Speculation: Summer 24 moves

[BaseballCoach]

What happen if one of Montembault or Primeau is
Injured ?

Dobes need to stay in the AHL next year.

What is needed is a vet tweener. If you look around the league, there are many former #2s or semi #2s playing in the AHL and are first callup.

Or we could give an NHL/AHL 2-way deal to our own vet - Kaskisuo.

 

[Vachon23]

What is needed is a vet tweener. If you look around the league, there are many former #2s or semi #2s playing in the AHL and are first callup.

Or we could give an NHL/AHL 2-way deal to our own vet - Kaskisuo.

Yes exactly what I want

Someone like Calvin Pickard

 

[vokiel]

They definitely would draft Demidov.. there's only Celebrini and potentially Lindstrom they'd take over him.

You guys gotta stop thinking about Michkov as a flawless, slam-dunk prospect that no one had concerns over.

And I bet they wouldn't, hoping to get good odds from some bookie

 

[BargainBinSpecial]

If he wins a cup, I have a feeling March ends up here, otherwise I don't see it. The other guys are mostly former Habs which HuGo traded for futures. Why would they come back here? It's like going back to your former job after getting fired. Monahan is the only guy I see coming back because management really liked him. Duclair, hard pass. Stamkos and Reinhart will get top dollar from a contending team. Perry was lowballed by BargainBin.

 

[WeThreeKings]

And I bet they wouldn't, hoping to get good odds from some bookie

They'll gladly take your money.

 

[Twisted Sinister]

Trading Guhle for a goalie is an immediately fireable offence.....thankfully Hughes is way too smart to make such a grossly incompetent error in judgement.



I agree that Helenius feels like a dark horse here and I do think that he is underrated.

I think he's rated where he should be rated, but, in the immortal words of John Snow, Ah Dun Wan Et.

 

[Rapala]

I think he's rated where he should be rated, but, in the immortal words of John Snow, Ah Dun Wan Et.

It will be fun seeing where all these guys end up being ranked.
I can't remember a Habs management group who ever put so much onus on personal traits.
In the glory days they didn't have to because all those guys were hard core with one interest.
I also think they truly believe they have a tight room because of it.
Passing on Demidov wouldn't shock me if they don't feel he checks enough boxes.

 

[WeThreeKings]

It will be fun seeing where all these guys end up being ranked.
I can't remember a Habs management group who ever put so much onus on personal traits.
In the glory days they didn't have to because all those guys were hard core with one interest.
I also think they truly believe they have a tight room because of it.
Passing on Demidov wouldn't shock me if they don't feel he checks enough boxes.

They like Demidov.. people just won't accept there were flaws with Michkov so they have themselves pretzeled into thinking it was some weird anti Russian bias.

 

[Egresch]

They like Demidov.. people just won't accept there were flaws with Michkov so they have themselves pretzeled into thinking it was some weird anti Russian bias.

And it is crazy idea as they drafted Konyushkov and Volokhin in the same draft. They just did their homework, identified some red flags and some risks and decided to pick another player. So clear and easy.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

I wouldn't make any big UFA adds this summer. I would prefer a trade for a RFA, if possible. If Monahan wants to come back I'm ok with 3 x $5m. Center depth is a big issue.

Carrier would be a good add for 4th line.

Pearson is gone. Thank God. I would love to add Dvorak & Anderson to follow him out the door.

 

[ReHabs]

Something to ask the other Habs fans here...

In order of cap hit...

What to do with Brendan Gallagher (6.5m cap hit)?
He's got 20 in 61gp and is a whopping -23 this season. 2027 UFA. The typically reliable two-way Gallagher continues his unfortunately rapid decline from good 1st liner to liability on the ice. This is only to do with his speed or stamina, I feel this is irrecoverable. He has many years remaining. LTIR might be in the cards but even a buy-out can be helpful...

What to do with Josh Anderson (5.5m cap hit)?
He's got 18 in 62gp... worse than even Gallagher! 2027 UFA. What the heck can we do with him? He does not fit MSL's approach whatsoever, he needs a structured team in order to maximise his chances of success.

What to do with Christian Dvorak (4.5m cap hit)?
7 in 25gp. 2025 UFA. Injury prone. Multiple surgeries during his cursed Habs tenure. We lack C-depth but it's worth wondering if he's 'in the way' of other moves or players.

What to do with Joel Armia (3.4m cap hit)?
He's got 16 in 50. Better than you'd expect, no? 2025 UFA. I only mention him because he's got a year left and it seems like we should retain him until further notice. Might he, at half-retained, elicit interest from a team that was bullied out of the 2024 playoffs? Otherwise, it seems like he's bound to be retained under the 2025 TDL.

Anybody have any inclination?

 

[Captain Mountain]

Something to ask the other Habs fans here...

In order of cap hit...

What to do with Brendan Gallagher (6.5m cap hit)?
He's got 20 in 61gp and is a whopping -23 this season. 2027 UFA. The typically reliable two-way Gallagher continues his unfortunately rapid decline from good 1st liner to liability on the ice. This is only to do with his speed or stamina, I feel this is irrecoverable. He has many years remaining. LTIR might be in the cards but even a buy-out can be helpful...

What to do with Josh Anderson (5.5m cap hit)?
He's got 18 in 62gp... worse than even Gallagher! 2027 UFA. What the heck can we do with him? He does not fit MSL's approach whatsoever, he needs a structured team in order to maximise his chances of success.

What to do with Christian Dvorak (4.5m cap hit)?
7 in 25gp. 2025 UFA. Injury prone. Multiple surgeries during his cursed Habs tenure. We lack C-depth but it's worth wondering if he's 'in the way' of other moves or players.

What to do with Joel Armia (3.4m cap hit)?
He's got 16 in 50. Better than you'd expect, no? 2025 UFA. I only mention him because he's got a year left and it seems like we should retain him until further notice. Might he, at half-retained, elicit interest from a team that was bullied out of the 2024 playoffs? Otherwise, it seems like he's bound to be retained under the 2025 TDL.

Anybody have any inclination?

Montreal has significant cap space (roughly 8-9 million in cap space and 10 million in LTIR room) with a full roster and one free agent of note to re-sign. Unless Montreal chooses to be aggressive to a degree that is pretty unprecedented for rebuilding teams or there's a swap for other veterans that makes sense, they're going to keep all those guys around for at least another season.

 

[Habssince89]

Getting a guy like Stamkos would be excellent, especially given the TBL connection with MSL. SS knows how to win, and has the kind of hockey IQ that would help mentor the young guys in a similar way to Toffoli/Perry/Monahan. He would really help the young guys be better PP players.

Alas he's not signing here I think.

If he can still play, I would re-sign Perry solely for his chemistry with Caufield.

I wouldn't make any big UFA adds this summer. I would prefer a trade for a RFA, if possible. If Monahan wants to come back I'm ok with 3 x $5m. Center depth is a big issue.

Carrier would be a good add for 4th line.

Pearson is gone. Thank God. I would love to add Dvorak & Anderson to follow him out the door.

I think a lot of the change will be moving contracts OUT and internal promotions revitalizing our forwards

 

[lamp9post]

I wouldn't make any big UFA adds this summer. I would prefer a trade for a RFA, if possible. If Monahan wants to come back I'm ok with 3 x $5m. Center depth is a big issue.

Carrier would be a good add for 4th line.

Pearson is gone. Thank God. I would love to add Dvorak & Anderson to follow him out the door.

I agree. We have too many bad contracts still on the books to make a big UFA signing this year. A healthy Dach will do a lot to change the makeup of this team without the need to make costly acquisitions. That along with Slaf's growth, Roy up with the team full time, Newhook hopefully avoiding serious injury, continued growth of our young dmen and the end of the three goalie rotation are all positives to look forward to.

I like the idea of adding Carrier, which I've seen floated around here lately.

I too would like to see Dvorak and Anderson gone, but Dvo expires in a year and Anderson only has two years remaining after next year (along with Gallagher), so I think being patient with these players for one more year is the way to go. That will put both in buyout/ltir range and ideally with a rebound season, perhaps draw interest from other teams if we retain.

That said...despite the fact that I think that less is more this offseason, I'm not sure management will see it the same way. We have cap space, we have draft capital, and we're coming off a bottom 5-8 finish. Perhaps another RFA trade will be in the cards using Winnipeg's pick, perhaps a hockey trade with one of our surplus young D, or perhaps they find other unanticipated ways to use our cap space. Regardless, I think management will have more in store for the team than just a depth signing or two.

 

[Archijerej]

Something to ask the other Habs fans here...

In order of cap hit...

What to do with Brendan Gallagher (6.5m cap hit)?
He's got 20 in 61gp and is a whopping -23 this season. 2027 UFA. The typically reliable two-way Gallagher continues his unfortunately rapid decline from good 1st liner to liability on the ice. This is only to do with his speed or stamina, I feel this is irrecoverable. He has many years remaining. LTIR might be in the cards but even a buy-out can be helpful...

What to do with Josh Anderson (5.5m cap hit)?
He's got 18 in 62gp... worse than even Gallagher! 2027 UFA. What the heck can we do with him? He does not fit MSL's approach whatsoever, he needs a structured team in order to maximise his chances of success.

What to do with Christian Dvorak (4.5m cap hit)?
7 in 25gp. 2025 UFA. Injury prone. Multiple surgeries during his cursed Habs tenure. We lack C-depth but it's worth wondering if he's 'in the way' of other moves or players.

What to do with Joel Armia (3.4m cap hit)?
He's got 16 in 50. Better than you'd expect, no? 2025 UFA. I only mention him because he's got a year left and it seems like we should retain him until further notice. Might he, at half-retained, elicit interest from a team that was bullied out of the 2024 playoffs? Otherwise, it seems like he's bound to be retained under the 2025 TDL.

Anybody have any inclination?

This is actually much more straightforward than people make it out to be.

Armia and Dvorak are simple. Their contracts run out after next season, so we need to do absolutely nothing. In fact, if this team intends to improve next season, then having a (hopefully) healthy Dvorak as the #3C and Armia on one of the bottom lines is not the worst we can do. Any or both of them can be traded if at some point there's a market for them, or we just wait until they're gone.

Gallagher is THE toxic contract on this team, but for some reason people act as if his $6,5M cap hit was some kind of a giant menace hanging over this team's destiny.

It's not. There's no point agonizing over this in every second thread. Teams have this kind of contracts. It won't prevent us from assembling a playoff team and if we're ready to legitimately compete within the next three years and need absolutely every dollar, then there are ways to get rid of this cap hit. At present stage, it doesn't hamper us in any way.

Anderson is where it gets tricky. Gallagher's contract in isolation is a non-issue, but $12M tied up in two ineffective players is a problem. Here it depends on whether Anderson is in decline, or if he's just a bad fit for MSL's hockey. If it's the latter, then there's a chance someone will take him off our hands. We won't get anything of value in return, but might able to clear this cap hit off our books.

 

[SwiftyHab]

Watching how well they’re doing together in Winnipeg, I’m going to reiterate that I’d like to see Monhan and Toffoli back here this summer.

 

[calder candidate]

Watching how well they’re doing together in Winnipeg, I’m going to reiterate that I’d like to see Monhan and Toffoli back here this summer.

I’m ok with Monahan depending on the deal but Toffoli, doesn’t have the speed, even if he work well with Monahan to be successful he would likely take time away from guys like Roy.

 

[ReHabs]

This is actually much more straightforward than people make it out to be.

Armia and Dvorak are simple. Their contracts run out after next season, so we need to do absolutely nothing. In fact, if this team intends to improve next season, then having a (hopefully) healthy Dvorak as the #3C and Armia on one of the bottom lines is not the worst we can do. Any or both of them can be traded if at some point there's a market for them, or we just wait until they're gone.

I find them both to be cap-ineffective players and part of a malaise but it seems like Armia practices well and Dvorak is well liked by the room. So sure, you're right. Hopefully they can be sold if necessary (or used by ourselves in an unlikely playoff run). However, I mentioned them two in relation to the other two: we have too much cap committed to underperforming or cap-ineffective players, so it might be easier to cut bait with Dvorak and Armia than the other two.

Gallagher is THE toxic contract on this team, but for some reason people act as if his $6,5M cap hit was some kind of a giant menace hanging over this team's destiny.

It's not. There's no point agonizing over this in every second thread. Teams have this kind of contracts. It won't prevent us from assembling a playoff team and if we're ready to legitimately compete within the next three years and need absolutely every dollar, then there are ways to get rid of this cap hit. At present stage, it doesn't hamper us in any way.

Anderson is where it gets tricky. Gallagher's contract in isolation is a non-issue, but $12M tied up in two ineffective players is a problem. Here it depends on whether Anderson is in decline, or if he's just a bad fit for MSL's hockey. If it's the latter, then there's a chance someone will take him off our hands. We won't get anything of value in return, but might able to clear this cap hit off our books.

I'm much more disturbed by Anderson and his contract than Gallagher. Gallagher's, I feel will be resolved one way or another. Gallagher also has a history of being a legitimately good player, albeit it wasn't for very long.

Like you say, Anderson is much more tricky. I don't know about decline or not (I've not been able to watch much hockey since January) but his stats are putrid and it makes the remaining contract commitment seem putrefying. I resent that Kent Hughes didn't cut-bait with Anderson when he supposedly had the chance but I have to acknowledge we don't know the whole picture or details. Anderson is a client of Hughes' agency, I hope for everybody's sake Hughes finds a place to put Anderson where he can participate in the playoffs or something.

 

[Vachon23]

Dvorak should stay, we need a 3 line C and he seem to be like in the lockeroom.

He’s a player that is gonna have value at the 25 TDL so there the time we should trade him

 

[Egresch]

Dvorak should stay, we need a 3 line C and he seem to be like in the lockeroom.

He’s a player that is gonna have value at the 25 TDL so there the time we should trade him

Agree, people say about bad vets in the team, but if we assign them with proper roles, we will be fine. Armia, Dvorak in 3rd line, Evans and Gallagher 4th line. Try to trade Anderson in the summer.
Depending on our position in standings, we might trade some of them at TDL, but I honestly assume we take a next step and will be in wildcard race.

 

[Scotianhab]

If Armia plays as good next season as he did this season he’s an easy trade at the deadline. Dvorak is 50/50 but either way his contract expires as well. Savard comes off the books as well though he will probably be traded at the deadline. Gallagher & Anderson will be the 2 bad contracts but as long as the cap keeps going up they won’t hamper us much at all.

 

[26Mats]

Gorton interviewed said he's not with the team now because they're scouting college free agents right now...

 

[417]

Something to ask the other Habs fans here...

In order of cap hit...

What to do with Brendan Gallagher (6.5m cap hit)?
He's got 20 in 61gp and is a whopping -23 this season. 2027 UFA. The typically reliable two-way Gallagher continues his unfortunately rapid decline from good 1st liner to liability on the ice. This is only to do with his speed or stamina, I feel this is irrecoverable. He has many years remaining. LTIR might be in the cards but even a buy-out can be helpful...

Nothing doing with Gallagher, that's a bullet they're just going to have to bite. No one is touching that contract and the cost to even try to move him in a trade will be prohibitive.

I suppose when the Habs get into a position when they're more competitive, a buyout can be considered.

What to do with Josh Anderson (5.5m cap hit)?
He's got 18 in 62gp... worse than even Gallagher! 2027 UFA. What the heck can we do with him? He does not fit MSL's approach whatsoever, he needs a structured team in order to maximise his chances of success.

Hope this year was a just a blip and that he's back to his usual 20ish goal self and hope his return to form entices trade suitors

What to do with Christian Dvorak (4.5m cap hit)?
7 in 25gp. 2025 UFA. Injury prone. Multiple surgeries during his cursed Habs tenure. We lack C-depth but it's worth wondering if he's 'in the way' of other moves or players.

He's heading into the last year of his contract next year, hope he stays healthy and we trade him for anything at some point next season.

What to do with Joel Armia (3.4m cap hit)?
He's got 16 in 50. Better than you'd expect, no? 2025 UFA. I only mention him because he's got a year left and it seems like we should retain him until further notice. Might he, at half-retained, elicit interest from a team that was bullied out of the 2024 playoffs? Otherwise, it seems like he's bound to be retained under the 2025 TDL.

Anybody have any inclination?

Similar to Dvorak and Anderson, hope a team takes a flier on him at some point between now and next trade deadline...otherwise, he'll walk as a UFA next season.

 

[Goalfield22]

I don't think we need vet forwards this offseason. If anything, we need to get rid of some. Cole-Suzy-Slaf has been carrying this team, and I want to see that continue next year. Dach and Newhook should be the young vets on the second line that do the same. Anderson's "leadership" is no longer needed, and I would like us to trade him. We should be moving on from Ylonen as well. Dvorak and Armia are entering their contract year and should put in a full effort, so they can form a third line with RHP, who will be playing for a contract through arbitration. Evans and Gallagher will be fine on the 4th. There's no getting away from the Gallagher contract for now. We have leadership on D in Savard and Matheson, and that's enough.

 

[ReHabs]

Regarding this (superficial) look at our squad, I think if the Habs' internal analysis corroborates their impression that a healthy Dach will have a big impact to switch these 1-goal losses over to 1-goal wins... they should be buying or at least shoring up the roster this summer, no?