Here are the 3 worst and 3 best contracts signed by Marc Bergevin with the Montreal Canadiens

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Jeff Drouin
August 7, 2022 (5:24 PM)

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Marc Bergevin's tenure as general manager of the Habs lasted just under a decade and it's safe to say that his overall record was pretty good. He led his team to a Stanley Cup Final, an Association Final and under his watch, the Habs made the playoffs six times in nine seasons.

But beyond the collective performances, the former GM, who now works for the Los Angeles Kings organization, made some good moves and some not so good moves during his time, especially in terms of contract signings.

And as Cimon Asselin of Habsolumentfan.com reports, let's now take a look at some good signings and some let's say more questionable ones.

In the bad signings category, we can think of the contracts that Bergevin signed Carey Price and Brendan Gallagher. Even if the signing of these two veterans was somewhat essential at the time, these two contracts are currently choking Kent Hughes with the salary cap and it is obvious that both players cannot currently justify their salary.

But that's nothing compared to the contract he gave defenseman Karl Alzner on July 1, 2017 when the free agent market opened. Fresh from the Washington Capitals, Bergevin had rushed to offer him a real gold mine with a five-year deal for $23.125 million.

After just one season in Montreal, where he scored just 11 points in 82 games, he was sent down to the Laval Rocket in the fall of 2018 and his contract was bought out in October 2020.

And as for Bergevin's good moves now, we can't overlook the signing of Corey Perry just before the 2020-2021 season. Agreeing to a one-year contract for $750,000, the veteran right winger was an important part of helping the Habs reach the Stanley Cup Final last year.

But probably one of Bergevin's best signings was forward Jake Evans. In October 2021, Marc Bergevin offered him a 3-year contract at $1.7 million per year and he just had the best season of his career with 29 points in 72 games.

We can also talk about the bet that Bergevin had taken in 2016 with Alexander Radulov, but let's say that the honeymoon between Canadiens fans and the Russian forward was short-lived, he left the Habs a year later to join the Dallas Stars.