I’m hoping Reinbacher makes the team right out of camp. Not the end of the world if he doesn’t but I hope he’s there.
We aren't the only team looking for help on RD. It's a common problem around the league. I think Matheson did a good job there. I see Carrier, Matheson and Reinbacher (yes, I think he will be healthy and on the team next year) are going to be our RD with Struble as 7th D. That will be good enough.
He should take a page out of Hutson’s book and photoshop his leg pics.
Man, I really hope not. People crap all over Matheson, but he's been pretty good for us. It's not his fault he was forced to be a top pair D-man for long stretches. Matheson on RD is decent, and if we have injuries on LD, he can slip right in there.
It's simple really
If we can sign or trade for a legit RD in the offseason, I don't mind trading Matheson. He's not a bad plan B, though, on the right side. I want us to spend time, assets and cap on a legit 2C this offseason first and foremost. If we can get a legit RD too, that's gravy, but it is also asking a lot and may not be realistic all at once.
He's improved a lot lately. But unless he's going to swap to the right, I don't see where he fits. 3rd pair? I don't think he'd want that and he's too good for it. So, I think he gets dealt and we will probably use whatever currency he brings to help get a second center or right D.
I'm not a Matheson fan. I can admit he's settled down a little bit since the 4 Nations but I really don't trust him on the defensive side of the puck and I don't want to pay him what he's going to want when he doesn't even run our PP anymore (and I don't want him running our PP over Hutson either).
I would swap him to the right in the top 4. Reinbacher is still young and should at least start on the bottom pair. You can't have too many D. Struble will be the 7th D and can play both sides too.
Someone mentioned too, you could even package Matheson + a pick to get a new RD that is a bit more defensive (not strictly defensive). A team may want to change up their mix and is looking for a more offensive RD or get a D with a contract like Carrier's off their books.
How do you think Hughes handles it given his personal ties to Matheson?
you think Reinbacher's death was recent? How naive...
We'll see. I think fans don't quite realize how much personal relationships can change decision making. Off the ice there's a lot more reasons to keep Matheson in Montreal.
If you are too much "not cut throat" you end up with the last 30 years of the Montreal Canadiens though. When i was young this team did not hesitate to move on. You need to be able to move on when it makes sense that's one of the best quality a GM can have imo. I'm super impressed by the Avs GM. Instead of crippling his team with another big contract to a guy close to 29 he correctly identified that his core was BigMac and Makar and moved on from Rantanen and got a younger player who is not as good but still very good and less expensive.
I spoke to few persons and they were so naive not thinking Reinbacher is a 3d plasma disc making illusion of a real player. How naive ...
The Avs were fortunate that Rantanen declined their offer, but they still made an offer that probably would not have ended well for them had it been accepted. Hughes' handling of Evans shows that he's not willing to compromise what's best for the team, but his handling of Petry and other players shows that he will do his best to accommodate a players wishes when he can without hurting the team.
Struble-Hutson have a really really high Corsi since being paired together, whereas Matheson and Carrier plummetted, they dont look good at all. If we go ahead and get a guy like R. Andersson I think Matheson is gone
