Canadiens Notebook: GM Marc Bergevin says it's unlikely he'll be making trades – Montreal Gazette

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Don’t hold your breath waiting for Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin to make a deal before the NHL trade deadline on April 12.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Canadiens only had $65,398 of current salary-cap space, according to CapFriendly.com.

During a video conference Tuesday, Bergevin stressed that he has very little financial flexibility to make any significant moves before the trade deadline, but he didn’t totally rule out the possibility. Bergevin added that he expects Ben Chiarot will return to the lineup before the end of the regular season after the defenceman had surgery Monday to repair the right hand he fractured during a fight with the Vancouver Canucks’ J.T. Miller. Bergevin said he expects Chiarot will be back in about six weeks, so until then the Canadiens will most likely go with what they have on the blue line.

“If the opportunity presents itself to go out and get something that I’m convinced will help the team, I’m going to look at it,” Bergevin said. “People have always wanted us to spend to the salary cap and we did it, but for the right reasons. It’s tougher and tougher to add to your team. You really have to be creative, which we can be, but we were just $30,000 below the cap on Tuesday. It’s tough to manage.”

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On Tuesday, the Canadiens placed veteran forward Paul Byron on waivers for the second time this season. If no other NHL team claims Byron by noon on Wednesday, the Canadiens will put him on their taxi squad to get some salary-cap relief. It’s unlikely another team will pick up Byron since the 31-year-old, who has 2-5-7 totals in 27 games this season, is in the second season of a four-year, US$13.6-million contract with an annual salary-cap hit of $3.4 million.

Bergevin added that the government-mandated 14-day quarantine for any player coming from the United States to Canada is another roadblock when it comes to making trades. The NHL is hoping the Canadian government will be willing to reduce the quarantine time before the trade deadline.

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“Fourteen days is a long time to not have a player,” Bergevin said. “So you give up whatever you gave up and it could be 6-7 games without the player. So we’re hoping it goes down but, as of right now, it’s not. It could be any day … it could be a week, it could be 10 days. That could help. But for us it goes back to how we manage our cap to make sure if we do get somebody it’s going to be very tricky. So that remains to be seen.”

Bergevin, who has one more season after this remaining on his contract, said he has to remain focused on both the short-term and long-term success of the team. The Canadiens have reached the midway point of this season with a 13-8-7 record and are in fourth place in the North Division with the top four teams making the playoffs.

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When asked about the possibility of losing his job if the Canadiens don’t make the playoffs this season, Bergevin said: “I’ve never been afraid, and I’m not afraid, of being fired. If it happens, it happens.”

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Petry an ‘elite’ player

One of the best trades Bergevin has made as GM of the Canadiens was when he acquired defenceman Jeff Petry from the Edmonton Oilers on trade-deadline day in 2015 in exchange for a second-round pick (defenceman Jonas Siegenthaler) and a fourth-round pick (defenceman Caleb Jones) at that year’s NHL Draft.

Petry has 11-14-25 totals in 28 games this season and is plus-15. Through Monday’s games, the 33-year-old was leading all NHL defencemen in goals and ranked second in points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Victor Hedman, who had 5-21-26 totals.

“Back then, I had no idea if we were going to be able to re-sign him, but our scouts really liked him, so we made the trade and the rest is history,” Bergevin said. “What I like about Jeff is that he improves every year. We see the way he skates and the way he handles himself on the ice. He’s an elite player in the NHL. He also wanted to stay in Montreal, so we were able to give him an extension last summer. He’s a very important player for us. We’re very proud of that trade that brought Jeff to Montreal.”

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Bergevin signed Petry to a four-year, US$25-million contract extension before the start of this season that takes him through the 2024-25 season.

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Tough break for Chiarot

The Canadiens and Chiarot are paying a big price for his decision to drop the gloves with Miller during last Wednesday’s 5-1 win over the Canucks in Vancouver.

With the score tied 0-0 at the 15:02 mark of the first period, Chiarot and Miller squared off after the puck dropped for a faceoff outside the Vancouver blue line. Chiarot fractured his right hand when one of his punches hit the middle of Miller’s visor.

“(Miller) just came off the bench and asked Ben to fight,” Canadiens captain Shea Weber said after the game. “Ben stood up for himself and our team and, obviously, the boys fed off of that and ended up scoring shortly after that. So it was a great job by him.”

Jesperi Kotkaniemi opened the scoring for the Canadiens 32 seconds after the fight, but the loss of Chiarot for 6-8 weeks is a big price to pay.

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“Every player’s different how they feel about that, so I can’t answer for everybody else around the league how they feel,” Bergevin said Tuesday when asked about Chiarot’s decision to accept Miller’s challenge to drop the gloves. “As a former player, if somebody challenges you it’s in you … that’s what you do. It’s really sad that Ben broke his hand. I wish he didn’t, but it’s just the way it is. He has pride and that’s how he felt and that’s what makes him who he is, so I can’t go against that. I mean that’s his choice.”

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What about Fleury?

Defenceman Xavier Ouellet made his season debut for the Canadiens in Monday night’s 4-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets, taking Victor Mete’s spot in the lineup.

Ouellet joined the Canadiens’ taxi squad before the start of this six-game road trip. Ouellet had 1-1-2 totals in eight games with the AHL’s Laval Rocket this season.

Cale Fleury, who started the season on the Canadiens’ taxi squad, remains with the Rocket, where he has 0-4-4 totals in nine games. Fleury played 41 games with the Canadiens last season, scoring one goal.

“He needs to play some games,” Bergevin said about the 22-year-old Fleury. “He was here early on this year on the taxi squad. He didn’t play and then we sent him to Laval for that reason. It’s good for him to play some hockey. He’s still a pretty good prospect for us.”

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The Canadiens selected Fleury in the third round (87th overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft.

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Price finds his game

Carey Price seems to have found his game since Bergevin’s decision to fire goaltending coach Stéphane Waite on March 2.

In the five games Price has played since Bergevin announced he was firing Waite and replacing him with Sean Burke as the team’s new director of goaltending, he has a 3-1-1 record with a .948 save percentage while allowing only eight goals.

“I think it’s a bit of everything, the change, a new voice, a new approach, but also that Carey took a step back,” Bergevin said. “Pricer is a guy who is very hard on himself. His expectations are high. He’s a good pro, a player who cares about the Montreal Canadiens and his teammates. Like we see right now, he’s back on top of his game.”

Price is also being used more regularly than he was early in the season. He has started five of the last six game and now has a 9-5-4 record with a 2.59 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage.

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Price made 34 saves in Monday night’s win over the Jets, which was his 700th career regular-season game with the Canadiens.

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Guhle out with hand injury

The WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders announced Tuesday that defenceman Kaiden Guhle will be out indefinitely with a hand injury he suffered during Sunday’s 2-1 shootout loss to the Moose Jaw Warriors. Guhle, the Warriors captain, was the Canadiens’ first-round pick (16th overall) at last year’s NHL Draft.

Guhle played three games with the Rocket this season before joining the Raiders for the delayed start of the WHL season on March 19. Guhle had 1-1-2 totals in two games with the Raiders.

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What’s next?

The Canadiens will wrap up their six-game road trip when they play the Jets Wednesday night (9 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM), before returning to Montreal for six straight games at the Bell Centre. The Canadiens will have back-to-back games against the Vancouver Canucks Friday (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM) and Saturday (7 p.m., CBC, CITY, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM) at the Bell Centre.

Next week, the Edmonton Oilers will be at the Bell Centre for three games against the Canadiens on Monday (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM), Wednesday (7:30 p.m., SN, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM) and Friday (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM). After a rare Saturday off, the Canadiens will then wrap up their home stand on Sunday, March 28 against the Ottawa Senators (7 p.m., SN, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).

scowan@postmedia.com

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