I don't see Mstheson as a long term solution. He's at his max value so i would trade him for max return. Plus he's driving me nuts on the PP. He's no QB on the PP.
The future is X, Rein, Guhle, Hutson, Mailman, Barron and Struble. Savard and Matheson for as much as we can get now or TD.
Not all futures turn out as planned or hoped for.
Each of the referenced members of your projected future defensive corps has their warts and limitations; (
Guhle: his questionable offensive upside;
Reinbacher: his lack of dynamic skill and on/ice performance;
Hutson: his lack of size and elite skating ability;
Mailloux: his limited defensive acumen and possessing only, at best, average skating ability:
Barron: increasingly showing that he may never be more than a journeyman at the NHL level:
Xhekaj: injury prone; average mobility/quickness and questionable defensive acumen and
Struble: a dependable, physical everyday player who may never be more than a second pairing defenceman.
I would suggest that as of today, there is a significant drop off from Matheson and Savard’s level of performance and on ice contributions ( they are on the ice for almost half of each game) and what the seven penciled in future defencemen can presently deliver. Will they improve to the expected levels of effectiveness over the coming years? There is no certainty in this regard. As I have noted, the only certainty in hockey is the uncertainty as to most prospects' rate of development.
I think the upside projections (expectations) for many of our current defensive prospects is overly optimistic. Frankly, I think our current crop of forward prospects (Demidov, Hage, Beck, Kapanen, Florian, Tuch, Sawyer Thorpe, etc.) is much more promising than our current collections of defensive prospects. I would therefore be very hesitant to trade Matheson and Savard until there is greater clarity as to the true upside of our supposedly heralded defensive prospects. Unless of course you are willing, in most probabilities, of remaining a largely marginalized team.
