The Logical Choice: Current Asst. Coach & GM, Larry Carriere
While the trade deadline is beginning to stir up some seriously interesting story lines, one that has been pushed to the back burner in Montreal is who the best candidate to succeed Pierre Gauthier as GM will be.
While I've held my tongue on this for awhile, I feel that there is an obvious choice sitting in front of everyone. One who may offer the best answer to what the entire Canadiens fanbase as a whole desire out of their GM.
Larry Carriere.
Currently, Carriere occupies the role of Assistant General Manager to Pierre Gauthier and Assistant coach to Randy Cunneyworth.
No other individual holds this kind of power with any other franchise at the moment and that alone may be all we need to know about who the leading candidate to succeed Gauthier really is.
Covering all the bases, Carriere brings 20+ years of experience at the NHL management level, is a native Montrealer, a former NHL'er, and, as everyone is clearly now well-aware, bilingual.
His pedigree is hidden in the shadows of other more publicized candidates, yet he brings a better all around package than all of them and, most importantly of all, has a better pulse on this team than any other possible candidate.
A former 25th overall pick himself, Carriere has spent the better part of the last 40 years in the NHL, and as mentioned, most of that in management.
He has held important roles with the Buffalo Sabres, Washington Capitals and now the Canadiens, and was the first and only addition to management following Molson's acquisition of the team.
And while it can be argued that he is inexperienced, that's not what NHL management from around the league will tell you. A familiar and well-respected manager and scout, the variety of intangibles he brings to the GM table in Montreal outweigh most other candidates.
Beyond "fitting the bill," with one foot behind the bench and one foot upstairs, it could be argued that there's no one as well connected to the Canadiens current situation than Larry Carriere.
He's an unknown in terms of the high profile names that are being tossed around and while his focus is currently in helping the team behind the bench, you have to think that his presence there has helped stabilize management's true perspective of what is going on in the locker room.
He has scouted at all levels both locally and internationally and has coaching and management experience at the levels that matter most, so why look elsewhere?
Ideally, a decision will likely come this summer. Yet if, as many pundits have affirmed, Molson will be replacing Gauthier no matter what, you have to wonder why he would let him hang around to make moves through the deadline?
The only real explanation that makes sense to me is that Gauthier can remain the figurehead because the Canadiens are already consulting with their future GM.
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