Sunday, September 10, 2023 marks the fifth anniversary of Marc Bergevin’s coup, which took place while the majority of Quebecers slept peacefully.
Late in the evening, on the night of September 9th to 10th, 2018, the Montreal Canadiens traded their captain Max Pacioretty to the Vegas Golden Knights for Nick Suzuki and Tomas Tatar.
The relationship between Pacioretty and the Habs was strained. At the time of the move, the American striker’s contract was only valid for one year.
Suzuki, on the other hand, was just a promising candidate with no work experience at the time. He, in turn, became captain of the Canadiens when he succeeded Shea Weber in September 2022.
It is said that Cody Glass was the player originally targeted by the Canadiens in a trade involving Pacioretty, but the Golden Knights did not want to part with him and offered Suzuki instead. A compromise that Bergen eventually accepted after consulting hope guru Trevor Timmins.
The CH is rubbing its hands today because Suzuki has become a much better player than Glass, who at 24 years old played his first full-time season in the NHL with the Nashville Predators in 2022-2023.
Tatar, who was initially viewed as a negligible element of the transaction that the Golden Knights were essentially looking to get rid of, has, in turn, served proudly for the Canadiens, notably recording 61 points in 68 games in 2019-2020.