Bob McKenzie was on Montreal’s TSN 690 on Monday morning.
On if he thinks Marc Bergevin will be active this week, and how he’s never really shown that he’s susceptible to outside pressure before:
“He’s been cautious, conservative, ‘I’ve got a plan, I’m going to stick to it,’ general manager. That’s not to say that he can’t go outside that comfort zone.
“I think he’s – if I had to characterize it, my sense of it would be that there are no guarantees that there’s going to some sort of seismic shift with the Montreal Canadiens in any way, shape or form, but that I’m sure he’s got lines in the water and I’m sure he’s listening and talking and seeing what’s available to be done. I’m sure there are a lot of teams that are interested in doing a lot of things, and I think it’s too early to say this week what precisely the Canadiens may do or not do.
“I’ve got to think he’s open to some concepts, but that doesn’t mean he’s committed either.”
Later in the conversation, on if we could see more deals from Monday to Thursday, instead of at the NHL draft itself:
“I would think so. There’s certainly the potential. We say it every year though, and sometimes we build it up. ‘Oh, there’s going to be so many moves,’ and then it hits the draft and nothing happens. Everyone’s like, ‘Yeah, it’s pretty boring week. Terrible.’ Everybody’s upset, calls you stupid (laughs).
“But I really do get the sense that there are a lot of teams that are interested in making some significant movement if they can. In some cases, financial-related. In some cases it’s simply to address needs on their team, and they want to switch it up.
“We already saw it a little bit last week with the Blackhawks and the Carolina deal with Teravainen and Bickell, and the financial pressures on the – and that wasn’t just financial pressure on Chicago. That was also a team in Carolina that wants to get better, and wants to get better – I wouldn’t say in a hurry, they’re not sacrificing the plan by any stretch, but they really wanted to bolster their forward group big-time. And who knows. Maybe they’re not finished. We’ve still got the Pavel Datsyuk thing hanging out there. The Detroit Red Wings are going to try and trade this guy. It’s just a matter of to whom and when and for what. The sense seems to be out there that Tomas Jurco and Teemu Pulkkinen, or maybe a draft pick, would be required to go with Pavel Datsyuk to a team that can afford to take the cap hit. There’s no financial penalty involved, other than assuming the cap.
“So for teams that are trying to get up to the floor, like Carolina or Arizona or others, taking on a $7.5 million cap hit isn’t a big deal at all. And it’s a hell of a way to give yourself maybe a guy like Jurco or Pulkkinen or a draft pick.
“So we’ll wait to see how that one goes, but that was a case too where Carolina wanted to make a move as much as Chicago did, and there are all sorts of teams that are in that mold right now.”
Source: TSN 690/Transcript: Nichols
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