from Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette,

After Wednesday’s 6-3 loss to the Capitals in Washington, the Canadiens are sitting in 30th place in the overall NHL standings with a 5-14-2 record, two points ahead of the Arizona Coyotes (4-14-2) and three points ahead of the last-place Ottawa Senators (4-12-1). The Coyotes hold one game in hand and the Senators have four games in hand. The expansion Seattle Kraken (6-12-1) are one point ahead of the Canadiens and hold two games in hand.

The Canadiens are on pace to finish the season with 47 points, less than half what it will probably take to reach the playoffs. They have been outscored 70-24 in their 16 losses, allowing five goals or more nine times, and have scored more than two goals only six times.

This team is a total mess and something has to happen.

The first thing is that Molson has to sign Bergevin to a contract extension or announce that his GM won’t be back and that he’s searching for a new one. In a perfect world, that new GM would be in place before the NHL trade deadline on March 21. Bergevin shouldn’t be allowed to make any moves if he’s not going to be back. Let the new guy have control over fixing this mess.

“There isn’t a clear-cut plan,” Craig Button, TSN’s director of scouting, said about the Canadiens after Wednesday’s game.

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