Habs : Bergevin minimizing risk in Brière deal

Source : Montrealgazette.com

You’ve heard of the “sign-and-trade” deal?

How about “sign-and-hope?”

That had to be what Marc Bergevin was doing when he signed Danny Brière: sign the man and hope he can still, at age 35, recover the form that made him a feared offensive force around the league.
Which doesn’t mean the Brière signing is a bad deal. The risk is minimal, the upside is significant and Bergevin didn’t give up any of his future assets to bring in a popular, French-Canadian star.

Yes, Bergevin had been pretty clear: he doesn’t believe in building through free agency and the Canadiens need to get bigger.

So it wasn’t surprising that some fans were disgusted after Bergevin signed a small free agent. But he tried to get that big, talented centreman the Canadiens have needed since forever when he went after Vincent Lecavalier — but five years for Lecavalier at this point in his career is barmy.

Why does signing Brière make sense? For openers, there’s the French factor. Say what you will, the Canadiens need francophone players in general and French-speaking stars in particular. It’s the market, it’s the tradition, it is important.

Then there’s the upside: in Brière’s case, it’s more than enough to justify the relatively minimal risk of two years at $4 million per. While it’s easy to complain about the failure to land a big forward with size and grit, when you look at the price for some of these players, it doesn’t make sense.

Bobby Ryan to the Senators? After making a complete hash of negotiations with Daniel Alfredsson, Bryan Murray landed Ryan with a good contract but at a huge price: Jakob Silfverberg, Stefan Noesen and a first rounder in 2014. Go through the Canadiens' roster of young talent and find a similar match and you have some idea what the Habs would have had to give up.

David Clarkson? Dave Nonis reinforced the impression that he doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing by letting Mikhail Grabovski get away to sign the less talented Tyler Bozak, then going far too long for Clarkson.

Bergevin, meanwhile, stuck to his guns. Even if Brière is a complete bust, Bergevin didn’t bust the bank to sign him.

Even more significant, perhaps, was the way Bergevin approached the signing of George Parros. The GM emphasized that the club did due diligence, making the effort to learn how Parros was regarded in the room before signing him — precisely what Bob Gainey failed to do before acquiring Georges
Laraque, when the most casual check with the Penguins room would have warned him away.

No, the Canadiens weren’t big winners in the free-agent frenzy. But they didn’t lose a thing. Parros fills their most urgent need, Brière might still drive opponents crazy — and they aren’t hamstrung with any five-year deals.