Confirmed with Link: Artturi Lehkonen (50% Retained) Traded to Colorado for a 2024 2nd Round Pick & Justin Barron

[Andrei79]

Yeah, but we also have a ton of defensemen prospects. Heck, three rookies on the team right now. Mailloux upcoming. Hutson and Struble still lot of potential. Even Trudeau. How was Barron needed?

They should've gotten a goalie prospect instead.

At the time, they weren't even sure if Mailloux would be signed. Hutson wasn't even drafted and Trudeau was a LH D who's a fourth round draft pick. Struble hasn't shown anything to even think he's more than a fringe prospect at this time. He's also a LH D. A RH D prospect was one of the biggest needs in the organization. If another team stepped up and gave Hughes more, that's where Lehkonen would be playing.

 

[DAChampion]

Seems you're the one suffering from fanboyish towards Hughes & Gorton defending their questionable trade.

Lehkonen was very good with us. Barron was completely unnecessary, given the stacked prospect pool we had on defense. Three rookie defensemen on the team right now―THREE―and the one we got for Lehkonen ain't even one of them.

Lehkonen was a bottom six player on the Habs.

 

[nhlfan9191]

Lehkonen was still a great fit and Hughes and MSL were very clear in how much they loved his game and would have liked to keep him. Everbody has a price and Colorado met it as HuGo were specifically targeting a top RHD prospect who had a couple years of development under his belt.

Lehkonen is a perfect veteran forward to play with upcoming talent as he is not too old where he can't relate and he is a great role model on and off of the ice.

I’m not saying Lehkonen wasn’t those things. But I don’t think HuGo was willing to get in bed long term with a player like that even if we could afford it. This team is riddled with bad contracts, I think they were looking to get away from overpaying those specific kind of players.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

I’m not saying Lehkonen wasn’t those things. But I don’t think HuGo was willing to get in bed long term with a player like that even if we could afford it. This team is riddled with bad contracts, I think they were looking to get away from overpaying those specific kind of players.

Hughes was on record as saying that they would have loved to keep and re-sign Lehkonen much like he has stated with Monahan if he has a strong season. I do understand what you are saying but I also believe that HuGo definitely had a version of the team with a signed Lehkonen as well as a version with the assets from a traded Lehkonen. It wasn't the same as Chiarot and Toffoli where they were not being considered as pieces moving forward. Chiarot had alot of value and was blocking a large group of young, talented LHD's. Toffoli was just too slow and didn't fit the play style that they had in mind.

 

[Redux91]

We have to be very VERY clear here
It's not Hughes fault Lehk is not here anymore..
Its Bergevins
SOMEone was always going to be the major cap penalty for this year and this year alone, and because of the way Bergevin capped the team after 2021
You are unable to sign Lehkonen, and so he is gone but not for free

On top of EVERYTHING, the previous GM and coaches clearly incorrectly pigeonholed Lehks as a bottom 6 forward because of poor team building and poor assessment skills, so when it came time to value Lehks and trade or keep him and sign,
We were dealing with a 4th liner instead of a 2nd liner(now playing 1st), so the return is what it is because of that as well

I dont blame Hughes for anything here honestly.

 

[BenchBrawl]

We have to be very VERY clear here
It's not Hughes fault Lehk is not here anymore..
Its Bergevins

Are you alright? Do you need us to call 9-1-1 for an ambulance?

 

[Redux91]

Are you alright? Do you need us to call 9-1-1 for an ambulance?

Completely expected from YOU lol
You can't see 6 inches in front of your face let alone the intricacies of why certain players get traded away.

Your buddy Berge screwed the pooch on this one too I'm sorry you have trouble coming to terms with the fact you are not as smart about hockey as you and bergevin thought you were or wtv your 8 yr old cousin told you at thanksgiving that boosted your ego lol

 

[Tetragrammaton]

Anyone else think that 2nd should have been a 1st?

 

[BenchBrawl]

Completely expected from YOU lol
You can't see 6 inches in front of your face let alone the intricacies of why certain players get traded away.

Your buddy Berge screwed the pooch on this one too I'm sorry you have trouble coming to terms with the fact you are not as smart about hockey as you and bergevin thought you were or wtv your 8 yr old cousin told you at thanksgiving that boosted your ego lol

It is YOU who can't see beauty and genius when it's right in front of your nose.

 

[Matthew McConaughay]

Anyone else think that 2nd should have been a 1st?

Lehkonen ended up, to be much more valuable than we thought

 

[Tetragrammaton]

Lehkonen ended up, to be much more valuable than we thought

They probably don’t win a cup without him. Barron isn’t showing us he’s as advertised right now.. the 2nd should have been a 1st. As if Colorado needed that 1st anyways.

 

[LaP]

They probably don’t win a cup without him. Barron isn’t showing us he’s as advertised right now.. the 2nd should have been a 1st. As if Colorado needed that 1st anyways.

Barron is still 20 for god sake can we wait a little bit before pigeonholing him as a bust? He'll turn 21 in November let's give him a full year of development in the AHL at least before panicking.

 

[Tetragrammaton]

Barron is still 20 for god sake can we wait a little bit before pigeonholing him as a bust? He'll turn 21 in November let's give him a full year of development in the AHL at least before panicking.

All I said was that he doesn’t look as advertised right now.. I’m hoping he becomes a great top 4. Looking back at the deal I think a 1st should have been included.

 

[Tyson]

He may not be ready until next season....no rush

 

[Whitesnake]

Barron is still 20 for god sake can we wait a little bit before pigeonholing him as a bust? He'll turn 21 in November let's give him a full year of development in the AHL at least before panicking.

Not about panicking. It,s about acknowledging what kind of player he is. A player that doesn't have extra qualities and no definite role end up NOT being top end players. Can he finish No6....sure. Is that what you should expect from 1st rounders? No.

No matter what we are being told, there is no scouts in the world that will pick a guy in the 1st round thinking that he could be a borderline NHL'er. If they would, they'd pick somebody else. Barron at his draft year was a no flavour player. Barron RIGHT NOW is still that. D-men takes a longer time? Sure. Some do. Let's hope he does.

But I put him, with Dach, with Mailloux, as players who sometimes seem sorry to exist. To various levels. If Dach had somewhat an edge to his game, he'd look even better. Mailloux gives 2 hard checks last game and people are ecstatic. Which means, he has to do it more. Barron has to get into extra gear. Has to develop an extra quality. Has to be more solid. Tougher. Has the body to do it. And sorry, just before I hear but that's not his game...we are not talking about Hutson here. Barron has the size. The speed. To be way more dominant thant that.....but that is IF he can. Jury is still out.

 

[salbutera]

Lehkonen ended up, to be much more valuable than we thought

Many of us stated multiple times Lekhonen’s value was much greater than his stats, thus the wise move was to keep him vs getting anally raped which is what happened w HuGo’s deal

 

[Et le But]

I still think Barron has plenty of upside. I'm not ready to call him a bust and Mailloux who doesn't understand how hockey defending works yet someone on his way to live up to his pedigree just because the latter is a good hitter.

Lehkonen I definitely miss though, one of my favorite home grown guys in a while. He's also a great example of a supporting guy who was held back by playing for such a terrible offensive team for so long - going from Montreal to Denver is such a huge leap I'm not surprised he's showing another level. The way we have squandered offense for the last decade is absolutely criminal, I'm so sick of the Habs trying to grind out one goal wins every game the way we did under Bergevin and Gauthier.

 

[Ezpz]

Many of us stated multiple times Lekhonen’s value was much greater than his stats, thus the wise move was to keep him vs getting anally raped which is what happened w HuGo’s deal

Would not say we didn't get a good deal but there were many Lehkonen supporters here who thought he could do more with better opportunities. Barron is still raw but as good of a prospect as you can ask for from a 30 point winger.

The issue is the number of bad contracts Bergy left. Don't sign Hoffman equals Lehk still here. Same with Drouin getting 6 years off of zero games played. Same with trading for Dvorak for no reason when he was perfectly aware Weber and Price were done.

 

[Et le But]

Would not say we didn't get a good deal but there were many Lehkonen supporters here who thought he could do more with better opportunities. Barron is still raw but as good of a prospect as you can ask for from a 30 point winger.

The issue is the number of bad contracts Bergy left. Don't sign Hoffman equals Lehk still here. Same with Drouin getting 6 years off of zero games played. Same with trading for Dvorak for no reason when he was perfectly aware Weber and Price were done.

Yeah trading Lehkonen made sense at the time but I will never forgive Bergevin for putting us in the position where we had to go because he insisted on rewarding a lot worse players. Different roles i know but I'd take Lehkonen over non factor Dvorak any day.

 

[MasterD]

Seems you're the one suffering from fanboyish towards Hughes & Gorton defending their questionable trade.

Lehkonen was very good with us. Barron was completely unnecessary, given the stacked prospect pool we had on defense. Three rookie defensemen on the team right now―THREE―and the one we got for Lehkonen ain't even one of them.

I remember a time when we said that with Beaulieu and Tinordi, same when we had Komisarek and Hainsey.

You never have enough top-level D prospects. RD was a glaring hole on this team, still is. I have very high hopes for Mailloux, but he's still far away. Harris is a good player but won't be a dominating force.

All I said was that he doesn’t look as advertised right now.. I’m hoping he becomes a great top 4. Looking back at the deal I think a 1st should have been included.

He did look as advertised for his 5 games with the team when we got him last year, skated very well, walked the blue line in the O zone, pulled some toe drags... 2 points in 5 games. Then he had what seems like a pretty bad ankle injury and probably missed a big part of his off season training. Give the 20 year old some time.

And you can think whatever you want, but if a grade A prospect + 1st was offered, Hughes would have taken it. We got Barron and a 2nd for what was a 3rd liner for us. Lehkonen produces better in Colorado because there's much more talent around him.

 

[Prairie Habs]

We got a 2nd and a 20 year old former 1st rounder for Lehk. Do people think he had Eichel level value? What do people who think we were "anally raped" think a 26 year old with a career high of 31 points (at the time) should have returned?

Barron looked very solid with us before getting hurt last season but now he's a bust because he hasn't looked NHL ready in 4 games as a 20 year old? What world do people live in?

 

[Milhouse40]

Many of us stated multiple times Lekhonen’s value was much greater than his stats, thus the wise move was to keep him vs getting anally raped which is what happened w HuGo’s deal

To do what exactly?

My god.....the guy was even healthy scratch last year and on the 4th line and we should've getting more than the equivalent of a 1st + 2nd round pick?

Yep, Lehkonen is looking next to most likely one of the 3 best forward in the game today....but would he look that good next to Dach or Dvorak this year?

 

[salbutera]

We got a 2nd and a 20 year old former 1st rounder for Lehk. Do people think he had Eichel level value? What do people who think we were "anally raped" think a 26 year old with a career high of 31 points (at the time) should have returned?

Barron looked very solid with us before getting hurt last season but now he's a bust because he hasn't looked NHL ready in 4 games as a 20 year old? What world do people live in?

Tinordi & Beaulieu were 1st rounders as well didn’t make them good assets from the get go. Barron is as vanilla as it gets, and I expect will follow Beaulieu’s vagabond path. Barron is the definition of shite on a platter.


Lekhonen was a guaranteed 10-year NHL player (excl unforeseen injury of course), who could be used in any situation with elite level work ethic. More importantly his market value was not measurable via stats - so Habs would’ve never received “fair compensation”

 

[26Mats]

Tinordi & Beaulieu were 1st rounders as well didn’t make them good assets from the get go. Barron is as vanilla as it gets, and I expect will follow Beaulieu’s vagabond path. Barron is the definition of shite on a platter.


Lekhonen was a guaranteed 10-year NHL player (excl unforeseen injury of course), who could be used in any situation with elite level work ethic. More importantly his market value was not measurable via stats - so Habs would’ve never received “fair compensation”

Let's be patient with Barron.

 

[Treb]

Are you alright? Do you need us to call 9-1-1 for an ambulance?

We are a bottom team that needs LTIR to be cap compliant and had to eat a bonus cap overage because of excessive cap last year when we finished last ine the league.

Bergevin's last year was a disaster. There is no rational argument against it.