Confirmed with Link: 6 year extension for Kaiden Guhle (5.5m AAV)

[26Mats]

It's Hutson and Reinbacher, Guhle is #3 has this contract confirms. Now it's not going to be this year as Hutson and Reinbacher are not ready, but money talks and right now that's the story money is telling. That's what our pro scouts are projecting.

Hutson - Reinbacher
Guhle - Mailloux

We can project that the top 6 best dmen of all the dmen that could still be here in 5 years are:

Matheson, Guhle, Hutson, Reinbacher, Xhekaj, Mailloux.

But, even if they emerge as the best, will we be able to keep them all under the salary cap? It's very hard to predict things 5 years down the line. Most rosters change significantly. In our situation, I think many of our pieces will still be here. But there are a lot variables: injuries, the cap, where each player's developmental trajectory takes them, team needs that a player may be used as trade bait to fill, etc..

 

[Garbageyuk]

Night and day difference compared to how Bergevin handled contract extensions

It helps when your GM has a higher education level than Ricky from Trailer Park Boys. When MB gets his grade 10, he’ll be back in business as a GM.

 

[SOLR]

We can project that the top 6 best dmen of all the dmen that could still be here in 5 years are:

Matheson, Guhle, Hutson, Reinbacher, Xhekaj, Mailloux.

But, even if they emerge as the best, will we be able to keep them all under the salary cap? It's very hard to predict things 5 years down the line. Most rosters change significantly. In our situation, I think many of our pieces will still be here. But there are a lot variables: injuries, the cap, where each player's developmental trajectory takes them, team needs that a player may be used as trade bait to fill, etc..

No need to predict for 5 years in the future. They know Guhle is on track for #3, Guhle accepts this role and will look to do better. They will bring Hutson forward this year, and next year will know if he's trending to first pairing role. Same with Reinbacher and Mailloux, at the end of next season they will know if their 5 years plan is underway. But then, we have plenty of others players that could potentially make a spot. That's enough long term planning they can verify in the present to adjust.

They will trade Savard and Matheson (probably) - but also probably get another insurance policy if needed for next year (just a contract/asset management thing imo, you can get good draft picks this year from Savard/Matheson and then for less draft picks or players get insurance policies that are less costly because young ones are progressing, so there's an arbitrage going on.

 

[26Mats]

No need to predict for 5 years in the future. They know Guhle is on track for #3, Guhle accepts this role and will look to do better. They will bring Hutson forward this year, and next year will know if he's trending to first pairing role. Same with Reinbacher and Mailloux, at the end of next season they will know if their 5 years plan is underway. But then, we have plenty of others players that could potentially make a spot. That's enough long term planning they can verify in the present to adjust.

They will trade Savard and Matheson (probably) - but also probably get another insurance policy if needed for next year (just a contract/asset management thing imo, you can get good draft picks this year from Savard/Matheson and then for less draft picks or players get insurance policies that are less costly because young ones are progressing, so there's an arbitrage going on.

With Hughes good asset management and so many good players comong into the organization for only so many spots, it seems all positions will be spilling over, as is the case on D.

Yes, I think Hughes will keep bringing in good players and make adjustments along the way given all the variables. It will be interesting to see in the short term what Hughes is able to do with the surplus Dmen. How long Matheson stays may depend on how much money he's looking for come his UFA season and how his overall game is rounding out.

 

[SOLR]

With Hughes good asset management and so many good players comong into the organization for only so many spots, it seems all positions will be spilling over, as is the case on D.

Yes, I think Hughes will keep bringing in good players and make adjustments along the way given all the variables. It will be interesting to see in the short term what Hughes is able to do with the surplus Dmen. How long Matheson stays may depend on how much money he's looking for come his UFA season and how his overall game is rounding out.

I don't think Matheson can stay as soon Hutson clearly takes the PP spot. Matheson and Hutson on the same team is a skill imbalance, it's not going to be stable. I think we will sell Matheson no matter what and then we'll bring a UFA of the Pietrangelo type, that will bring other skills than Hutson (just an example).

 

[Kwikwi]

I was a tad concern with Faber signing but Kent juste sign Ghule Xhekaj and Barron for less that Brock… impressive

 

[Habby4Life]

Petry, Allen, Armia, Savard, and Dvo come off the books, and their total is about 15.5M But Guhle and Slaf extensions are for 13M.

No cap issues at all. Even with both extensions kicking in they are at 69 million and the only spots they need to fill are Evans, Armia, Dvo, and Savard. Those can be done much cheaper via UFA. Plus, they can dump Price’s contract July 2nd when bonus paid and there’s another 10 million avaliable and have no significant RFAs to sign to big deals.

They have zero cap issues next year. They are out of cap hell even with Gally and Anderson’s contracts still on the books.

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[Michoulicious]

I am really concerned about his injuries, but I think he can become a good #2-3 if he can stay healthy, which would make this deal great.

He must stop being always injured, however. Got injured yet AGAIN at the Worlds. This has to stop.

 

[26Mats]

I don't think Matheson can stay as soon Hutson clearly takes the PP spot. Matheson and Hutson on the same team is a skill imbalance, it's not going to be stable. I think we will sell Matheson no matter what and then we'll bring a UFA of the Pietrangelo type, that will bring other skills than Hutson (just an example).

In the brief time we saw Lane at the end of last year, I loved seeing Lane on one pair and Matheson on the other. Both really helped the offense in the o-zone. It reminded me of when we had Markov and Subban (no, I'm not saying Hutson and Matheson will be as good as Markov and Subban). But I appreciated the offense they were able to bring. I hope we can have two of that type long term, though if both prove to be sub par defensively I don't think we can.

Also, there is the imbalance of 4 LD's (Matheson, Hutson, Guhle, and Xhekaj). And, will Matheson accept being supplanted from the 1st PP by Lane? He may have a Danault mentality and want to go to a team that's going to tell him they'll give him a certain role.

But I predict Lane and Matheson will be fun to watch while we have them together. Reinbacher and Guhle are often accused of having too little offensive upside to be number 1 d's. So Lane and Matheson balance that out.

 

[Rapala]

5 v 5, 1st pairing isn't protected. Not a specialist, looked upon for defending in all non-critical moments.

A specialist usually plays 12-13 minutes per game not 25 minutes. That's the definition of a specialist in the NHL.

You let me know when he becomes that player because there is no way in hell he's that guy currently.
I suggest you go back and watch Hutson's most important game last season which was against Denver.
It was his terrible defensive gaffe behind his own net that allowed Denver to get into that game.
He did have some nice forays in the Ozone but he couldn't capitalize and it wasn't enough.

 

[GrandBison]

It helps when your GM has a higher education level than Ricky from Trailer Park Boys. When MB gets his grade 10, he’ll be back in business as a GM.

He was too emotional to stick to a plan. Got it with some luck in SCF year but too late to keep it going. Now we clearly see who's on 2 years contract and who part of a real core.

 

[Goldthorpe]

I don't think Matheson can stay as soon Hutson clearly takes the PP spot. Matheson and Hutson on the same team is a skill imbalance, it's not going to be stable.

I think Matheson straight-up speed cannot be replicated by Hutson at this point, and having at least one very speedy two-way defenseman is too important to let go from a matchup point of view.

Call it from the left field and widely premature, but I feel Engstrom could ultimately be the guy who replace Matheson in term of general skillset.

 

[vokiel]

Looks like a hometown discount, specially with the taxes and the cost of life. Maybe Kaiden loves Montreal.

 

[MTL Dirty Birdy]

Ya well I still think Faber is another sign the NHL pay structure is messed up...1 yr in the league and he gets an 8 year $8.5M year that is insane. He had a strong rookie year but not that strong. Teams had these out and then wonder why they have cap issues down the road if/when the player no longer is worth it.

Ya well I still think Faber is another sign the NHL pay structure is messed up...1 yr in the league and he gets an 8 year $8.5M year that is insane. He had a strong rookie year but not that strong. Teams had these out and then wonder why they have cap issues down the road if/when the player no longer is worth it.

The kid didn’t miss a game, played over 20 minutes a night, both PK and PP and puts up 47 points. That has stud written allll over it. We’ve gotten used to the cap not moving for years. This contract will age very well

 

[StCaufield]

We all know Bergy would’ve had the same deal except 4.5AAV

 

[Andrei79]

Very good deal. I've been very impressed with Guhle since he's made the team. He did exceptionally well against the top competition last year. One thing though is for some reason opposing players tend to target him. Tanev for example wanted to take his head off, no idea why.

Looking at capwages though, it's still shocking to me that Anderson and Gallagher have 3 more years left. I'm still wondering how they'll manage these two contracts.

 

[JoelWarlord]

Very good deal. I've been very impressed with Guhle since he's made the team. He did exceptionally well against the top competition last year. One thing though is for some reason opposing players tend to target him. Tanev for example wanted to take his head off, no idea why.

Looking at capwages though, it's still shocking to me that Anderson and Gallagher have 3 more years left. I'm still wondering how they'll manage these two contracts.

I think they figure out a way to swap Anderson for some overpaid vet D next year and Gallagher they'll try to pull a Ryan Callahan to go LTIR for the last year or two. Fortunately cap won't really be an issue next summer either so there's time to figure it out.

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

He played 70 games last year...

And 44 the year before. 70 is a good number but I go with the (almost) unanimous opinion that he's injury prone. I hope he stays healthy but I am a bit dilusional.

 

[The Great Weal]

Looking at capwages though, it's still shocking to me that Anderson and Gallagher have 3 more years left. I'm still wondering how they'll manage these two contracts.

I think Anderson can still bounce back to being a 20 goalscorer like how he has been for most of his career even if he's heavily flawed, it's not like his athleticism declined. Retaining 50% on him would put him at the same cap hit as a guy like Miles Wood who I believe is comparable. Gallagher on the other hand is cooked and will need a buyout.

I will be extremely disappointed in Hughes if he doesn't address these two next year, the roster spots they take up are more harmful than the cap hit. Being a bad team that gets 3 top 5 picks in a row and selling off vets is probably the easiest part of team building. The only thing that matters is how you build the team and add to these top picks. If he acts stingy by not wanting to buyout/retain Gally and Anderson when the team should be looking to be making a massive push, then it's a massive failure.

 

[YukonCornelius 5thOA]

And 44 the year before. 70 is a good number but I go with the (almost) unanimous opinion that he's injury prone. I hope he stays healthy but I am a bit dilusional.

There he is! Haha, I know you well.

I like to be a contrarian and go against the grain, so I was trying to debunk the unanimous opinion. Most unanimous opinions around here are in bad faith from my experiences.

 

[Garbageyuk]

We all know Bergy would’ve had the same deal except 4.5AAV

MB would’ve lowballed the hell out of Guhle. That was his MO. Maybe not to the extent he did to offensive skill type players because Guhle is his type of player, but still.

He probably would’ve made two offers; a 2 year bridge at like $3.0-$3.5M, or an 8 year deal at like $4.0-$4.5M.

If Guhle didn’t like either of those, he would’ve told him to kick rocks, and he would either be dealt immediately or he’d go to arbitration and then be dealt.

 

[Rapala]

I don’t see him becoming Quinn Hughes though. Doesn’t have his skating ability


Yes he would make sense

Not only is he not Quinn Hughes I don't think our management are even remotely interested in a Quinn Hughes type of rookie season out of Hutson.
People seem to forget just how bad Hughes was his first year and I mean we saw it first hand for what 9 games in the North Division.
Heck he was one of the main reasons we ended up 6-0-3 and why we even made the show.
Does anyone believe we will put the kid in a position to fail because I don't.

 

[OldCraig71]

Every time he leaves the bench during a game HF Habs GDT will panic and not calm down till he's back in the game.

 

[Rapala]

And 44 the year before. 70 is a good number but I go with the (almost) unanimous opinion that he's injury prone. I hope he stays healthy but I am a bit dilusional.

Matheson played 48 that year and Caufield 46 are they all injury prone too?
My God Guhle only played 44 games his rookie season...
I'm fairly certain the powers that be are aware of what Guhle needs to do to protect himself going forward.

 

[Koivu11]