The Habs have a vacancy in their front office the team confirmed on Saturday night that Scott Mellanby has resigned as their Assistant GM.
Mellanby had been one of the longest-tenured executives with the organization having joined the team back in 2012 as their Director of Player Personnel. He held that role for two seasons before being promoted to Assistant GM in 2014, a title he held until today.
Along the way, he had interviewed for several GM positions across the league. With the future of Marc Bergevin up in the air right now since he’s in the final year of his contract, the timing for Mellanby’s departure is notable. Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports that Mellanby had discussions to take over as GM before those discussions shifted to President of Hockey Operations. When he was informed he was out of the running, he tendered his resignation.
Meanwhile, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the Canadiens have requested and received permission to speak to former Rangers GM Jeff Gorton (as he’s still under contract, they need permission, similar to if a team wanted to interview Claude Julien). Friedman adds that this wouldn’t be for Montreal’s GM position but he could very well be Mellanby’s replacement which would add some experience to the front office. TSN’s Darren Dreger adds that Geoff Molson is running point on this matter and that Gorton is being targeted for a substantial hockey operations position. It may not be the change that many were expecting but there appear to be front office changes in Montreal on the way.