GDT: 2024 Summer Free Agency (July 1st)

[Schooner Guy]

Yeah its certainly surprising, they clearly soured on Savoie, time will tell if that was the right call but I think people are jumping to conclusions too quickly.

Maybe it ends up as bad as the Forsberg vs Erat trade or maybe he's one of those tweeners and they got something for him before hia value was completely sapped

There's no way Savoie ends up anywhere near Forsberg's ballpark. Savoie doesn't have the tools or the character.

Savoie was one of the top players in the world for his age group when he was 15 years old. Since then, more and more players from his age group pass him every year and their trajectories are leaving him in their dust.

 

[Rapala]

There’s always a Carter Verhaeghe or Marchessault out there looking for the right fit + opportunity

Verhaeghe is still under contract for a year and is working on an extension while Marchessault signed a 5 year deal with Nashville.
Apparently he thought long and hard about inking a 3 year deal with the Habs according to rumors.

 

[The Real Timo]

Verhaeghe is still under contract for a year and is working on an extension while Marchessault signed a 5 year deal with Nashville.
Apparently he thought long and hard about inking a 3 year deal with the Habs according to rumors.

Like what… about 3 Mississippis?

 

[SOLR]

Top 6 potential - Demidov, Slaf, Suzuki, Caufield, Dach, Hage
Middle 6 - Newhook, Roy, Beck, Kapanen
I would prefer to add some who is at least big or physical.

That's the problem with your argument, you have only 4 safe assets for the top 6. Zegras would give you 5 safe assets and 2 potential.

The unsafe assets here are 1) Dach, quite safe, but injury prone.
2) Hage I wouldn't even consider a top 6 asset right now, he's 2-3 years away, total nothing burger.

Newhook and Roy are good middle 6 assets, they do compensate, but let's say it clearly:
Demidov, Slaf, Suzuki, Caufield, Roy, Newhook: they are not a contending top 6 group.

If you add Zegras, you are bringing playoffs and contention forward by a lot. Assuming the assets going back are not too costly on said contention.

I agree that we need a bully in the top 6. Slaf will develop a bit in that direction, but we need a natural one.

Says who though?

Maybe Savoie isn't as hghky rated as people think?

I think Savoie's value is very degraded for the same reason Dach's value is degraded (injuries).

 

[Tyson]

I thought Alex Nylander had finally found an NHL spot with Columbus after scoring 11 goals in 23 games down the stretch. Columbus still decided not to qualify him with an offer. What's the story with him? 49 points in 121 NHL games doesn't seem that putrid.

 

[Egresch]

I agree that we need a bully in the top 6. Slaf will develop a bit in that direction, but we need a natural one.

Sure, Dach is unsafe and Hage is just a kid with top 6 potential. Long way to go for him, but it still leaves you with just couple open slots in top 6 and you want one of the softest players in the league. No, thanks.
There are quite few big forwards in 2025 draft class, so we might just add one there- Martone, McQueen, Spence, Frondell, Ihs Wozniak...

 

[Treb]

I thought Alex Nylander had finally found an NHL spot with Columbus after scoring 11 goals in 23 games down the stretch. Columbus still decided not to qualify him with an offer. What's the story with him? 49 points in 121 NHL games doesn't seem that putrid.

Just like Sprong, too unidimensional and not good enough in that one dimension.

 

[morhilane]

I thought Alex Nylander had finally found an NHL spot with Columbus after scoring 11 goals in 23 games down the stretch. Columbus still decided not to qualify him with an offer. What's the story with him? 49 points in 121 NHL games doesn't seem that putrid.

When the Pens traded for him when he was 23 years old, he was basically a reclamation project with constancy issues and lack of effort defensively and some offensive potential. He didn't get better...

 

[SOLR]

Sure, Dach is unsafe and Hage is just a kid with top 6 potential. Long way to go for him, but it still leaves you with just couple open slots in top 6 and you want one of the softest players in the league. No, thanks.
There are quite few big forwards in 2025 draft class, so we might just add one there- Martone, McQueen, Spence, Frondell, Ihs Wozniak...

Zegras is not the softest in the league, Caufield is....I didn't say what I would do with Caufield eventually (trade....)

 

[salbutera]

Verhaeghe is still under contract for a year and is working on an extension while Marchessault signed a 5 year deal with Nashville.
Apparently he thought long and hard about inking a 3 year deal with the Habs according to rumors.

Missed my point just as Fla & VGK picked up Marchessault from scrap heap or Fla doing same w Verhaeghe…. it happens almost every summer that an asset is there for the taking on the cheap. All about proper identification and right fit + opportunity

 

[Tyson]

Missed my point just as Fla & VGK picked up Marchessault from scrap heap or Fla doing same w Verhaeghe…. it happens almost every summer that an asset is there for the taking on the cheap. All about proper identification and right fit + opportunity

Brandon Hagel once attended Habs development camp as an invite. Huge miss

 

[WeThreeKings]

Zegras f***ing sucks and I'm glad that this regime would never waste the assets to grab him.

 

[TesseractPrice]

I agree with this, and, it's still a bit surprising that the Sabres couldn't find even 1 GM that valued him more than for easily obtainable spare parts.

Seems a very poor asset management decision, especially with the cap room and diversity of needs the Sabres have... It's not like landing McLeod moves the needle much more them

I feel like a Savoie trade was long coming. Benson was clearly superior and replaced him as the token small winger. The Sabres were already soft as hell and didn't have room for another one. They also probably preferred to ship him West in case Savoie ends up as a top-6 player

The league is moving away from small players at the moment. Is it a bad move? We'll see in hindsight

That's the thing with the amateur scouting boards and websites. They don't put near as much value on size as NHL GMs and put way value more on CHL production than them. Savoie is probably lower than 9 on a redraft and this one was seen as kinda poor. Players like Luchanko or Hage would have been drafted way higher in 2022 than they were in 2024

 

[WeThreeKings]

I feel like a Savoie trade was long coming. Benson was clearly superior and replaced him as the token small winger. The Sabres were already soft as hell and didn't have room for another one. They also probably preferred to ship him West in case Savoie ends up as a top-6 player

The league is moving away from small players at the moment. Is it a bad move? We'll see in hindsight

That's the thing with the amateur scouting boards and websites. They don't put near as much value on size as NHL GMs and put way value more on CHL production than them. Savoie is probably lower than 9 on a redraft and this one was seen as kinda poor. Players like Luchanko or Hage would have been drafted way higher in 2022 than they were in 2024

I don't know if his size was the factor.. Buffalo just went out and drafted Ostlund, Savoie, Benson, and now Helenius. They will likely sell Ostlund as well for pennies on the dollar as I imagine Helenius and Benson is all they'll be able to carry with them.

 

[Tyson]

Zegras f***ing sucks and I'm glad that this regime would never waste the assets to grab him.

Amen!

 

[Habs 4 Life]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1809673981789892700

 

[Tyson]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1809673981789892700

Well who is Roger Hicks? Seems like someone very insignificant

 

[WeThreeKings]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1809673981789892700

You know how I know this is fake?

Saying the Habs are looking for a defenseman.. they are still trying to move defenseman, not add more lol

 

[Habs 4 Life]

Well who is Roger Hicks? Seems like someone very insignificant

He is Eklund's cousin!!

Took it on the main boards, no idea who the f*** this guy is to be honest!!

 

[Tyson]

You know how I know this is fake?

Saying the Habs are looking for a defenseman.. they are still trying to move defenseman, not add more lol

Good catch, yeah I hear the Habs are looking for an inexpensive journeyman right D, someone like Jonathan Kovasevic...oh wait....

 

[WeThreeKings]

Good catch, yeah I hear the Habs are looking for an expensive journeyman right D, someone like Jonathan Kovasevic...oh wait....

Just put the minimum amount of effort in if you are trying to grift followers.. always irks me when someone tries to fake insider info and can't be arsed to know enough to be believable.

 

[Egresch]

Zegras is not the softest in the league, Caufield is....I didn't say what I would do with Caufield eventually (trade....)

56 hits is season max for both. You dont trade soft for soft, makes no sense.

 

[le_sean]

Zegras is not the softest in the league, Caufield is....I didn't say what I would do with Caufield eventually (trade....)

Caufield was our best forward as a rookie against the gigantic Golden Knights. All of their defencemen were 6’2+. He’s not soft.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Caufield was our best forward as a rookie against the gigantic Golden Knights. All of their defencemen were 6’2+. He’s not soft.

No but Zegras is.

 

[SOLR]

Caufield was our best forward as a rookie against the gigantic Golden Knights. All of their defencemen were 6’2+. He’s not soft.

Really? So he was winning physical battles? This is such a bad argument.

He was a rookie, nobody knew what he could do and how. That doesn't mean he's Sam Bennett. Scoring goals against a big team absolutely is not a proof of toughness. In his case its more a proof of IQ.

Zegras is just slightly less soft than Caufield.

56 hits is season max for both. You dont trade soft for soft, makes no sense.

Makes sense when one can play center a bit and is a better playmaker that leads to better overall results (more aggregate goals for the team).