There are three games remaining to continue this season of disappointment, and when the final puck drops on Saturday against the Leafs, the Canadiens will be that much closer to knowing their draft fate. I would confidently call that the best news of the year.

All but guaranteed to be drafting in the top three, the Canadiens are certainly guaranteed the acquisition of a premium player, one that can not only help them build for the future, but also enable them to quickly transition from the messy canvas to the flowery picture Geoff Molson described on Thursday of last week, when he briefed the media and the fanbase of the Canadiens on the decision he made to move on from the Gauthier-Gainey tandem.

Listening to Molson deliver his speech--words he painstakingly wrote himself--it became rather obvious that the decisions he had made to effectuate change to the front office didn't just come to him overnight.

Molson came prepared to announce that the fate of the organization would not hang in limbo, nor would the process undertaken to hire Gauthier's successor be one that he singlehandedly undertook with his limited experience and limited knowledge on the field of potential candidates.

Serge Savard's role as a special consultant in that process came as the least surprising news of the day. Savard's history with the Molson family, and with the Canadiens certainly brings the experience and knowledge Molson needs to make an informed decision.

As to when that decision will come down, we're left with nothing but speculation. Were I betting man, I'd wager that the day after the post-mortem press conference would be as good as any, though I'd imagine the news could drop sooner.

As for the candidates, here are my thoughts:

I don't really understand why the Canadiens would hire Julien Brisebois. Not to diminish his credibility as a candidate, but he left the organization to work alongside Steve Yzerman. His stature is as a capologist; a numbers' guy.

We know very little about his ability as a talent-evaluator, and even less about his ability to fill a role he's never had before at this level.

Is this really who everyone wants after Gauthier?

And why go outside the organization to get Brisebois, when you have someone like Larry Carierre that fills the same criteria, but has much more experience, and much more knowledge of the current organization?

I can appreciate that people view Carierre as a link to the previous regime, but there's a sound reason as to why he's assuming the managerial duties in the interim (without the tag), and a reason he was hired in the first place.

I'm not suggesting the Canadiens should go with Carierre, but if it's between him and Brisebois, go with the one who's currently in your organization.

Regardless, I don't believe the Canadiens will be hiring either one of them for the job.

As for Savard himself, he's already thrown cold water on the notion that he would assume the responsibility. He claims he's too old, and too unaware of the everyday minutia of the National Hockey League to take the job.

I think there are three very viable candidates:

1. Pierre McGuire. Talent evaluation both at the amateur and pro level. Network that includes every facet of the National Hockey League. The man knows everyone and their mom, and knows them well. He can build an incredible management team, scouting department at the pro-level, and improve the already successful amateur scouting team. He has a relationship with most of the league's general managers, and unlike what some believe, he has their respect too.

2. Marc Bergevin's name seems to be mentioned quite often. Currently working with an A1 management team in Chicago, Bergevin's credibility has far reach. As a former player, not too far removed from his career, Bergevin knows both sides of the fence well enough to fill this position. I couldn't tell you what makes him most fit to manage the Canadiens, but it would seem people in high up places have high opinions of him.

3. I feel the most likely candidate for the job is Vincent Damphousse. Is he the most qualified, is the real question. Beyond a prominent role with the NHL Players' Association, Damphousse has no experience with management. He's reputed to have a solid "hockey mind", and beyond that, he'd be another inexperienced manager in the deep waters of the Canadiens' pool.

But I feel that Damphousse is most likely because he'd essentially be acting as Patrick Roy's partner. With no inside knowledge of the situation, it's purely my intuition that Roy will unquestionably be the team's next head coach. And he'll need someone he knows well to make the moves he approves of.

Why not just make Roy GM if that were the case? Because wearing both hats comes with unfathomable expectation, and it puts Molson, Savard and the rest of the team on real thin ice with the fanbase, having Roy--who's never managed or coached at this level--wear both hats, when none of his colleagues around the league do the same.

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