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The Aftermath of the Hurricane |
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Marc Bergevin didn’t exactly look like a guy who had time to take some holidays this summer when he took the press’ questions on the KK offer sheet. In fact, the sole difference with what he looked like in July was that he finally got a haircut (and not a moment too soon).
Bergevin admitted that the Canes had tried to work out a trade for KK but that what they offered just wasn’t as good as the compensation he would get through an offer sheet, so there was no deal to me made. The GM admitted that he wasn’t surprised when Carolina announced that they had signed Kotkaniemi to the contract, but that he was rather surprised at the cap hit. For him, right now and at this stage of his development, KK doesn’t deserve that kind of money. He even added that no-one in hockey would say his former number 15 was worth that much.
The Canes signed him to a disproportionate contract and telling a player that they will then sign him to a longer contract extension with a lower cap hit is prohibited by the CBA. Should KK and Carolina sign such a deal in January, the league will have to investigate it and make sure there was no foul play. The GM clearly wanted to sign the young Finn to a bridge deal to be able to assess him better in the future, but the Hurricanes’ move robbed him of that opportunity.
In hindsight, Bergevin admits that it might have been beneficial for KK to have been sent back to Finland for one more year before making his NHL debut, but back then, he had a strong camp and looked ready. The organization gives the same tools to all of their prospects to develop, some do well and some don’t. Jake Evans is an example that panned out, from a 7th round pick to an NHL center, but there were some questions with KK. For Bergevin, a young player must be able to assess its own game for what it really is and not have a distorted vision of reality, he didn’t say it directly, but in his opinion, KK’s vision wasn’t on point. If a player doesn’t buy in or doesn’t do what is asked of him, things must be reassessed. Furthermore, Bergevin said that this kind of contract in a market like Montreal would have been a lot of pressure on Kotkaniemi to deliver and that also came into play.
As expected, the decision wasn’t all about KK, it was also based on the impact of giving him $6.1 M could have on the team and its salary structure. The question was considered all week by Bergevin and his staff, they looked at it from a hockey point, from a money perspective and from each and every angle. After spending days making calls, having the confirmation that the assets from Carolina would allow him to get Dvorak comforted him in his decision.
On his latest player, Bergevin said that he interested many teams and that he was a reliable 2-way center who plays an honest game and won’t take too many risks offensively, even though he will still put his part of numbers on the scoring board. Dvorak is also more established in the NHL and the GM seemed confident that he would blossom in Montreal playing with different wingers. His cap number is also very cap friendly, and he’ll be able to play in all situations; the man advantage, shorthanded and at 5 aside.
About the Mailloux suspension from the OHL, he said that it was always a possibility and that the team’s latest first round pick would remain in London and train with the Knights even if he couldn’t play. Bergevin fully expects to see him reinstated in January. It’s also worth nothing that there won’t be an interim captain named this season in Weber’s absence and that there is nothing to report on a possible contract extension for the GM himself.
As for the new guy himself, Christian Dvorak fielded questions for about 15 minutes and nothing groundbreaking came out of that interview. He had heard rumors about a possible trade to Montreal, but when he heard about the offer sheet, he figured it was becoming more likely that he could be traded there. Unlike many new Habs players, Dvorak didn’t seem over the moon and didn’t talk about the franchise history or anything like that. He did however state that he was happy to now be with a team that wants to win now and that he had watched their playoffs run, which made him realize that there is no quit in that team. Finally, he added that he models his game after Patrice Bergeron, that’s pretty good news Habs fans!
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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