Marc Bergevin and Mathieu Darche were two candidates
reported to have interviewed for the New York Islanders’ GM position earlier
this month. Yesterday, Pierre LeBrun reported that Bergevin had a second
interview, while Frank Seravalli added it was a two-horse race between the
Montreal Canadiens’ former GM and alumnus Darche.
Bergevin spent over nine years at the helm of the Canadiens
and had good and bad moments. In 2021, he led the team to its first Stanley Cup
final since 1993 but was fired the following season when the team crumbled.
Shea Weber and Carey Price’s health and inability to play resulted in the team’s
collapse.
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During his time with the Canadiens, Bergevin’s most notable winning
moves included trading for Jeff Petry, sending two veterans well past their prime
to the Chicago Blackhawks for Philip Danault, trading P.K. Subban for Weber, sending
disgruntled captain Max Pacioretty to the Vegas Golden Knights for Nick Suzuki,
acquiring Eric Staal from the Buffalo Sabres and signing free agents Tyler
Toffoli and Corey Perry.
Bergevin also signed some generous contract extensions that
didn’t age well, such as Brendan Gallagher’s six-year pact with a $6.5 M cap
hit and Josh Anderson’s seven-year deal with a $5.5 M cap hit. While Gallagher’s
body of work deserved a sizeable raise, it was written in the sky that he
couldn’t keep the same level of performance for much longer, given his style of
play. As for Anderson, he was signed purely on potential, but he never lived up
to the GM’s lofty expectations.
The GM also lost two centers on the free agent market when Danault
signed with the Los Angeles Kings as a free agent, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi
signed an offer sheet that wasn’t worth matching.
His drafting record was far from perfect, but he did make
some great selections in later years, and players he drafted like Kaiden Guhle
and Cole Caufield are now key cogs in the Canadiens’ core.
For most of Bergevin’s reign, though, he focused on building
a big, punishing defense around Carey Price while the league increasingly moved
to a more skillful and talented approach. If he gets the job, it will be
interesting to see if he has evolved or will still prioritize that kind of
player. It would also be interesting to see how he would handle the Noah Dobson
case. Since being fired by the Canadiens, he has worked as a special advisor to
the Kings’ GM.
As for Darche, he played 250 NHL games over a nine-year NHL
career. The left winger picked up 72 points in that span and played the last three
seasons of his career with the Canadiens. He has been working for the Tampa Bay
Lightning since 2019, starting as the director of hockey operations, a function
he still holds along with his assistant GM role. We’ll closely monitor the
Islanders’ ongoing GM search and report any progress.
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