Confirmed with Link: Alexander Romanov & Pick #98 Traded to NY Islanders for Pick #13 & Flip It + Pick #66 to Chicago for Kirby Dach

[cphabs]

yes, it's been clear for some time that at some point the Habs are going to have to trade some young blueliners as there just isn't enough room for all of them. This is what happens, better to trade what you know then say a Guhle who if he continues to progress, which no one knows if he will or won't but if he does you could be looking at Weber light and you just don't trade that.

I’m not asking to trade Guhle instead. I’m asking why trade Romanov for a jacked up center?

 

[Natey]

Habs not in Bedard sweepstakes next draft. Hughes definitely not tanking. Slaf can play now and Dach immediate help. The 13th pick a lot of talent on the board.

I probably would have taken Kemell at 13. See him as this year's Caufield or Raymond. Definitely hung onto it until the selection in case somebody slid. Which did.

Slaf early favorite for rookie of the year. Playing for MSL. Likely play with Suzuki and Caufield. Make for exciting first line. I probably would have taken Cooley. Speed, grit and offense at center hard to find.

The 26th pick? I likely take Kulich. Thought he was goal scoring machine at U18. At 26, well worth the gamble. Unless something about him I don't know about. If there was, I take Hutson or Luneau.

Mesar decent player but fact he from Slovakia buoyed his selection for Montreal.

Yeah honestly, I would have rather given up the 26th + 63rd + 98th for Dach and taken Kemell. Oh well.

Still excited that this group isn't scared to make moves.

 

[SaintsThomas]

Anybody comparing this to Sergachev v Drouin trade should seriously take a hard look at their assessment skills.

Drouin was already showing signs of mental and motivation trouble while playing with the Bolts, one of the team with the best talent cultivation program. He was a trouble player since the start, and Sergachev was a prospective top pairing defenseman who barely started his pro career.

Dach is not Drouin.
Romanov is not Sergachev.

 

[Aceekay]

We will still suck. Defensemen prospects take time to develop into elite players, if they even develop that far. We may not finish last but we'll still get a top 5 to top 10 pick because our backend is still bad.

The trades may also bust and Dach stays where he is.

Agreed our defense is one of the worst in the league, I doubt Barron and Guhle walk in and make a first pairing.

Our offense will also be very mediocre unless Slaf and Dach make a big impact immediately. If they do that's great, if they don't we'll be selling what assets we have left by the trade deadline.

The Dach move is worrisome though, the romanov trade IMO is fine, trading the pick on the other hand is shades of Bergevin. We've been making the same mistakes when we experience really bad years, instead of just embracing that our core is flawed as we saw in 2011-12 and 2017-18 and follow those years by actually selling, we try to "retool".

The issue with retooling when you're a mediocre or bad team is that you don't have the assets to gain anything valuable in return. That's why whenever there's a blockbuster trade in the works no one ever wants to trade suzuki or caufield because if that trade doesn't work out we literally have nothing behind them so we can't afford that risk. That's why Vegas can get Eichel, they have depth they acquired through the draft making certain players expendable.

We'll see how it turns out though, IMO if both slaf and dach bust it's a fireable offense. In your first draft you can't miss on the 1st and 13th picks, you can miss on one but not both. Either Hughes looks like a genius or a fool.

 

[montreal]

I’m not asking to trade Guhle instead. I’m asking why trade Romanov for a jacked up center?

as I said at some point some blueliners will have to be traded, Romanov was the first, more to follow in time most likely. You trade from a position of strength (young blueliners) vs a position of need (center with size/skill)

 

[donghabs98]

Tough to lose Romanov but getting a top 15 pick for him was good value. The Dach trade though is a risk and is quite the wild card.

Dach is going to be a good test to see how the organization's new development philosophy and investments will pan out.

 

[cphabs]

as I said at some point some blueliners will have to be traded, Romanov was the first, more to follow in time most likely. You trade from a position of strength (young blueliners) vs a position of need (center with size/skill)

No wonder Price went crazy!

 

[kyne]

We gave up a chance at a centre who could be a dynamic two way centre slotted behind Suzuki for someone who could easily be another Kostitsyn, and then we gave up one of our top kids on defense for an underachieving centre with a bad wrist who can't score, can't make plays and can't win faceoffs. Why does Chicago give up on a 21year old who they picked 3rd overall in a good draft? HuGo has big brass ones for sure.

 

[Paddy17]

yes, it's been clear for some time that at some point the Habs are going to have to trade some young blueliners as there just isn't enough room for all of them. This is what happens, better to trade what you know then say a Guhle who if he continues to progress, which no one knows if he will or won't but if he does you could be looking at Weber light and you just don't trade that.

Yes, and they decided to sell high on Romanov. People complain that we waited until a player's value was down on the ground before trading them. Well, the suckiness you feel right now is what it feels like when you sell high.

 

[Kriss E]

Minus one top 4 D.

But yeah, they're starting to put their stamp on this team alright.

So far, doesn't look like a resounding win but it rarely does on day 1.
As you said, can age pretty well or like milk, hard to say atm.

The interesting part in getting Dach is they also have confidence in how to develop players. Lecavalier and MSL, two legit leaders, both won cups, both battled hard, both local who understand the crazy pressure of playing in such a market, one with the experience of handling being a 1st OV with high expectations, a very young captain. The other, an undrafted player that embodies perseverence and hardwork, becoming one of the best forwards in the league.
We ain't talking Francis Bouillon and JJ Daigneault anymore...

Just hope they're on the money.

 

[OldCraig71]

The interesting part in getting Dach is they also have confidence in how to develop players. Lecavalier and MSL, two legit leaders, both won cups, both battled hard, both local who understand the crazy pressure of playing in such a market, one with the experience of handling being a 1st OV with high expectations, a very young captain. The other, an undrafted player that embodies perseverence and hardwork, becoming one of the best forwards in the league.
We ain't talking Francis Bouillon and JJ Daigneault anymore...

Just hope they're on the money.

Chicago moved on from him though and why would they? They are rebuilding and you would think that a player like Dach would be one that they would want to keep because of his age and cost certainty. They have Kane, Toews and others with no-move clauses so why not stick with a 21 year old big center during a rebuild? Could it be that they have seen enough and would rather roll the dice with a 13th overall pick? I don't know much about Dach but statistically and injury-wise, there are reasons to be skeptical.

 

[sampollock]

watched Dach in Saskatoon, good skater... not afraid to go to the net

 

[nyhabsfan]

If you do a little digging on Dach he has a solid rookie season.
In his second year he had a badly broken wrist (a' la Drouin) and that affected his offensive numbers (a 'la Drouin).
Last year was a chaotic season on a bad team where he was playing a #1 center role.
Slot him at #2C behind Suzuki and give the 21 year old some confidence and I can see him being a stud #2 center in this league.

As for Romy; love the kid's smile, first on the ice and last one off. Great hitter but didn't have a lot of offense, but like Dach he is so young so give him time.
We have a TON of LD depth coming; in fact that seems to be our only area of depth imo so we used if to shore up our center position.

Suzuki, Dach, Dvorak, Phoeling Evans: There is still a need to upgrade the center position even with some decent prospects coming.

I'm surprised we didn't go for more RD help (yea I know we a Tory Krug type dman); that's one area we really need another high end big body .

 

[Takeru]

Chicago moved on from him though and why would they? They are rebuilding and you would think that a player like Dach would be one that they would want to keep because of his age and cost certainty. They have Kane, Toews and others with no-move clauses so why not stick with a 21 year old big center during a rebuild? Could it be that they have seen enough and would rather roll the dice with a 13th overall pick? I don't know much about Dach but statistically and injury-wise, there are reasons to be skeptical.

To be fair, CHI are a trainwreck atm.
They're dealing basically anything that moves in their org after the debacle that was the Jones trade last offseason.

So while there is cause for concern with an org moving on from a player at that age, they can also end up bitting their fingers for doing so.

Case in point, Gorton acquired both NYR top 2 C at young ages via trades when their org thought they wouldn't amount to much. Let's hope he hasn't lost his eye for underrated talent in this case.

 

[Archijerej]

This is what the new group gets paid for. They clearly think Chicago is making a mistake, so let's see what they can do here. Hawks were also willing to move on from Debrincat.

This is the key issue here. They are being paid big bucks to make exactly this kind of decisions and try to find value where other GMs can't. They might be wrong in this particular case of player evaluation and will rightfully face a shitstorm if it backfires. But why critisise them now? If we want someone who makes only conservative decisions why not hire someone from HFboards? Or bring back Bergevin? His first 4 years were pretty much the pinnacle of no-risk approach.

 

[HostileCapSpace]

You're all banking that all our D prospect will be established NHLers down the line. Is anybody here really that confident about Norlinder? Guhle looks solid, but hasn't played yet. Harris has potential but is still a question mark. Struble? Athletic, but very much a question mark. Mailloux? Again, potential, but has barely played the last two seasons. Jackeye is a monster and meme worthy, but again, he's a monster playing against kittens in juniors. Let's wait a little.

We got rid of our only proven young NHL D. Simple hard truth.

All I've seen from this draft is major gambling that everything works out - Brought to you by bet99.

 

[OldCraig71]

To be fair, CHI are a trainwreck atm.
They're dealing basically anything that moves in their org after the debacle that was the Jones trade last offseason.

So while there is cause for concern with an org moving on from a player at that age, they can also end up bitting their fingers for doing so.

Case in point, Gorton acquired both NYR top 2 C at young ages via trades when their org thought they wouldn't amount to much. Let's hope he hasn't lost his eye for underrated talent in this case.

The Hawks board seems okay with the trade, the wrist injury has affected his shot and they say he struggles in the faceoff dot and did not produce as they hoped he would while playing next to Kane. There are also those that suggest that a fresh start is the best thing for his career, time will tell.

 

[Rapala]

This trade looks so similar to the Sergachev - Drouin trade ...

The only two things going for Dach is that he is listed as a C and he is big but he underperformed so much I don't get why they paid 13 OA for him to be honest. I would have been happy getting Dach as a reclamation project to be honest but here it seems too much to my taste.

I don't see the similarities at all other than wrist injuries. Dach has far more value than Drouin AINEC. My initial reaction was to hate the deal but after mulling on it overnight my gut feeling is once we picked Slaf the other pieces of the plan got more expensive.

 

[Rapala]

Worst thing about this trade IMO that it might also mean they rush Guhle. Really hope they start him off in AHL and give Harris Romanov's 20+min/game

Rush Guhle? We are seeing a wave of young D step in and immediately make impacts in the NHL. I think Guhle has that talent and we will play him without stressing about mistakes that will surely happen. The old player development method is dead. I want our best prospects playing top level as long as they are physically and mentally able to.

 

[Takeru]

You're all banking that all our D prospect will be established NHLers down the line. Is anybody here really that confident about Norlinder? Guhle looks solid, but hasn't played yet. Harris has potential but is still a question mark. Struble? Athletic, but very much a question mark. Mailloux? Again, potential, but has barely played the last two seasons. Jackeye is a monster and meme worthy, but again, he's a monster playing against kittens in juniors. Let's wait a little.

We got rid of our only proven young NHL D. Simple hard truth.

All I've seen from this draft is major gambling that everything works out - Brought to you by bet99.

For sure, those were clearly some gambles, though hopefully they have more intel than us and the risk was worth it from their POV.

I'd say now is as good a time as any to take such risks (and adapt if need be). Worst case we'll suck for a bit longer? We're bottom tier either way, might as well go swinging. There will be opportunity to recoup value if those don't pan out as expected.

Also, some of those D prospects had to turn into something meaningful, with or without Romanov. Losing him isn't optimal, but we didn't exactly trade the second coming of Cale Makar here. If none of our young D guys develop, we were gonna need to look at other avenues sooner or later. If we end up filling the top 6 and top 2-3 D and we're missing a Romanov type player, we can trade for one down the line. Not something to get hung up over atm.

 

[Wats]

Rush Guhle? We are seeing a wave of young D step in and immediately make impacts in the NHL. I think Guhle has that talent and we will play him without stressing about mistakes that will surely happen. The old player development method is dead. I want our best prospects playing top level as long as they are physically able to.

Barring them being Makar level, defensemen need some time in AHL IMO.

I want Guhle to transition his offensive/puck moving in the AHL before playing in NHL. I don't want another Mete/Romanov situation where they play in the NHL right away and simply focus on surviving defensively. I know I know, they never had offense. Yet against their own age, they did. Guhle has shown some offense too. Let him at least show it in AHL.

I want him to develop his offense too and I don't see how he can in the NHL. Some reps in AHL to catch his puck moving/offensive instincts up would be very beneficial IMO

 

[Habs]

Tough to lose Romanov but getting a top 15 pick for him was good value. The Dach trade though is a risk and is quite the wild card.

Dach is going to be a good test to see how the organization's new development philosophy and investments will pan out.

hard to say, Chicago one big dumpster fire that is for sure. You are correct, it will really show what we have for development.

 

[Captain Mountain]

You're all banking that all our D prospect will be established NHLers down the line. Is anybody here really that confident about Norlinder? Guhle looks solid, but hasn't played yet. Harris has potential but is still a question mark. Struble? Athletic, but very much a question mark. Mailloux? Again, potential, but has barely played the last two seasons. Jackeye is a monster and meme worthy, but again, he's a monster playing against kittens in juniors. Let's wait a little.

We got rid of our only proven young NHL D. Simple hard truth.

All I've seen from this draft is major gambling that everything works out - Brought to you by bet99.

Romanov is as "proven" as Dach is. Both have a lot of talent. Both have really struggled in the NHL.

 

[ohiohabsfan29]

Anybody comparing this to Sergachev v Drouin trade should seriously take a hard look at their assessment skills.

Drouin was already showing signs of mental and motivation trouble while playing with the Bolts, one of the team with the best talent cultivation program. He was a trouble player since the start, and Sergachev was a prospective top pairing defenseman who barely started his pro career.

Dach is not Drouin.
Romanov is not Sergachev.

Correct, Drouin has had a 50 point season and a 40 point season.

Dach has had a 26 point season.

 

[Guess]

This is 3D chess by HuGo, by losing romanov we ensure better draft picks next year, and Dach could become a great 2C if he fix his development. When you're tanking you always want to have worse goaltending and defense.