The Los Angeles Kings announced Sunday followingnoon that the former general manager of the Canadiens will join the Californian organization in a special advisory role to general manager Rob Blake.
This rumor has been circulating in Montreal for a few days. Kings president Luc Robitaille asked Geoff Molson and the Canadian for permission to speak with Bergevin early last week. And that permission was granted to him. Arrested on this subject since Friday evening, Robitaille did not call us back and did not answer our text messages.
Robitaille and Bergevin are longtime friends.
In Bergevin, the Kings get their hands on a hockey man who has particularly stood out on the trade market in the National Hockey League (NHL). Bergevin was also in the running for the title of general manager of the year last season. During his reign in Montreal, his Achilles heel was the performance of his amateur recruiting department, which was under the responsibility of Trevor Timmins.
According to the planned scenario, Bergevin will end the current season in an advisory role to Rob Blake and will divide his time between Montreal and Los Angeles by the end of the calendar. The former CEO of CH will later join the management team of the Kings as deputy general manager. This last agreement, according to our sources, would be for a period of three years.
However, it would be surprising if Bergevin did not get another chance to lead an NHL team as GM in the next few years.
Bergevin was fired by the Canadiens on November 28 when he was in his tenth season as general manager of the Canadiens and the last year of his contract was up.
In Los Angeles, he will notably find Phillip Danault, who was his first center in Montreal.
The contract binding Danault to CH had expired following the Stanley Cup final and the striker had quickly signed a six-year contract worth a total of 33 million with the Kings.
Very early last season, it became clear that Danault and CH were not going to be able to find common ground.
How things change quickly in the world of hockey. The two men are probably very surprised to find themselves on the same side so quickly.
