He pointed out that the acquisition of forward Jonathan Drouin in a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning on June 15 could help compensate for the loss of Radulov's offense should he choose to sign elsewhere. But it is also clear that having both Drouin and Radulov would be preferable seeing as the Canadiens are trying to increase their scoring, not maintain it.
"There's no doubt we want to bring Radulov back to Montreal, but not on his terms," Bergevin said. "It would be on the terms of the Montreal Canadiens in the short term and the long term."
Bergevin did not stop there, pointing out the lack of long-term contracts given out Saturday should have been a sign to Radulov that the market for one isn't there.
"My first conversations with Alex and his agent in January, what he was asking for would make you fall out of your chair," he said. "I think slowly he realized what he was looking for was not realistic. The market, often times we're in a better position to know it because we talk amongst ourselves as GMs. It was something I tried to explain to the agent, but in this case he didn't really want to listen. So today, he's still a free agent."
It might sound like Bergevin is taking a hard line, but this is his new reality. He no longer has a choice.
The Canadiens signed goaltender Carey Price to an eight-year contract extension worth a reported $84 million on Sunday. That $10.5 million salary-cap charge is 14 percent of the current NHL salary cap of $75 million, though Price's contract begins next season so it will take up slightly less space if the cap rises.