Canadiens are betting the house on Marc Bergevin and Claude Julien

Despite another disappointing season for the Montreal Canadiens, it appears they’ll be retaining both head coach Claude Julien and general manager Marc Bergevin.

It has been quite some time since the Montreal Canadiens have won the Stanley Cup. While they haven’t been mathematically eliminated from the postseason hunt, MoneyPuck has their playoff chances at 5.8%, as of March 4. Despite missing the postseason for the fourth time in five seasons, there likely won’t be any huge changes in the front office or behind the bench.

In a recent interview, general manager Marc Bergevin quieted any talk of potentially moving on from head coach Claude Julien. Though the Canadiens could still move on from Bergevin, one has to think he wouldn’t be commenting on Julien’s job status unless he was certain about his own.

Expectations in Montreal are understandably high. Their Stanley Cup drought has lasted for 27 seasons. That might not seem like a long time, but for the franchise with the most Stanley Cups, it must feel like an eternity, especially when their second-longest drought in franchise history is 13 years (1931 to 1944).

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To put this in perspective, every NHL team except for the Anaheim Ducks, Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins, Los Angeles Kings, Washington Capitals, and St. Louis Blues currently have a longer Stanley Cup drought than Montreal’s second-longest.

Since becoming the Canadiens general manager in 2012, Bergevin’s teams have made the Stanley Cup Playoffs four times and missed it three times (soon to be four times). He’s been given a long leash by the team, but that leash might be getting short.

Bergevin and Julien Now Bound Together

The biggest thing to take away from Bergevin deciding to bring back Julien is that those two figures are officially tied together. If the Canadiens don’t make the postseason in 2020-21, Bergevin can’t just point to Julien. He’s going down with him.

This also means it could be an interesting summer in Montreal. Changes are needed. Ownership is doubling down on their head coach and their general manager. So if there are going to be changes, they’re going to have to come on the roster. Considering the Canadiens have struggled to persuade big-name free agents to come to Montreal, that could make things interesting.

The Canadiens have some nice players, but they don’t have any great ones. They’ll be banking on Carey Price, who turns to 33, continuing to steal games for Montreal. Also, they’re banking on team captain Shea Weber, who has missed 86 games over the past three seasons, staying healthy.

They’re banking on young players like Nick Suzuki, Max Domi, Artturi Lehkonen, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, and Victor Mete to take huge steps forward. On top of that, the Canadiens will need contributions from prospects like Cale Fleury, Jake Evans, Alexander Romanov, and Cayden Primeau.

But most importantly, the Habs are banking on Bergevin and Julien getting them back on the right track. That’s a mighty risky bet considering Julien has only coached one playoff team in his last six seasons and Bergevin’s history (or lack thereof) of addressing Montreal’s annual need for top-notch skill. It’s a bet they can’t afford to lose.