Since he took over:

 

Price and Pacioretty signed long term, reasonable deals.

Held the line on Subban and got him in under a good number.

Drafted and signed Galchenyuk.

Signed Brandon Prust and Francois Boullion.

They've gone from close to worst to close to first very quickly. 

And now the Ryder deal.

I see this as he traded a slumping 35 year old with a publically stated bad attitude and two years left on his contract for a not-slumping 32 year old with an expiring contract...and a third round pick.  Huge win for Montreal there.

Love or hate Montreal (hate!), there is no looking past this performance by Bergevin so far.  He's doing an incredible job.

Rivalry is much more entertaining and exciting when both teams are closer in skill level and every game is a battle to the end.

It's against my principles to say anything good about the schabs. F**K the schabs. 

NAS.  Great post.  Completely agree on all aspects. 

It isn't always the players who need a re-do. Bergevin is making some good moves to overcome the past few management mistakes.

I think the jettision of Gomez was also an important move, if not an obvious one.  They've managed to really trim off the dead (veteran) weight, and the emergence of new young talent in Diaz and Galchenyuk has made it all very effective.  Hope it all falls apart soon...

In response to Fletcher1's comment:

I was just about to mention same.  It was business like.  We no longer need your service.  Exit the building. 

I was going the Gomez ouster as well, but I figured that wasn't an impressive move.  Any GM in the history or future of the NHL would have done the same, except maybe Mike O'Connell.

 

In response to perrysound's comment:

agreed!

The thing that is impressive is that he turned that franchise around in very short order. I remember when he got hired I thought it would take at least 2-3 season's to fix that mess.

In response to Fletcher1's comment:

Yeah, the feel good post is nice sentiment, but lets get real, they are the Scabs, so a plummet to the bottom of the standings is fine by me.

In response to Fletcher1's comment:

 

I think the jettision of Gomez was also an important move, if not an obvious one.  They've managed to really trim off the dead (veteran) weight, and the emergence of new young talent in Diaz and Galchenyuk has made it all very effective.  Hope it all falls apart soon...

 

I'm surprised to see so many people replying to one of Stanley's threads. Sure the habs haven't gone in the tank yet but it has far more to do with the play of Markov and Price (along with Bourque and Diaz) than anything Bergevin is responsible for. He signed Subban for the going rate instead of what Shupe wanted him to get. Whoopee! Now he's gone and traded for a guy who is going to come in and remind everyone of why he was run out of town to begin with. Regarding Galchenyuk, I had no idea there were GM's who had any issues with signing draft picks. Draft the guy with the highest ranking when your turn comes and then sign him to a deal which is laid out for you in the CBA. Hardly worth mentioning let alone applauding but then again, it's a Stanley thread after all.

 

In response to Not-A-Shot's comment:

Incredible implies that he's done things I wouldn't believe or have seen coming.  So ditching Gomez is not an incredible move (influencing the application of the buyout rule is sort of interesting).

Signed Price to a market value contract at $6.5M cap hit.  Signed Pacioretty to a market second contract after one year of high-end production.  The question here is was it smart to give him a 5 year deal and pay the high end for a second contract (more than Lucic's much debated deal, though yes, a few years of market inflation later) or would it have been smarter to go with a shorter deal to let him prove himself and then re-sign him to a higher deal while he's still an RFA.  The current deal ends with MP as a UFA.  Prust at a $2.5M cap hit...well, they needed some cojos even if $2.5M is no better than a fair price for Prust.  Bouillion for cheap has worked well.  Kudos.

I don't give them more credit for Galchenyuk than I'd give ChiaPete for Seguin.  Concussed monkey makes that pick - second best forward in the draft at #3 because Columbus went D at #2.  The one thing I'll concede is that they had the guts to pick him after he missed an entire year with an injury.

The worst to first deal has a lot to do with a healthy Markov and the coaching change.  One of those belongs to the trainer, the other to Bergevin.  Gionta and Cole are less important to the long term future than Diaz, Galchenyuk, Desharnais and Gallagher.  So play them now.

Ryder for Cole...see above.  If Ryder produces as he has in Dallas, great.  If not, they've shuffled out a veteran they didn't need two years early.

Incredible?  I wouldn't say so.  Good, yes.  Evidence of the willingness to make decisions but not the ego that makes GMs want to "put their stamp" on everything like cats marking territory.

All of this maybe points out how bad Gauthier was rather than anything incredible Bergevin did. Really just seems they are moves any competent g.m would do.

I'd agree with the sentiment that he's done an incredible job so far. First time G.M coming in to fix a storied franchise, he hasnt missed a beat. He hit on Galchenyuk, who has come in and contributed right away. Looks like Therrien was a good hire, can't be easy for a rookie G.M to bring in a coach that was already fired by the organization, especially in Montreal..Bergevin didnt care, he knew he was the best coach for his team. He knew the team lacked size and toughness and went out and adressed it.

I'd say Subban signed for less then what many expected, especially P.K..I agree, Markov being healthy makes all his moves look better, but Markov isnt hurt and the team is playing well.

In response to kelvana33's comment:

It seems like speaking french was the main requirement, so hiring a french speaking N.H.L caliber coach isn't that big of a stretch. Just look at Carolina, i'm still waiting for Rutherford to pull the trigger on bringing back Maurice.

I wonder if he can find a sucker to take Kaberle off his hands.  That would be impressive!!!

In response to Bookboy007's comment:

 

 

Incredible implies that he's done things I wouldn't believe or have seen coming.  So ditching Gomez is not an incredible move (influencing the application of the buyout rule is sort of interesting).

 

Signed Price to a market value contract at $6.5M cap hit.  Signed Pacioretty to a market second contract after one year of high-end production.  The question here is was it smart to give him a 5 year deal and pay the high end for a second contract (more than Lucic's much debated deal, though yes, a few years of market inflation later) or would it have been smarter to go with a shorter deal to let him prove himself and then re-sign him to a higher deal while he's still an RFA.  The current deal ends with MP as a UFA.  Prust at a $2.5M cap hit...well, they needed some cojos even if $2.5M is no better than a fair price for Prust.  Bouillion for cheap has worked well.  Kudos.

I don't give them more credit for Galchenyuk than I'd give ChiaPete for Seguin.  Concussed monkey makes that pick - second best forward in the draft at #3 because Columbus went D at #2.  The one thing I'll concede is that they had the guts to pick him after he missed an entire year with an injury.

The worst to first deal has a lot to do with a healthy Markov and the coaching change.  One of those belongs to the trainer, the other to Bergevin.  Gionta and Cole are less important to the long term future than Diaz, Galchenyuk, Desharnais and Gallagher.  So play them now.

Ryder for Cole...see above.  If Ryder produces as he has in Dallas, great.  If not, they've shuffled out a veteran they didn't need two years early.

Incredible?  I wouldn't say so.  Good, yes.  Evidence of the willingness to make decisions but not the ego that makes GMs want to "put their stamp" on everything like cats marking territory.

 

Incredible post !

 

Incredible?  I wouldn't say so. 

Take Markov out of the lineup and Montreal would plummet out of their 1st place standing. When the Shabs get into the playoffs, they will with or without Markov, their smaller forwards will get wore down by teams with bigger forwards.

How Le Shabs do in the playoffs will determine how Bergvin is rated in Montreal. So far since last summer yah Bergvin has performed well, for a poppa smurf anyway.

In response to Not-A-Shot's comment:

I guess you're right.

As Book says, incredible means he would have done something I wouldn't believe or seen coming.

It was a lengthy post. I should have seen it coming.

In response to Bookboy007's comment:

You're thinking of dogs.

Hey Book, jealousy is a terrible thing!  Nice post.  

Cats do it too, except they do it indoors.  And I like dogs.

In response to Chowdahkid-'s comment:

I yam whadayam....