Former NHL GM strongly linked to the Montreal Canadiens.

There appears to be a major shift going on in the front office of the Montreal Canadiens.

First, National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman reported on Saturday that former New York Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton is a target of the Canadiens organization. According to Friedman the Habs have been granted permission to speak to Gorton, but it may not be for the role that fans would have expected.

The first thing that comes to mind is that Gorton is in line to replace Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin, who is in the final year of his current contract, but according to Friedman that is not the case. Friedman believes Gorton is being sought after for a different role, but he did not go into more detail on that front.

St. Louis Blues insider Andy Strickland is reporting another interesting bit of information on the Canadiens tonight, and I do have to wonder if these two stories may be linked. According to Strickland, Canadiens assistant general manager Scott Mellanby has resigned from his position within the organization.

Friedman did say that Gorton was not being sought out as a replacement for Marc Bergevin, but a replacement for the departing Scott Mellanby would make sense given the timing of this news. That is of course purely conjecture and speculation at this time.

Jeff Gorton actually has a pretty impressive track record and if he were to be selected as the next heir apparent to Marc Bergevin, I don't think it would be a horrible move on the part of the Montreal Canadiens. Many often overlook the fact that Jeff Gorton was instrumental in constructing the Boston Bruins team that would eventually go on to win the Stanley Cup. Gorton was behind the acquisition of Tuukka Rask, a trade of draft picks that led to the selection of Brad Marchand, and even the signing of long time Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara.

As for who will replace Bergevin? NHL insider Chris Johnston is reporting that the Canadiens will seek out a French speaking general manager, a decision that you have to believe is going to limit their potential candidates.