Habs owner Geoff Molson talks about the potential for a full rebuild

The Montreal Canadiens have undergone a slew of front office changes in the last 24-48 hours.

It all started on Saturday night when assistant general manager Scott Mellanby resigned from his role with the team. On Sunday, team owner Geoff Molson cleaned house, firing general manager Marc Bergevin, assistant general manager Trevor Timmins, as well as vice-president of public relations Paul Wilson.

In addition to the firings, Molson announced that Jeff Gorton has been hired as executive vice-president of hockey operations.

On Monday morning, Geoff Molson met with the media and discussed a number of topics, one of which included a question about a potential full rebuild of the roster. Molson responded to the question saying that he's not afraid of it, and neither are the fans.

"#Habs Molson on the subject of a potential rebuild if Gorton and GM recommended it: «I'm not afraid of that word and I think it's something our fans are not afraid of," Molson said.

#Habs Molson on the subject of a potential rebuild if Gorton and GM recommended it: «I'm not afraid of that word and I think it's something our fans are not afraid of.»— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNMtl) November 29, 2021

Gorton, 53, is expected to be in Montreal in the coming days. His experience will be vital to help the Canadiens right the ship both in the short-term and long-term.

Molson went on to add that Gorton's contract is "long-term" but didn't specify for how long. Gorton and the new general manager will be leading the front office as a tandem.

#Habs Molson says his role as president will not change. Gorton as Executive VP of Hockey Ops working in tandem with the new GM is one new structural change. Another is the creation of a medical performance team for the players to deal with mental health.— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNMtl) November 29, 2021

The search for the new general manager of the Montreal Canadiens is underway, and Geoff Molson said that he would like to fill the position sooner rather than later. But if the search has to extend into the next off-season in order to find the right candidate, he's fine with that.

#Habs Molson says the search for a new GM will be exhaustive (potentially extending into next offseason for the right person) but also would like to fill the post «the sooner the better». Molson says he has not yet asked for permission to speak to any candidates on any teams.— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNMtl) November 29, 2021

Among those that Montreal could look at to fill their GM vacancy are: Mathieu Darche, Martin Madden Jr., Roberto Luongo, or Patrick Roy just to name a few.

I think fans of the Montreal Canadiens are ready for whatever change may come over the next several months. As the team looks towards the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, which they host, they'll likely look to sell off any pending UFA's in order to gain more draft picks.

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