"I strongly believe that this organization needs a fresh start," owner Geoff Molson said Monday. "At this stage, a fresh start is not so much at the team level but rather at the management level. On the ice, we have a team that is a lot better than the results show. Many components that amazed us last summer will be back soon. But equally as important, we've made 45 draft picks the past five years since our reset and we have 11 more coming in Montreal this year. It is essential that we structure our organization around properly developing this group of talent. The new management team will be responsible for evaluating our current team and how we can improve moving forward."
Molson said that Gorton, the former GM of the New York Rangers, "has a long-term contract" and will help hire Montreal's next general manager.
Bergevin had been the sole head of hockey operations since being named general manager May 2, 2012.
"I think this team and this organization will be better managed with two people at the head of hockey operations," Molson said. "And to save the question, this decision to restructure the leadership of hockey operations has nothing to do with my role as president. In the past, Marc was accountable for hockey performance. Now there will be two. This is entirely my decision that I believe will make this team better."
Assistant GM Trevor Timmins and senior vice president for public affairs and communications Paul Wilson also were fired Sunday. Assistant GM Scott Mellanby resigned Saturday.
Montreal (6-15-2) is seventh in the eight-team Atlantic Division and tied for 29th in the NHL standings after reaching the Stanley Cup Final last season and losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games.
Bergevin thanked Molson, his co-workers, the fans and the media in a statement.
"Despite the fact that this journey is coming to an end, I am proud of the legacy I'm leaving within the organization," Bergevin said. "The current team is much better than the results show, and I am convinced that my successors will be able to rise to the challenge."
Bergevin was 344-265-81 during his tenure, making the Stanley Cup Playoffs six times in his nine full seasons as general manager.
The Canadiens haven't had two of their best players this season and there have been significant changes to the roster.
Carey Price, voted the winner of both the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player and the Vezina Trophy as the League's best goalie in 2014-15, has voluntarily taken part in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program. Shea Weber, the Canadiens captain and a three-time finalist in the voting for the Norris Trophy, which goes to the League's best defenseman, is dealing with multiple injuries.
Forwards Phillip Danault, Corey Perry, Eric Staal and Tomas Tatar departed in free agency along with defensemen Erik Gustafsson and Jon Merrill. Montreal signed forwards Mike Hoffman, Mathieu Perreault and Cedric Paquette, and defensemen David Savard and Chris Wideman.
The Rangers fired Gorton on May 5. They went 220-181-49 in six seasons under his direction.
After making the playoffs in Gorton's first two seasons, the Rangers announced they were going into a rebuild and missed the playoffs the next two seasons. New York was among the 24 teams to play in the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers as part of the NHL Return to Play Plan and was eliminated in three games by the Carolina Hurricanes in the best-of-5 series. The Rangers did not make the playoffs last season.
NHL.com independent correspondent Sean Farrell contributed to this report
