Proposal: Habs moving a D?

[biturbo19]

There are 30 other teams who might offer something. I don't expect either of these guys to ever end up on waivers - they'll make the big team or get traded.

Barron's play at the end of the season showed he'd learned a few things in the AHL after being sent down.

Yeah. There's zero real pressure on the Habs to move a guy. Worst case, they just carry 8D until someone wants to make a deal. But much more likely, you can easily just find a taker for someone like Kovacevic for a pick or prospect.

Guys like Hutson, Mailloux, Reinbacher don't need to be...and really should not be anywhere near the opening night NHL roster for Montreal. There's plenty for them all to still learn in the AHL. And that 8D scenario assumes everyone is fully healthy, which with the Habs...rarely seems to be the case.


Canadiens real probably with their logjam is that they've got a lot of very "mediocre" upside guys who are just very tenuously NHL established. All of Harris, Struble, Xhekaj, Barron are sort of...at the fringes. Shown that they can play NHL minutes on a bad team, desperate with injuries. So they're not just "pure projection" in how they'll translate. But they also all have some limitations that are fairly evident to their real "upside". Which lands them in that awkward "no man's land" in terms of "trade value". The sort of young emerging players who are typically worth a lot more to the team that currently has them. Not the sort of thing teams go wild trading big value to acquire. It's just awkward because the Habs have so many of them all at once. And they've also got plenty of clutter up front as well - which makes a "change of scenery" or "organizational depth" swap less appealing.


There's a big challenge in trying to "consolidate" all these middling on the cusp sort of assets into a few more high upside or "quality" assets.

My hope is to see someone like Harris packaged with the Winnipeg first and get a Newhook-style player, ie, a guy who finished his ELC and his team is in a cap crunch and doesn't see him as part of the future core.

Which is where something like this makes a lot of sense as a potential strategy to get to where Montreal want to go with this "surplus" of defencemen. They're all cheap and NHL-ready, which is useful to plenty of teams. But if you want some higher upside back...they're probably gonna have to be the "add on" to something like a 1st round pick mystery box (and/or deadline trade chip) like that.

 

[Gaud]

Moving Matheson won't happen when the goal is to be at least in the playoff race next year and no one is close to taking over his minutes.

Xhekaj is still the only legit toughness on this team, and I see him at worst as a staple on the 3d pairing. I don't see the team moving the one guy who has that physical dimension, moreso with relative smurfs like Caufield and Hutson eventually taking key roles on the team.


Well, I think pick value in the early 30s might be a good comparison point, though - look for a similar forward who a team could legit ask for a pick in the 30s in exchange for, and we'll be in the ballpark, value-wise.

I mean sure Xhekaj is toughness/enforcer, energy. Never drafted yet made jump from junior to habs and skipping the AHL. He is exciting.

I am not one of those that think that this makes him untouchable. It'd be different if he was a solid DFD, but he isnt there yet and im not sure he will be. If we need an enforcer, lets just get a delaurier type. It makes more sense to me to have one as your 13th fwd than as a D, and they are cheaper there. If someone calls me for a young top 6 worth his salt, Xhekaj is definitely on the table.

That being said, the OP was asking who gets traded first - im going Kovacevic. Savard at the TDL

 

[pth2]

I mean sure Xhekaj is toughness/enforcer, energy. Never drafted yet made jump from junior to habs and skipping the AHL. He is exciting.

I am not one of those that think that this makes him untouchable. It'd be different if he was a solid DFD, but he isnt there yet and im not sure he will be. If we need an enforcer, lets just get a delaurier type. It makes more sense to me to have one as your 13th fwd than as a D, and they are cheaper there. If someone calls me for a young top 6 worth his salt, Xhekaj is definitely on the table.

That being said, the OP was asking who gets traded first - im going Kovacevic. Savard at the TDL

Well, Xhekaj can also bring a strong physical element to the blueline, and it's good to have someone who can battle it out with opposing power forwards along the boards, and physically contain them.

As to who gets moved first, I'll go with Harris - he's refined enough for teams to be willing to move for him, but doesn't have so much upside that moving him could be a massive loss, whereas Struble is still so green it's hard to see what he can develop into, and Barron hasn't reached anything like this potential. He might not reach it at all, but trading a potential top-4 PMD when his value is low doesn't seem like something Hughes would do.

Of course, if nothing happens this summer, Kovasevic and Savard at the deadline are safe bets, too.

 

[TBF1972]

I mean sure Xhekaj is toughness/enforcer, energy. Never drafted yet made jump from junior to habs and skipping the AHL. He is exciting.

he played 17 ahl games this season and his normal draft class would have been 2019. he is not on fast developping path. he might improved a lot the last few seasons. but he also came from a very low level.

 

[Gaud]

he played 17 ahl games this season and his normal draft class would have been 2019. he is not on fast developping path. he might improved a lot the last few seasons. but he also came from a very low level.

True he went there, but considering his path, id say it's normal he hasnt learned those things. Xhekaj commented that he was working at Costco one week and then on the lineup the next. Fans ate that up nad kind of take him as "one of them"

I think the hype hides his flaws; I hope further development irons htem out, but i certainly dont see anything untoouchable here

 

[Scintillating10]

I mean sure Xhekaj is toughness/enforcer, energy. Never drafted yet made jump from junior to habs and skipping the AHL. He is exciting.

I am not one of those that think that this makes him untouchable. It'd be different if he was a solid DFD, but he isnt there yet and im not sure he will be. If we need an enforcer, lets just get a delaurier type. It makes more sense to me to have one as your 13th fwd than as a D, and they are cheaper there. If someone calls me for a young top 6 worth his salt, Xhekaj is definitely on the table.

That being said, the OP was asking who gets traded first - im going Kovacevic. Savard at the TDL

Montreal is small team they need Wifi more than any other club.

He can take a regular shift. Has only played 95 NHL games. Was a plus player on bad team. Wifi developed a hard shot last year or so. Only 23, he has too much upside compared to what Montreal would get for him now. .