MONTREAL — Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin is not actively soliciting offers on any of his players.
“If someone wants to call me about any player, for sure, I’m listening,” Bergevin said in French on Monday from a function in his home community of Pointe-St-Charles, Que.
“But I’m not seeking offers. Not on P.K. (Subban), not on anybody else at this moment,” he added. “Our core is good. Carey Price, (Alex) Galchenyuk, (Brendan) Gallagher, Max (Pacioretty) are good young players that have grown together. I think they matured a lot this year and we’ll see how things go next year.”
There has been a lot of speculation regarding what personnel changes Bergevin might make to the Canadiens this summer following the team’s collapse from first place on Dec. 1 to 22nd by season’s end. Most of it has centred on Subban, whose no-trade clause for the remaining six years of his eight-year, $72 million contract kicks in on July 1.
One asset Bergevin might consider trading is the ninth overall pick at this year’s draft.
“If you look at the percentages, a player picked ninth making it in year one is rare,” said Bergevin. “We’re always looking to move up, but we’ll see how many teams are interested in moving down and what the price to pay will be.”
Montreal’s GM confirmed he’s currently negotiating with European forwards Martin Reway and Artturi Lehkonen.
Reway, who finished a season split between Sparta Praha of the Czech Liga and Fribourg-Gotteron of the Swiss-A League with 13 goals and 23 assists in 33 games, was selected 116th overall by the Canadiens in 2013.
Finnish-born Lehkonen, drafted 55th overall in 2013 by the Canadiens, had 16 goals and 17 assists in 49 games with Frolunda of the Swedish Hockey League this season. He helped the team win the league championship, breaking Daniel Alfredsson’s playoff scoring record with 11 goals and eight assists in 16 games.
