As their rebuild rolls along, the Montreal Canadiens are very committed to keeping their management team intact. However, that hasn’t stopped another team from trying to poach one of their main members.
As the Columbus Blue Jackets continue to search for a general manager, a few reports have emerged with names of potential candidates, including Canadiens executive vice president Jeff Gorton.
On Friday, Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman reported that the Blue Jackets were interested in interviewing Gorton, who has a close relationship with Columbus’ president of hockey operations.
“One name I do think was on Columbus’ list was Jeff Gorton of the Montreal Canadiens. Now there’s obvious reasons they would want to talk to him… He’s good at his job. He’s got a history with John Davidson.”
With that said, it looks like Gorton, who first joined the Canadiens in December of 2021, will be staying put.
“Whatever the case is, he’s not going to be leaving Montreal for Columbus (…) he’s still in the process of rebuilding Montreal.”
While it’s not crystal clear, it’s possible that Habs ownership got in the way of communications between the Blue Jackets and the 55-year-old.
“I don’t believe permission was ever granted,” Friedman added. “The Canadiens were not in favour of the idea.”
Along with Gorton, another report from earlier this week indicated that Columbus was interested in another candidate with ties to Montreal, with former Habs GM Marc Bergevin being considered for the job.
As per Dennis Bernstein of The Fourth Period, the 58-year-old is currently “in consideration” for the vacant role.
A couple of LAK-related notes:
– Marc Bergevin, hired as senior advisor to GM Rob Blake in January 2022 is in consideration for the open Blue Jackets GM role.
– No talks with Matt Roy’s camp on contract extension but expect them to occur in June prior to Free Agent Frenzy.
— Dennis Bernstein (@DennisTFP) May 14, 2024
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