Marc Bergevin's future in Montreal clouded in doubt.

The Montreal Canadiens far surpassed the expectations that any reasonable pundit had for them this season by going all the way to the Stanley Cup Final in their deepest playoff run since 1993 when they captured the Stanley Cup Championship. They did so without the use of a player in Jonathan Drouin that was signed to be one of the team's top offensive threats and that was thanks in large part to a roster constructed by the hand of Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin.

Bergevin has been one of the most divisive general managers in the hockey world over the last several years both due to the fact that he works in arguably the most rabid hockey market in the world, Montreal, and due to his aggressive style of management behind the scenes, never afraid to make a big trade or big signing but that seems to have changed recently. The noise from the anti-Bergevin faction went quiet this season, thanks to his team going on a deep playoff run, and there was an expectation that Bergevin would be offered a long term deal and remain with the organization as general manager for years to come. On Friday however comments from the Habs' GM, while answering questions during a media availability, raised quite a few eyebrows around the National Hockey League and have now led to talk that Bergevin may not remain in his role for long.

"I have one more year under contract, and I will honour that," said Bergevin on Friday.

Bergevin himself indicated that season had been a tough one.

"Mentally, it was very difficult," admitted the Canadiens GM.

Those words from Bergevin, especially to the ears of those that have heard rumors suggesting that Canadiens owner Geoff Molson has already offered Bergevin a significant long term extension, may indicate that his long term plans do not include being general manager of the Canadiens. In a recent article, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman revealed that one of his sources has indicated the Canadiens general manager may be burnt out from his years in one of the most high pressure markets in all of sport.

From Friedman:

Prior to the end of the regular season, there was plenty of reason to believe owner Geoff Molson was firmly in Bergevin’s corner and had offered the GM an extension. But one source warned to be careful. He said Bergevin was burnt out and may not want to return.

Could this be a sign that we are entering the final year of Bergevin's tenure with the Canadiens? On top of the stress of two challenging NHL seasons during a pandemic, Bergevin will face another difficult challenge this offseason with the Seattle Kraken expansion draft where he is sure to lose a piece of the team that he built. It would be hard to blame the man for wanting a break.