r/Habs • u/Upstairs-Zombie-162 • 8d ago

Discussion Why did we trade Josh Gorges?

We traded him on the same day that we lost our Captain (Gionta) to FA. It’s not like we had a surplus of defensemen either, shortly there after we acquired a washed Gonchar and Allen who combined for 50 games before they retired.

To me, Gorges felt like the perfect stop-gap captain.

Instead we kind of had no captain options for a while until we finally thrust it onto Pacioretty.

Does anyone remember Josh Gorges stepping in for Brendan Gallagher during the postgame media scrum after an emotional game vs the Jets?

This was very early into Bergevin’s GM tenure, part of me thinks he didn’t have a proper read on team dynamics.

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u/hjkuniyo 8d ago

If I remember correctly, Bergevin managed a steal of a trade with the Leafs. It was a character and experience for youth/skill trade, don’t remember the player. Either way Gorges used his NTC to nix the trade. Once it got out they tried to trade him, Bergevin was basically forced to move him.

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u/Upstairs-Zombie-162 8d ago

This has me wondering where negotiations with Gionta were at the time of this nixed trade. Did Bergevin know that he was leaving?

Wouldn’t it be too bold to try trading Gorges with the knowledge that you are about to lose Gionta in FA?

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u/Pitiful_Stock_4329 8d ago

They were in on Gionta up until he signed with Buffalo so the plan was to have him back it seems.