Press Conference: Marc Bergevin

MONTREAL -- Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin held court with journalists via videoconference on the opening day of training camp as part of Phase 3 of the NHL's Return to Play plan, fielding questions about Alexander Romanov pending arrival, Max Domi's status, and the second round of the NHL Draft Lottery.

Here are a few excerpts from the Q&A session:

Question from John Lu,TSN

Can you clarify the dialogue that occurred between you, Max Domi ,and the medical professionals that brought you to the point where you decided on the 7-to-10 day waiting period before he would potentially take part in training camp?

MARC BERGEVIN:This has been an ongoing conversation for the last two weeks in conjunction with Max, and it's for his safety. We're all aware of his health situation. Max wants to be here, but we want to be proactive and safe for him in the short term and long term. It's an ongoing discussion with him and the experts, and we'll give ourselves a timeframe of 7-to-10 days to evaluate the situation, then we'll make a proper decision.

Question from François Gagnon,RDS

Players have until 5:00 p.m. tonight to confirm if they choose to opt out of the protocol. You have a deal in place with Max Domi saying you'll wait 7-to-10 days to make a decision. If he ends up not participating, will the League allow you to replace him with someone else up to the maximum number of roster players? Would you need to travel to Toronto one player short?

MB:It's a deal we have in place and I discussed it with the League two days ago. We said we would give it 7-to-10 days; could be more than that, could be less, but we have the option to bring him here as soon as we feel confident that it's safe. It won't affect the number of players we have. The number is 31, and we already have more than that here with us, so we're covered on that end.

Question from Jeremy Filosa, 98,5 fm

Could you describe your reaction when the NHL Draft Lottery took place, when you realized the Canadiens could potentially have the possibility of drafting first overall this year?

MB: Like you saw during the Lottery, the teams with the highest chance of getting the first pick didn't get it. So, we don't want to base anything on having the chance to get that pick. The important thing for us right now is winning as many games as possible and winning as many rounds as possible. The eight teams that lose [in the Qualifying Round] all have the same probability - 12.5% -- of getting the first-overall pick. Yes, you could get the first pick, but you could also get the 15th pick. The important thing is to gain some experience, compete, beat the Penguins, and move on.

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Question from Arpon Basu, The Athletic

What specifically do you think Romanov will gain by coming and joining the team? What do you hope to accomplish with him? What are you going to talk to him about? What are you going to expose him to?

MB:As a former player, you go in for your first training camp, and you come the next year, and it's night and day. You've already been there, you've been around the players, you've been around the staff. It's invaluable. We were able to do that, so we didn't hesitate. Alex could've gone back to Russia if we didn't do it, and he couldn't have played or practiced, and who knows what's going to happen with the NHL? Hopefully we'll be back in business in early December. There's a lot of uncertainty. He wanted to be here, he was willing to come, and we welcome him with open arms. So hopefully he'll be here shortly, with the quarantine and the paperwork. But I think in the long run, it's going to help him tremendously.