contract negotiations, not to mention an ugly divorce with many of the team’s legends, including two members of the Montreal Canadiens Holy Trinity, Guy Lafleur and Mr. Jean Béliveau.

MUST READ: Buyer Beware – Blue Jackets Interested In Hiring Bergevin For Open GM Job

But the change did not happen overnight.

There’s a reason Bergevin aged faster than Barack Obama during that time frame.

Serving as the general manager of the Montreal Canadiens is one of the most stressful jobs in the city, country, and perhaps even the world. This doesn’t exonerate poor behaviour, but it does explain why Bergevin became a little more jaded every time he had to deal with the media.

Originally, Bergevin was described as a great communicator, a significant departure from Pierre Gauthier’s management style. He was also praised for his transparency, yet another issue that had plagued the team during Gauthier’s tenure.

After almost a decade on the job, the transparency was non-existent and communication went the way of the Tasmanian Tiger.

With that in mind, it will be interesting to see how Gorton and Hughes navigate the human and public relations side of the job once the pressure starts to mount.

The last two years have been the easy part.

We do have to give them full marks for providing a clear roadmap to success, at least relatively speaking. They have not treated fans like simpletons that would have a difficult time understanding what a proper rebuild entails.

While Bergevin used the fans as an excuse to avoid tearing everything down to the studs, Hughes, for the most part, has been honest as to the challenges the team may face as they traverse the choppy waters of rebuilding a professional sports franchise.

You could even argue Hughes and Gorton have been honest to a fault, but that would be quite the nit to pick considering the improvements they have put into place in the last two seasons.

Potential Criticism

Beyond some questionable trades (or lack thereof in the case of the three-headed monster that plagued the crease all season), Hughes and Gorton have avoided most of the common pitfalls from an asset management standpoint.

But they did fail to capitalize on the opportunity that presented itself when Josh Anderson was receiving interest from various clubs around the NHL. Rather than selling while his stock was high, they held firm in their demands. Either a team was going to overpay for his services, or they would be perfectly happy keeping him in the fold.

As the person in the negotiations with almost all the leverage, Hughes’ approach made sense, but given that asset value varies greatly throughout a season, it was also a gamble.

A gamble he lost.

There’s merit to the idea that you have to strike while the iron is hot, just as Hughes did when he traded Sean Monahan to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for a first-round pick.

You could also suggest his handling of the Jake Allen situation was far from ideal. Not only did Hughes offer Allen an early contract extension when there was no reason to do so, but he also gave the goaltender a no-trade clause.

Allen would go on to use that clause to nix a trade with the New Jersey Devils earlier in the season. The Habs eventually sent him to the Devils in exchange for a mediocre draft pick, but a situation that emerged ahead of training camp took until the final moments of the trade deadline to be resolved.

He also received poor returns in trades involving Artturi Lehkonen and Tyler Toffoli, though you’d be hard-pressed to say he was robbed in either case. For the most part, Hughes’ trades have improved the Canadiens, both in the short and long term.

Finally, there was a certain level of obsession when it came to adding right-handed defencemen to the organization. To be fair, the team did lack options on the right side of the blue line, and there’s a finite amount of right-handed talent available each season. The team may have gone overboard rectifying the area of weakness, but considering the importance of the position it was a fairly understandable strategy.

Montreal Canadiens Brass Tacks

Gorton and Hughes have been a much-needed breath of fresh air for an organization that rested on its laurels for the better part of the last few decades, but their work is far from done.

They have yet to solve the most pressing issue facing the team: a clear lack of elite talent among forwards.

That’s not to say they haven’t added important elements to the team. Both Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook were solid additions, but due to Dach’s health issues and Newhook’s defensive problems, it’s too early to suggest they will become a game-changing presence in the lineup.

Passing on Matvei Michkov was not a death knell for their long-term aspirations, but if the Canadiens cannot solve their offensive issues the decision to pick a right-handed defenceman rather than an elite offensive talent at 5th overall could come back to haunt them.

Fortunately, the Habs will have a perfect opportunity to improve the dearth of talent up front at the 2024 Entry Draft, which will be the third season in a row that Hughes and Co. will pick among the top 5 teams in the NHL.

Consequently, it may be the last time they pick so high, putting even more pressure on the management group to select someone who not only fits a clear organizational need but also happens to be the best player available.

Simply put, teams (other than Vegas) need to hit on their top draft picks if they hope to one day be considered legitimate contenders for the Stanley Cup.

Hughes has added a lot of draft capital to the organization since he took over, but if Juraj Slafkovsky, David Reinbacher, and whomever they pick this summer fail to become elite players, the odds of finally bringing Lord Stanley’s Cup home will quickly dwindle.

Grading Montreal Canadiens Management

When it comes to grading management, I do think fan input is one of the most important aspects of the evaluation.

Some may scoff at the idea that fans should hold any semblance of importance in this situation, but those people fail to understand fans will always be the most important aspect of professional sports.

That’s not to say fans should have input on every decision, but keeping them informed is crucial, even in a city like Montreal where marketing is irrelevant due to the never-ending thirst for all things Canadiens.

For the most part, fans are on board with the direction the team is taking.

You will always find some outliers, not to mention fans who solely focus on the negative aspects of every situation, but the general feel from the Canadiens fanbase is that they’re mostly happy with the decisions that have been made.

Pressure will mount.

And it will start to mount in the upcoming season.

But in the meantime, Canadiens fans look forward to the team writing a new chapter in the organization’s glorious history, a chapter authored by Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton.