Canadiens Looking For French GM: Here are 3 Likely Candidates

It’s been no secret that once the Montreal Canadiens and Marc Bergevin didn’t reach an agreement on a contract extension during the off-season that he would likely not retain his role as general manager after his contract is up.

The big secret, however, is who Geoff Molson has been looking at to replace Marc Bergevin when that time comes.

It’s being reported that the next general manager of the Montreal Canadiens will be French.

With the #habs front office in a state of turmoil, there’s a widely held expectation inside the industry that the organization will pursue a French GM when it comes time to replace Marc Bergevin.

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) November 28, 2021

For a moment, it looked like now former Montreal Canadiens assistant general manager Scott Mellanby was going to be the man to take over.

However, according to Pierre LeBrun he was told yesterday that he was out of the running and so he decided to resign.

Hearing that Scott Mellanby had extensive talks with Habs owner Geoff Molson at first about becoming GM, then that changed to perhaps becoming president of hockey operations. But he was told yesterday he was out of the running. So he resigned today.

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) November 28, 2021

With that in mind, three potential candidates for the job are:

Mathieu Darche

Darche was born in Saint-Laurent, Montreal and suited up for the Canadiens from 2010-2012. He is currently the director of hockey operations for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Martin Madden

Madden who was born in Quebec City, used to be the general manager of the Quebec Nordiques and is currently with the Ducks organization as assistant GM.

Patrick Roy

Roy, born in Quebec City needs no introduction. He is currently the head coach for the Quebec Remparts. If the Habs organization is lookign to please it’s french fanbase, there seems to be no better option.

As for the best option, we believe it’s Mathieu Darche. He has the experience, and the history with the team.