Player Discussion Mike Matheson

[Tetragrammaton]

What kind of young 1st pairing RHD do you expect Matheson and Anderson returning? Apart from perhaps young right hand shot 1st line centers, those guys have the most trade value. You'd also be expecting the acquiring team to take on a lot of salary.

It's nonsense bro. We have Mailloux and Hutson coming, already have Guhle, Barron, Xhakej, Harris. Last thing we need is another young D.

 

[Captain Mountain]

I think we will all enjoy and be entertained watching Allard and his ilk playing top minutes over the next few years as we continue the never ending re-build.

They made the cup finals two years ago, you don't know what a never ending re-build.

With no Cups in 30 years and only two over the past half century I guess we have witnessed and experienced an improper rebuild. I am among the dwindling few who remember when this franchise was synonymous with excellence. We have evolved into the Cleveland Browns of hockey. Trading Matheson, who is clearly our best defenceman, will only perpetuate our legacy of mediocrity.

I'm fine with not trading Matheson, but I'm skeptical that you know what mediocrity is or how, you know, professional sports in general and the NHL in particular have evolved in the last 40 years if you think the Canadiens last 30 years is uniform or at all analogous with the Cleveland Browns.

The last time there were true dynasties in the NHL was back when you could get superstars outside of the draft and could essentially buy superstars in cash. In the modern NHL era (or the draft era), the only teams that have had relative cup success you're alluding to either already had superstars or executed true rebuilds and got star players through the draft, most of whom go in the top 3 to top 5. Montreal has, until recently, actively avoided being put in that position. They'd bottom out in a year, but try to aggressively improve the next season. And true dynasties (like the Canadiens, Oilers or Islanders were in the 70s and 80s) are almost impossible in the cap era.

The Browns have generally been mismanaged to a hilarious degree. Montreal just never adapted to a changing environment and were too conservative to do anything that might build them back up.

 

[Scriptor]

I guess we have different understanding of the expression « rocking it in the NHL ». The guy skates like Coffey but the comparison stop there.

I like Matheson but he is a 0,5 ppg D that struggle playing defensively. And he will be 32 yo when his contract ends.


Not even close. You guys are too much hypnotized by his speed.

Obviously, you take old scouting reports and base your opinion on that, like the player is in a fixed state until he retires...

Matheson, playing as he has been, is surprisingly effective on the back check, defensively. He's also on pace for over 50 points with the role he has been given.

His skating is exceptional and that is an asset both offensively and defensively.

Under St-Louis, a confident Matheson is taking chances on the fly and they are working, more often than not.

I really like this D for the present and the mid term, until the end of his contract, or when someone else is ready to take his spot.

 

[Scriptor]

Nope, no way, he's too good and becoming better as he ages. Hard no.

We have enough young D-men coming up, we need veterans and Matheson is a keeper. Savard too.

Short-sighted, IMO. Not meaning to be insulting with this statement.

A few teams have a surplus of young RHDs, including LA, who are even playing Durzi on the left side, for example.

I never said we NEED to move Matheson, but I did say that you never say no if it adresses a position of need that you can't address in a reasonable time frame from within your organization.

Does that mean that a young 1st pairing RHD is actually available in a trade for Matheson and/or Anderson, or for Matheson and a 1st round pick, for example? Maybe, maybe not.

I'm not Kent Hughes working the phones, but if such a trade can be had, why would we not solve our situation on the right side that way, allowing Mailloux to perhaps pan out as a second pairing RHD alongside Guhle one day? Barron as a 3rd pairing, puck-moving D who can play on a 2nd PP unit might not be a bad fit either...

While we wait for Hutson and Mailloux to develop a little more:

Guhle - Acquired RHD
Harris - Savard
Xhekaj - Barron
Kovacevic

Once Hutson and Mailloux are up with the team and Savard has moved on:

Hutson - Acquired RHD
Guhle - Mailloux
Xhekaj - Barron
Kocvacevic, Harris, Engstrom

 

[Scriptor]

It's nonsense bro. We have Mailloux and Hutson coming, already have Guhle, Barron, Xhakej, Harris. Last thing we need is another young D.

A blue chip righty won't be a luxury, IMO. Savard is, at most, two years away from being gone. Matheson, we could keep longer, but will he still be a cornerstone on D in three years, with Guhle having gained experience and Hutson auditioning for quality ice time?

 

[Steve Shutt]

Poehling was also clearly unpopular in the locker room and seems to have fit in better with his teammates in Pittsburgh. His family is very conservative and they were vocal Trump supporters and donors.

It seems to me that from everything Hughes has said publicly, he cares more about bringing in high quality people than high quality talent. He seems very loyal and is always talking about how good players are as humans (Matheson and Edmundson), it was the first thing he mentioned about Matheson after the trade. Hughes got rid of 2 players that didn't fit his "quality person" criteria, and it has worked out so far. It will be interesting to see what he does with Mailloux and Gurianov (reports that he won't sign Russians)

I'm happy with the Poehling move but it wasn't clear to me that he was unpopular - was there something written on this? Also, I'm hoping political views aren't a consideration when putting a team together. Would be a shame if we ruled out half the league's players because they're democrat or republican

 

[Tetragrammaton]

Short-sighted, IMO. Not meaning to be insulting with this statement.

A few teams have a surplus of young RHDs, including LA, who are even playing Durzi on the left side, for example.

I never said we NEED to move Matheson, but I did say that you never say no if it adresses a position of need that you can't address in a reasonable time frame from within your organization.

Does that mean that a young 1st pairing RHD is actually available in a trade for Matheson and/or Anderson, or for Matheson and a 1st round pick, for example? Maybe, maybe not.

I'm not Kent Hughes working the phones, but if such a trade can be had, why would we not solve our situation on the right side that way, allowing Mailloux to perhaps pan out as a second pairing RHD alongside Guhle one day? Barron as a 3rd pairing, puck-moving D who can play on a 2nd PP unit might not be a bad fit either...

While we wait for Hutson and Mailloux to develop a little more:

Guhle - Acquired RHD
Harris - Savard
Xhekaj - Barron
Kovacevic

Once Hutson and Mailloux are up with the team and Savard has moved on:

Hutson - Acquired RHD
Guhle - Mailloux
Xhekaj - Barron
Kocvacevic, Harris, Engstrom

But the question is: why?

35gp 7g 16a 23p +3

Why trade a guy who is clearly improving at 29 years old? A great veteran, a home town boy, a player that we NEED on this team moving forward. Not to mention his low cap hit..

Makes no sense. You can't have a team of 6 young defenseman you need veterans. With the way he's been playing he's irreplaceable and indispensable.

Next year's D lines

Guhle - Savard
Matheson - Barron
Xhekaj - Harris/Kovacevic

 

[catmanhabsfan]

I'm happy with the Poehling move but it wasn't clear to me that he was unpopular - was there something written on this? Also, I'm hoping political views aren't a consideration when putting a team together. Would be a shame if we ruled out half the league's players because they're democrat or republican

There's a big difference between being a republican and being a Trump donor republican lol

 

[rik schau]

too much

Too much? too much what? beef? ink? got much more than you'd think.lol. Or are you referring to the over exuberance? if so,shall I direct you to the other couple million here.lol.

I guess we have different understanding of the expression « rocking it in the NHL ». The guy skates like Coffey but the comparison stop there.

I like Matheson but he is a 0,5 ppg D that struggle playing defensively. And he will be 32 yo when his contract ends.


Not even close. You guys are too much hypnotized by his speed.

Just because I'm too old to be a cheerleader doesn't mean I can't dress up like one and cheer on my team and boys does it?lol.

 

[Rob Sense]

I did not have much of an opinion on Matheson when we traded for him but watching him play now i can say that he is the real deal. Massive steal vs Petry. Next couple of years should be good with emerging young talent around him.

 

[A55P2]

I did not have much of an opinion on Matheson when we traded for him but watching him play now i can say that he is the real deal. Massive steal vs Petry. Next couple of years should be good with emerging young talent around him.

I believe so too. I know Petry had some very impressive years with us, but Matheson skating is something else. I think we robbed them blind on that one.

 

[JustAHabFan]

I believe so too. I know Petry had some very impressive years with us, but Matheson skating is something else. I think we robbed them blind on that one.

I agrred with this. Matheson's skating is very very good.

 

[Vachon23]

 

[Rapala]

I liked Matheson's play to Dach at the side of the net for that second PP goal. It showed me a side of him I didn't think he had. We still need to find someone to play that right side I liked Gurianov for the simple reason he can pass as well as shoot. Hoffman is more of a one trick pony is easier to defend and will cough up the puck or take a useless shots more often than not. Matheson does a very good job sliding to the middle which is all you really need at the back on our PP other than solid puck management.

 

[le_sean]

What is it exactly that the Penguins preferred Petry over him? They just wanted another member to their geriatric club? If it’s just handedness, that’s silly. You’re basically just trading for a worse, older, more expensive Matheson

 

[CheldishGamibno]

What is it exactly that the Penguins preferred Petry over him? They just wanted another member to their geriatric club? If it’s just handedness, that’s silly. You’re basically just trading for a worse, older, more expensive Matheson

Hextall is bad at his job

 

[Rapala]

What is it exactly that the Penguins preferred Petry over him? They just wanted another member to their geriatric club? If it’s just handedness, that’s silly. You’re basically just trading for a worse, older, more expensive Matheson

He must have liked his right-handedness.

 

[morhilane]

What is it exactly that the Penguins preferred Petry over him? They just wanted another member to their geriatric club? If it’s just handedness, that’s silly. You’re basically just trading for a worse, older, more expensive Matheson

Petry was out producing him, it is has simple as that.

Matheson's production has been around 0.35 ppg the last 5 years. Petry has been pretty steady above 0.50 ppg since the 2017-2018 season, except last year, but it was still at 0.40 ppg despite the team and him playing like crap. Petry is still doing 0.50 ppg this season, the Penguins got exactly the player they traded for.

This year, Matheson is at 0.66 ppg (with only 5 more minutes of TOI), that's quite the offensive explosion...

 

[26Mats]

What is it exactly that the Penguins preferred Petry over him? They just wanted another member to their geriatric club? If it’s just handedness, that’s silly. You’re basically just trading for a worse, older, more expensive Matheson

Matheson still has to prove he can not turn the puck over so much.

Pens fans were saying about him after we recently played them: "with Matheson it's still two steps forward, on step back, I don't miss him at his salary. Because of his inconsistency, he can't play top 4 minutes in the playoffs."

He had two egregious, unnecessary turnovers last night when he was the last man back with the puck and tried to beat a guy and failed: one when we were on the pp and he had to take a holding penalty. Second when we had an empty net and if it weren't for Marchand trying to get Pasternk his 50th, it would have been in the back of our net.

I'm not completely sold on Matheson. The potential is there to cut down on the turnovers. But I'll wait until he can iron out the turnovers before I sign on the dotted line.

 

[le_sean]

Petry was out producing him, it is has simple as that.

Matheson's production has been around 0.35 ppg the last 5 years. Petry has been pretty steady above 0.50 ppg since the 2017-2018 season, except last year, but it was still at 0.40 ppg despite the team and him playing like crap. Petry is still doing 0.50 ppg this season, the Penguins got exactly the player they traded for.

This year, Matheson is at 0.66 ppg (with only 5 more minutes of TOI), that's quite the offensive explosion...

Petry was also quite literally the worst defenceman in the league for about 60% of last year. I personally would have been afraid of a possible regression moving forward if I was Hextall.

 

[BLONG7]

Matheson now healthy is bringing it................the guy has been exceptional.
Never underestimate a guys happiness and how it corelates to performance!! Hard to believe but he is a guy who wanted to play for the Habs.............yes wanted to.
Looks good on him to be the vet who helps all the young prospects on D

 

[schwang26]

He's got me slowly changing my mind about him being a top pair dman. The guy has improved so much. He reminds me of Pietrangelo.

He's got me slowly changing my mind about him being a top pair dman. The guy has improved so much. He reminds me of Pietrangelo.

 

[26Mats]

Petry was also quite literally the worst defenceman in the league for about 60% of last year. I personally would have been afraid of a possible regression moving forward if I was Hextall.

True about Petry last year. But he was better when Eddie came back and MSL took over for Dumb dumb. So teams could chalk his poor play up to that.

At the end of the day, Petry's value had severely fallen and we were lucky Hextall erroneously took a flyer on him.

Matheson now healthy is bringing it................the guy has been exceptional.
Never underestimate a guys happiness and how it corelates to performance!! Hard to believe but he is a guy who wanted to play for the Habs.............yes wanted to.
Looks good on him to be the vet who helps all the young prospects on D

A lot of pkayers want to play in MTL. Not everyone, but still a lot.

 

[BLONG7]

True about Petry last year. But he was better when Eddie came back and MSL took over for Dumb dumb. So teams could chalk his poor play up to that.

At the end of the day, Petry's value had severely fallen and we were lucky Hextall erroneously took a flyer on him.



A lot of pkayers want to play in MTL. Not everyone, but still a lot.

Are you sure alot of guys want to play in Montreal? Maybe some say it, but it rarely happens.............even homegrown guys when given a chance, seem to stay away.
Lots of guys use the habs as leverage to get more $$$

Lets hope having a real management team now, can attract better players, and not just the lower end guys.

 

[26Mats]

Are you sure alot of guys want to play in Montreal? Maybe some say it, but it rarely happens.............even homegrown guys when given a chance, seem to stay away.
Lots of guys use the habs as leverage to get more $$$

Lets hope having a real management team now, can attract better players, and not just the lower end guys.

Yeah as you say I think it was more about management and the direction of the team.

But we'll see...

We don't need to find our top guns in free agency, especially if we get Dubois. We just will probably need to add complementary pieces. Even Bergevin was able to sign Toffoli, Chiarot, and Edmundson, and Savard. Albeit Toffoli was due to us having so much cap space when covid hit.