Confirmed with Link: Alexandre Carrier acquired from the Predators in exchange for Justin Barron

[le_sean]

The habs have turned their D depth (Kovacevic, Harris, Barron) into Laine, a 4th, and Carrier. We actually see the depth at work here. It was so deep we were able to turn into into a mid pick, a top 6 forward (possibly more), and an experienced RD. We did this without having to trade any of the d-men this board is unanimous in keeping (Guhle, Hutson, Arber, Mailloux). They still Engstrom and Reinbacher as well. The habs were and are deep at D even if they are still missing that top pairing d-man.

Folks are just frustrated we do not see immediate results, but this is a rebuild. It's naive to think all your prospects will hit and hit at the same time. This is the type of movement we will continue to see until the team makes decent strides.

All this whining about Lekhonen and Kovacevic. These are depth players. They are not what the habs need right now. Those players won't turn the habs from a bottom feeder to a bubble team.

There’s also a respect factor that Kent tries to establish with the organization. Yeah they could have kept Kovacevic and have him sit in the pressbox most nights, but that does no favours for him. They found an opportunity for him to play elsewhere. That goes a long way around the league when trying to sign players in the future.

 

[Draft]

Lehkonen for Barron was a gamble that didn’t work out. Barron had a great profile when he was acquired and has shown flashes over the last couple seasons, but hasn’t been able to put it together. Hughes has turned that failed gamble into a useful player for the next couple years.

Seems like a productive outcome when we factor in the luck involved in developing a 20yo.

 

[Runner77]

I think for Laine it comes down to pricing. He doesn't drive the play and isn't particularly good at ES/defensively. He's not a guy you pay 11+ mil to. But he is definitely one of those "missing piece" type of players.

Wouldn’t the limitations you stated plus his missed playing time /injury history act as mitigating factors in the negotiation of a long term deal, thus putting some downward pressure on the ultimate contract amount?

 

[Apoplectic Habs Fan]

Selling your vets in a rebuild is essentially buying lotto tickets

You are hoping the pick or prospect amounts to something. Some end well, some fail bad

 

[26Mats]

The habs have turned their D depth (Kovacevic, Harris, Barron) into Laine, a 4th, and Carrier. We actually see the depth at work here. It was so deep we were able to turn into into a mid pick, a top 6 forward (possibly more), and an experienced RD. We did this without having to trade any of the d-men this board is unanimous in keeping (Guhle, Hutson, Arber, Mailloux). They still have Engstrom and Reinbacher as well. The habs were and are deep at D even if they are still missing that top pairing d-man.

Folks are just frustrated we do not see immediate results, but this is a rebuild. It's naive to think all your prospects will hit and hit at the same time. This is the type of movement we will continue to see until the team makes decent strides.

All this whining about Lekhonen and Kovacevic. These are depth players. They are not what the habs need right now. Those players won't turn the habs from a bottom feeder to a bubble team.

Keeping Primeau over Allen and Barron over Kivacevic were both gambles, gambling on the potential of Primeau as nd Barron over the current superiority of Alken and Kovacevic.

As you say, that both gambles failed isn't as important as the face that we only lost depth players in Kovacevic and Allen, not difference makers when it's time to win.

But we may have lost a really good depth piece in Kovacevic. The team needs size...

The habs have turned their D depth (Kovacevic, Harris, Barron) into Laine, a 4th, and Carrier. We actually see the depth at work here. It was so deep we were able to turn into into a mid pick, a top 6 forward (possibly more), and an experienced RD. We did this without having to trade any of the d-men this board is unanimous in keeping (Guhle, Hutson, Arber, Mailloux). They still have Engstrom and Reinbacher as well. The habs were and are deep at D even if they are still missing that top pairing d-man.

Folks are just frustrated we do not see immediate results, but this is a rebuild. It's naive to think all your prospects will hit and hit at the same time. This is the type of movement we will continue to see until the team makes decent strides.

All this whining about Lekhonen and Kovacevic. These are depth players. They are not what the habs need right now. Those players won't turn the habs from a bottom feeder to a bubble team.

Keeping Primeau over Allen and Barron over Kivacevic were both gambles, gambling on the potential of Primeau as nd Barron over the current superiority of Alken and Kovacevic.

As you say, that both gambles failed isn't as important as the face that we only lost depth players in Kovacevic and Allen, not difference makers when it's time to win.

But we may have lost a really good depth piece in Kovacevic. The team needs size...

The habs have turned their D depth (Kovacevic, Harris, Barron) into Laine, a 4th, and Carrier. We actually see the depth at work here. It was so deep we were able to turn into into a mid pick, a top 6 forward (possibly more), and an experienced RD. We did this without having to trade any of the d-men this board is unanimous in keeping (Guhle, Hutson, Arber, Mailloux). They still have Engstrom and Reinbacher as well. The habs were and are deep at D even if they are still missing that top pairing d-man.

Folks are just frustrated we do not see immediate results, but this is a rebuild. It's naive to think all your prospects will hit and hit at the same time. This is the type of movement we will continue to see until the team makes decent strides.

All this whining about Lekhonen and Kovacevic. These are depth players. They are not what the habs need right now. Those players won't turn the habs from a bottom feeder to a bubble team.

Keeping Primeau over Allen and Barron over Kivacevic were both gambles, gambling on the potential of Primeau as nd Barron over the current superiority of Alken and Kovacevic.

As you say, that both gambles failed isn't as important as the face that we only lost depth players in Kovacevic and Allen, not difference makers when it's time to win.

But we may have lost a really good depth piece in Kovacevic. The team needs size...

 

[Runner77]

Interesting that few people are talking about Trotz trying to acquire Barron last year (according to himself in the Preds media scrum over the trade today) and it seems Preds have been high on Barron for a while.

They probably think they can fix him.

Trotz targeted Barron for a potential neck transplant.

Habs could ill afford using an NHL roster spot on a regressing player who belongs in the minors but who was no longer waiver exempt.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

Similarities to Matheson are interesting

Quartexx client and Nashville fans are saying that Carrier was given the ability to roam free this season which wasn't helping the team.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Meh, not a fan of this move to be completely honest. Feel like these young offensive d can sometimes take a bit of extra love. I would’ve preferred to held onto Barron tbh.

Bad choices were made. Kovacevic, to me, was a much better D-men than Harris, Barron and to a lesser extend Struble. With all the young D-men, the stability he brought was much more valuable according to me than to let him go to test out how the younglings could do without their floaters in the big pool.

Harris was the best in this group AINEC.

 

[26Mats]

Meh, not a fan of this move to be completely honest. Feel like these young offensive d can sometimes take a bit of extra love. I would’ve preferred to held onto Barron tbh.

I was ready to trade Savard and give Barron and Struble this whole lost season as runway to try to figure out the NHL game.

It seems weird to give up now on Barron after trading Lehkonen and Kovacevic to give him a shot, then not play him much, then trade him.for a 5'11 dman.

 

[Miller Time]

Do you want name calling and insults? That's how you get name calling and insults. NEVER doubt Kent and his amazing abilities

Criteria for Kent's moves

Is he under 6' ? Check
French ? Check
Under 200lbs? Check
Sus in all ends of the rink? Check

Get him asap for the rebuild !

Is this meant to be satire?

Humor?

Complaining for the sake of complaining?

I don't get the point of posting thus kind of nonsense.

Laine
Monahan
Barron
Heineman
Dach

Your checklist doesn't fit reality

 

[ChesterNimitz]

Agree with that.....time to trade Matheson now.

Particularly if you want to materially assist in the never ending tank.

 

[calder candidate]

Im sick of the Lehkonen trade ongoing mourning because Barron didn’t work out. I don’t fancy myself being the best talent evaluator, I’m no scout, but I’ve watched hockey my whole life and Barron’s tools were evident. Every time I went to the Bell center to watch a game he stood out, very solid skater, good hands, good shot, sometimes physical. You hope that he puts it all together, but to me he was a clear first round talent and I’ll never be mad at Hugo for whiffing on this one because the gamble was worth it.

Along the same lines, although I wish Sergachev was still here and as much as I hated MB, I thought that trade for Drouin made perfect sense at the time and although it’s probably MB’s worst move in retrospect, I still think it was a decent gamble.

I just hope the same fan don’t make us suffer through the mourning of Barron in 2 years especially if they are dancing right now…
Totally agree we got great value for Lehkonen at the time.

The Drouin trade was a gamble but it still didn’t make sense, the context at the time is also important there is a other team and they have objective as well… We might have gotten something great in Drouin, but he was the odd man out inTB, Fw was a position of strength for them, they had cap issue (having to sign Drouin +), they also had issue with the expansion draft (having to protect or expose valuable player) and had lack depth on D… Segachev was one of the best D prospect not in the NHL at the time+ conditional 2nd
Yes they gave Drouin but they didn’t want him on the team, + they fill a hole on D with the guy with the most upside on a ELC fixing there roster, cap and expansion draft issue all at the same time, they could have bench him few time and milk an extra 2nd… MB got Drouin but lost Radolov, but most importantly included his top LD prospect while losing is top 3 LD in the same off season.

Here NAS is at the bottom of the standing so they dump 3.75M$x3 while taking a flyer on a 23yo that is clearly able to skate in the NHL, if Barron doesn’t make it they likely already reach there primarily objective of clearing cap space at zero cost.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

Is this meant to be satire?

Humor?

Complaining for the sake of complaining?

I don't get the point of posting thus kind of nonsense.

Laine
Monahan
Barron
Heineman
Dach

Your checklist doesn't fit reality

I hear they all like french toast.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

I just hope the same fan don’t make us suffer through the mourning of Barron in 2 years especially if they are dancing right now…
Totally agree we got great value for Lehkonen at the time.

The Drouin trade was a gamble but it still didn’t make sense, the context at the time is also important there is a other team and they have objective as well… We might have gotten something great in Drouin, but he was the odd man out inTB, Fw was a position of strength for them, they had cap issue (having to sign Drouin +), they also had issue with the expansion draft (having to protect or expose valuable player) and had lack depth on D… Segachev was one of the best D prospect not in the NHL at the time+ conditional 2nd
Yes they gave Drouin but they didn’t want him on the team, + they fill a hole on D with the guy with the most upside on a ELC fixing there roster, cap and expansion draft issue all at the same time, they could have bench him few time and milk an extra 2nd… MB got Drouin but lost Radolov, but most importantly included his top LD prospect while losing is top 3 LD in the same off season.

Here NAS is at the bottom of the standing so they dump 3.75M$x3 while taking a flyer on a 23yo that is clearly able to skate in the NHL, if Barron doesn’t make it they likely already reach there primarily objective of clearing cap space at zero cost.

There are cap considerations in all transactions. It would, however, appear that in this case, those considerations may have been more pronounced.

 

[Kennerback]

i liked the Lekhonen trade at the time because it was a 20 y/o 1st Round 6’2 RHD + a 2nd. I apparently wasn’t as sharp as Sakic, as I thought there was room to grow. I paid for the possibility he might pan out.

I like the deal now because he’s still a 1st Round 6’2 RHD, but he’s 23 and never panned out for a legit NHLer. And the fact the deal makes Nashville fans puke might mean something.

 

[Runner77]

Please, give it a rest with Lehkonen

He is playing on a team with MacKinnon and Makar ....on. …

So was Newhook.

 

[Milhouse40]

So was Newhook.

Newhook wasn't really on the PP with them and was playing 13 minutes a game back then....but hey, he was doing better with them than he's doing with us this year too.

 

[salbutera]

I was ready to trade Savard and give Barron and Struble this whole lost season as runway to try to figure out the NHL game.

It seems weird to give up now on Barron after trading Lehkonen and Kovacevic to give him a shot, then not play him much, then trade him.for a 5'11 dman.

Maybe HuGo don’t view this as a “lost season” w important BTB vs Det & CBJ on Monday coming up.

Could be 3-4 pts back of wildcard + jumping a handful of teams by Monday night

 

[morhilane]

Newhook wasn't really on the PP with them and was playing 13 minutes a game back then....but hey, he was doing better with them than he's doing with us this year too.

Newhook was doing better with the Habs last season.

 

[teamfirst]

Particularly if you want to materially assist in the never ending tank.

Not sure about that, seems to me that getting a good defensive D on the right side with help the team way more than Mathy, we already have Hutson taking care of the offense.

LD: Hutson-Ghule-Xhekaj
RD: Savard-Carrier-xxxx

Don't know if possible to get that stable RD for Matheson alone tho, but it's worth the try imo.

 

[Bobby Holik agent]

it's a bad trade for 1st period Barron.
if's a fair deal for both team for 2nd period Barron
it's a nice trade for 3rd period Barron.

Hopefully Nashville figure out what wrong with 3rd period Barron.

 

[Runner77]

Newhook wasn't really on the PP with them and was playing 13 minutes a game back then....but hey, he was doing better with them than he's doing with us this year too.

Not significantly. He did play on the same line with them but don’t know how long the experiment lasted before they figured out he was never going to be a difference maker.

 

[Archijerej]

Seems a bit late to send this message, it should’ve been delivered a month ago, but better late than never. We have a big month ahead of us in Jan. Waking the fk up and playing serious hockey would be a bigger blessing than picking a few ranks higher in the draft.

I very much doubt this was about message.

It didn't take a genius even before the season started that we'll have to find replacement for Savard. Even if we decide to retain him, someone has to take part of his workload. The young hopefuls have proven they're not ready (Barron and Mailloux), or got hurt in case of Reinbacher. Hence, we were on the market for a veteran RD for some time.

So why now? Well, trades do not happen just because one GM wants it. Nashville was hoping to compete and Carrier was a stabilizing factor on their blueline. Once that didn't materialize and the Habs lost faith in Barron, the trade was made.

 

[ReHabs]

I very much doubt this was about message.

It didn't take a genius even before the season started that we'll have to find replacement for Savard. Even if we decide to retain him, someone has to take part of his workload.

The issue is: we’re approaching midway through the season and about a half dozen players are severely underperforming or underproducing or both.

Replacing or improving upon Savard would be closer to a “anti-Tank” move than not, you’d agree. But then why wait so long and have the Habs be so far behind before making an effort to claw back some quality for the roster?

I’m not complaining but wondering what is their vision for the season and the roster.

 

[Milhouse40]

Not significantly. He did play on the same line with them but don’t know how long the experiment lasted before they figured out he was never going to be a difference maker.

Not long, he was a fresh rookie back then, kind of hard to follow the Elites.
Was more use as center, he averaged 13 minutes a game, not 20 like MacKinnon.

But considering growth and experience, I think it's kind of significant.

That's beside the point....Lehkonen is playing 20-22 minutes there, so he's playing on the PP and a lot with the big stars they have, something we don't really had (Stars). It will helps one's production.