His options are limited. Who does he trade to get equal value? Subban? Price? Pacioretty?
People expect Bergevin to trade the likes of Bourque, Gionta, Desharnais, Briere, Leblanc and others and expect the moon for them.
Several of the players i mentionned are unwanted by most teams. Several currently have untradeable contracts. And some are unrestricted free agents after this season. So why would a GM give a quality player for someone who won't be around next season? And if he really wants that player, he can simply outbid everyone else during the offseason and get to keep the player(s) he would have given the habs should he have went along with the trade.
As for firing Therrien, i can't see this happening. Why? Because the habs have developped a tendency of changing coaches every year and Bergevin doesn't want this to happen on his watch. And who do you replace Therrien with? Gerard Gallant? He's not ready. Guy Boucher? He'd be worst than Therrien with that team. Laviolette? He turned out to be a disaster in Philly and his departure makes Craig Berube look like the second-coming of Fred Shero. Do you go back in the past and re-hire Guy Carbonneau or Mario Tremblay? Come on!
If this slump continues, maybe it's time to blow this whole thing up and start over. Rebuild from scratch. Trade veterans now and get prospects and/or picks in return. If you don't want to rebuild, go ahead and trade Subban for a player with similar talent. However, it would have to be to a team who'll know ahead of time that they can re-sign Subban. On top of that, there's no guarantee that Subban will re-sign with the Habs. I think he will, but who knows? He knows he'll hit the jockpot if he hits the free market and will get to chose where he wants to play. I know some believe that he loves playing in Mtl (he probably does) and it's the only place he wants to play. This is bullshit. Why would he prefer playing for a team with the highest tax rate in North America? Why would he want to play for a team where your every move (on and off the ice) is put under a microscope? Why would he want to play for a team where the fan base and media constantly criticizes you when either your or the team isn't performing to expectations? And finally, why would he want to remain in Mtl when he knows damn well he can make more money playing in the States and not be under a microscope day after day?
I'm afraid to inform you that it looks like it'll be a long season in Montreal, and the golf season will come very early.....
