A year ago, the future looked grim for the Montreal Canadiens. Coming off one of their worst seasons in history, they finished with a record of 29-40-13 for 76 points and sat near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.
Fans and pundits were calling for general manager Marc Bergevin to be fired. His offseason moves – selecting Finnish center Jesperi Kotkaniemi with the third overall pick in the 2018 draft, shipping Alex Galchenyuk to Arizona for winger Max Domi, dealing captain Max Pacioretty to Las Vegas before training camp for winger Tomas Tatar, prospect Nick Suzuki, and a 2019 second-round pick – only stoked criticism of his management skills.