The Marc Bergevin era is over in Montreal.

The Canadiens announced Sunday that Bergevin has been relieved of his duties as the team's general manager following a 6-15-2 start to the season, just months after the club's run to the Stanley Cup Final.

The Canadiens have also relieved assistant GM Trevor Timmins and Senior Vice President of Affairs and Communications, Paul Wilson, of their duties. The proces to recruit the team's next GM in under way, the team announced.

"On behalf of myself and the organization, I wish to thank Marc Bergevin, Trevor Timmins, and Paul Wilson for their passion and engagement towards our Club over the last years," said Owner and President Geoff Molson. "Their relentless work allowed our fans to experience many memorable moments, including last summer's playoff run that culminated with the Stanley Cup Final. We wish them all the success they deserve in the pursuit of their careers. I think, however, that the time has come for a leadership change within our hockey operations department that will bring a new vision and should allow our fans and partners to continue cheering for a championship team."

Jeff Gorton has been hired to be the club's new Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations.

Gorton previously served as General Manager of the New York Rangers from 2015-2021 before being replaced by Chris Drury in May. He served as Rangers' assistant GM for four seasons prior to his promotion to GM.

The news comes one day after assistant GM Scott Mellanby announced his resignation on Saturday.

TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger notes that Montreal has interest in former New York Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton for a "very substantial hockey operations position." The 53-year-old Gorton served as New York's general manager from 2015 to May of this year when he was fired.

Bergevin was in the final year of his contract, which was signed in November of 2015. TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reported that Canadiens owner Geoff Molson made an extension offer to Bergevin in July, but the two sides could not come to an agreement.

Bergevin took over as the team's general manager in the spring of 2012. The season after they advanced to the conference final but fell to the New York Rangers in six games.
 
Bergevin presided over two head coaching changes, one in the 2016-17 season when he replaced Michel Therrien with Claude Julien, and the other this past February when he fired Julien in favour of Dominique Ducharme.

Bergevin spent parts of 20 seasons as a player in the NHL, six of which came with the St. Louis Blues. The Montreal native scored five goals and assisted on 28 in 328 career regular-season games.