Proposal: MTL-UTAH Jordan Harris for Jack McBain

[Dead Coyote]

Alright, I'll accept the rather have McBain than Harris and Dvorak. Dvorak, aside from his first season has been hurt, or not useful.

Now, McBain is easily not better than Evans and I'm kind of wanting a tougher centre.

McBain sucks at faceoffs while Evans is at 54%, while McBain was at 46%.

Evans played a ridiculous amount of time on the pk, I believe he took the most faceoffs shorthanded and finished at 46%. For comparison McBain had 36% shorthanded.

Now, Evans produced more offensively. He didn't get a chance on the top line with good players.

Lol, by 2 and 3 points as a 25 and 27 year old, yes he did produce more.

McBain overwhelmingly also played on the 4th line, yes he did see time with Keller and Schmaltz in a few games, but it's not like he spent the entire season stapled there.

And yeah, Evans is definitely better on the faceoffs. So is Dvorak.

Unfortunately, that's not all you need to succeed in the NHL, and while I don't think Evans is much worse than McBain, it's very close, he just isn't close to being as valuable as McBain is. McBain is exactly the type of player everyone in the league salivates over that will not be traded because his value to his team is higher than his value around the league. It's the exact same with Crouse. They're very similar players but McBain is way more physical and nasty, and plays the much more valuable position, while also getting put with worse players than Crouse is.

McBain has a different skillset than Evans does and there are reasons to favor one over the other, for sure. Like you said, Evans is better at faceoffs and on the PK. McBain is a better net front presence, more physical, nastier, and a better cycler while being good, but not as good as Evans defensively. However his upside is a lot higher than Evans is and he is a much better center on Utah than Evans would be- they already have Bjugstad, Hayton, Kerfoot, and Boyd. Dunno if that would be true on MTL, but it is true on Utah. He is certainly not a worse center than Evans though.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Lol, by 2 and 3 points as a 25 and 27 year old, yes he did produce more.

McBain overwhelmingly also played on the 4th line, yes he did see time with Keller and Schmaltz in a few games, but it's not like he spent the entire season stapled there.

And yeah, Evans is definitely better on the faceoffs. So is Dvorak.

Unfortunately, that's not all you need to succeed in the NHL, and while I don't think Evans is much worse than McBain, it's very close, he just isn't close to being as valuable as McBain is. McBain is exactly the type of player everyone in the league salivates over that will not be traded because his value to his team is higher than his value around the league. It's the exact same with Crouse. They're very similar players but McBain is way more physical and nasty, and plays the much more valuable position, while also getting put with worse players than Crouse is.

McBain has a different skillset than Evans does and there are reasons to favor one over the other, for sure. Like you said, Evans is better at faceoffs and on the PK. McBain is a better net front presence, more physical, nastier, and a better cycler while being good, but not as good as Evans defensively. However his upside is a lot higher than Evans is and he is a much better center on Utah than Evans would be- they already have Bjugstad, Hayton, Kerfoot, and Boyd. Dunno if that would be true on MTL, but it is true on Utah. He is certainly not a worse center than Evans though.

I can respect that.

I think he'd be better as a centre than Boyd.

Evans is pretty solid in his own right for cycling. He does, however have some underrated skill that he showed off a bit more this year.

I think, like Danault in a situation with a better offensive team and put in a better spot, Evans could break 40 points easily


I like McBain and would trade for him and I would do the 1 for 1 (obviously you and other Arizona/Utah fans wouldn't and I get that aspect) even if I think it's a downgrade because I want the physicality. I'm wanting a player that's easily worse than both in Kastelic as the 4th line centre.

 

[Roman Yoshi]

I love proposals like this that go so sideways so quickly lol

 

[biturbo19]

The bolded highlights that your assessment of Harris is way off.

How exactly does it do that?


I'm saying Hughes will not waive Harris and lose him for nothing. But realistically...is Harris worth any more than Kovacevic, who the Habitants found on waivers? Can you explain how that's the case? How the big solid RHD is worth less than the small LHD of a comparable mostly bottom-pairing level?


I don't know if it even makes sense. But that's the way NHL GMs tend to operate.

 

[SamHabsFan]

You should try watching hockey games before you make statements like this. There is no world in which McBain is a worse center than Dvorak or Evans, and I'm a huge Dvorak fan even now.

McBain is a huge, physical, nasty goalscoring center who is great on the cycle, not afraid to stand up for his teammates, and can play up and down the lineup. He got time as a 1C with Keller and Schmaltz this year and was great in that role because he fits perfectly. He needs to work on his faceoff skills but there's no reason why he should not be an excellent tweener in the NHL, and he's 24.

Harris would be a pretty good add to the roster and I'd take him as the 5th/6th/7th D but he's not better than Moser, nor is he really better than Valimaki, at least when Valimaki is on. Simashev, Duda, and Kolyachanok are all LD that are coming up as well.

McBain is just much more valuable than a steady decent two way defenseman. I would certainly throw a pick Montreal's way if Harris is the odd man out, but there's also a decent chance he could be picked up off waivers, and there's an even more decent chance that someone will be picked up in FA like Skjei, Ghostisbehere, etc and that one spot will be left open for Koly, Duda, Soderstrom etc to fight over.

Regardless though McBain likely isn't moving with how horrible Utah's center depth is, they have 3 NHL d-man (Moser, Valimaki, Durzi) who can play the left side well, and several guys knocking on the door. There's no reason to pick up a guy who isn't going to be at least better than Moser/Durzi. They don't need more tweener guys, they need guys who will push their current roster down to where they should be. Moser/Durzi is a great second pair. Valimaki is a pretty good 5D. They're all reasonably young. No real reason to make a trade like this.

I did not offer this trade btw... but you can describe Mcbain all you want he is absolutely comparable to Dvorak and Evans lol..Dvorak having slightly better stats throughout his career. You describe him as a goalscoring center..and he got the same amount of goal as Evans...which is 8!!

He's a tweener, it's allright every team has some, and you kinda need those good cheap centers, but my point was, we already have Dvo and Evans as depth centermen, why adding one more?

 

[Dead Coyote]

I did not offer this trade btw... but you can describe Mcbain all you want he is absolutely comparable to Dvorak and Evans lol..Dvorak having slightly better stats throughout his career. You describe him as a goalscoring center..and he got the same amount of goal as Evans...which is 8!!

You should try watching hockey games instead of just stat watching. You should also try reading the entire post instead of cherrypicking one sentence to bitch about.

I didn't say anything about the trade or that MTL should take it. I said that Utah wouldn't.

Dvorak and Evans are 27 and 28, McBain is 24. Neither of those players are physical, nasty centers that aren't afraid to drop the gloves and play with intensity. McBain has shown that he fits perfectly in Utah's depth chart, Evans and Dvorak haven't. McBain has higher upside than both of them because he's 4 years younger. Is this a hard concept to understand?

If you want good centers on the faceoff who can PK and play well defensively on the 3rd and 4th lines, than currently Evans and Dvorak are both better than McBain for that purpose, yes. McBain may eventually become as good or better than those players in those situations, and is also able to play well with Keller and Schmaltz because he's big, physical, and a great cycler. Dvorak definitely isn't capable of that, Evans might be.

If you want someone who is physical, a net front presence, not afraid to drop the gloves, and nasty than McBain is better than both of those players, and it's not close. More importantly he has higher upside, is still young, and his shot is good enough that he could be a goalscoring threat in our top 6 eventually.

Dvorak and McBain play the game completely differently, and that's fine. McBain and Evans are closer to compare but still very different players.

McBain's value to Utah is higher than both, and Utah already has Kerfoot, Bjugstad, Boyd and Hayton who are all either similar players or better players than both.

You can look at the stats and say that Dvorak has produced more than McBain in his entire career or that Evans scored the same goals and was slightly more productive than McBain, it doesn't change their playing style, age, contract or synergy within Utah's lineup.

 

[SamHabsFan]

You should try watching hockey games instead of just stat watching. You should also try reading the entire post instead of cherrypicking one sentence to bitch about.

I didn't say anything about the trade or that MTL should take it. I said that Utah wouldn't.

I' not saying he sucks...I'm saying we all have those type of guys and I dont see the point of trading for him when we have too many players, we should consolidate our assets..not dillute them

 

[Dead Coyote]

I' not saying he sucks...I'm saying we all have those type of guys and I dont see the point of trading for him when we have too many players, we should consolidate our assets..not dillute them

That may certainly be true, Dunno what MTL's situation is. Do know that Dvorak and Evans aren't better players than McBain, which...is just what I said.

 

[Schemp]

I expect Bill Armstrong wants Ds that he can look them straight in the eyes and not look down on them. Harris is not a player that BA will trade for!

 

[Miller Time]

How exactly does it do that?

By basing your take on player bios & wikipedia as your source of information, I guess?

I'm saying Hughes will not waive Harris and lose him for nothing. But realistically...is Harris worth any more than Kovacevic,

Yes.

who the Habitants found on waivers? Can you explain how that's the case?

Can you explain why you think they have similar value? Onus is on you to offer anything of substance to explain it.

How the big solid RHD is worth less than the small LHD of a comparable mostly bottom-pairing level?

What is comparable about their level of play?

A few questions you may want to consider if watching them and assessing their actual play and game impact is not your preferred approach.

How old are they?
How have their respective careers evolved thus far?
How were they used this past year?
How did they impact the game in the minutes they played this year?

All of these you could answer with some relatively basic googling.

"Big solid" might be fun qualifiers, but they don't actually mean anything.

I don't know if it even makes sense. But that's the way NHL GMs tend to operate.

Crappy GMs perhaps. Fortunately KHughes is not of that shallow.

I don't think Armstrong is either, but if he is, I'm sure Hughes will gladly ship you Kovacevic for McBain lol

 

[biturbo19]

By basing your take on player bios & wikipedia as your source of information, I guess?


Yes.

Can you explain why you think they have similar value? Onus is on you to offer anything of substance to explain it.


What is comparable about their level of play?

A few questions you may want to consider if watching them and assessing their actual play and game impact is not your preferred approach.

How old are they?
How have their respective careers evolved thus far?
How were they used this past year?
How did they impact the game in the minutes they played this year?

All of these you could answer with some relatively basic googling.

"Big solid" might be fun qualifiers, but they don't actually mean anything.


Crappy GMs perhaps. Fortunately KHughes is not of that shallow.

I don't think Armstrong is either, but if he is, I'm sure Hughes will gladly ship you Kovacevic for McBain lol

I'm not a Yotes fan...Arizona, Utah, or otherwise...so i'm definitely not campaigning for a better deal for those reasons.


It's just a straight up bad deal though.

McBain is a promising young center with size and two-way upside. He's not a star...but he's a good player.

You're simply not getting that for a utility defenseman. That's what Harris is. Decent player...but he's a 5/6D with 4/5 Tweener upside. And the sort of tweener who team do not value.


He's closer to Jokiharju than he is to a solid Top-4D. What would you trade for him?

 

[Miller Time]

I'm not a Yotes fan...Arizona, Utah, or otherwise...so i'm definitely not campaigning for a better deal for those reasons.


It's just a straight up bad deal though.

McBain is a promising young center with size and two-way upside. He's not a star...but he's a good player.

You're simply not getting that for a utility defenseman. That's what Harris is. Decent player...but he's a 5/6D with 4/5 Tweener upside. And the sort of tweener who team do not value.


He's closer to Jokiharju than he is to a solid Top-4D. What would you trade for him?

Your assessment of Harris remains poor.

Projecting some massive upside for McBain because he's "big" while plateauing Harris' future for "reasons" isn't a compelling argument.

I would trade Harris for McBain. Moreso because of organization roster needs than because I think McBain will have a better career or deliver a higher impact in their respective prime.

 

[biturbo19]

Your assessment of Harris remains poor.

What do you think Jordan Harris is as a defenceman? And how does it differ from my assessment?

 

[Dead Coyote]

Your assessment of Harris remains poor.

Projecting some massive upside for McBain because he's "big" while plateauing Harris' future for "reasons" isn't a compelling argument.

First of all as has been explained previously in the thread, Utah does not need another LD 4-6 tweener.

Moser and Valimaki are both natural LD's and Durzi has played the left side plenty of times in Arizona.

Simashev, Kolyachanok and Duda are all also LD's. Then you have guys like Langlois and Soderstrom.

There are LD's like Ghost and Skjei that are better than Harris on the FA market which are LD's.

Is Harris better than Moser and Durzi? No.

Is Harris better than Valimaki? Defensively, quite possible. Offensively, not really. Valimaki had a down year but he had some good moments too and the year before that showed that he could be a top 4 offensive D and he was mostly competent on defense.

Does Harris project to be better than Simashev? No.

Koly and Duda, very debatable as neither have lots of NHL time, though Koly looked extremely good in his limited time playing for the team this year.

Is Harris better than guys Utah could hypothetically get on the FA market? Also no.

Harris is a solid D-man who is a swiss army knife and very flexible in your roster, he isn't elite at any one thing but has solid tools all round and isn't weak at any one thing either. He has somewhat limited offensive upside because of that, but Utah does definitely need some stability on the back end which he would provide.

The problem with that is that a) as professed above, there's basically no room for him in our organization unless we a) make no moves and run Moser/Durzi as our top pair and b) choose to play him over younger prospects within our organization who need more development time than he does. And honestly even if we do that, Simashev is pretty much just a better version of him and as soon as he makes the NHL will likely completely take over that role. Utah also just really, really needs a top pair. Moser-Durzi and Valimaki-Kesselring/Lamoreaux is a great 2nd and 3rd pair.

The other problem is that guys who are worse than Harris offensively but just as good defensively can be found very easily in FA. Scott Harrington has been on like 10 teams and will accept whatever contract you give him. Utah just gave away Troy Stecher for a pittance despite the fact he's a near carbon ass copy of Harris, but older.

Guys like McBain on the other hand, are much harder to find. You don't find a lot of 6'4 guys who are physical, nasty, good net front presence, young, and centers while also still being defensively responsible. Utah's center depth is also a lot worse than their defensive depth.

Outside of Cooley they have no one in the org who projects as a top 6 center, and on a good cup contender Kerfoot and Bjugstad should be bottom 6ers who can play up the lineup. Hayton is yet another guy who has currently only ever shown the ability to be a decent but not great middle sixer, and Boyd is trash who should be catapulted into the sun.

McBain, much like Crouse, is somewhat of an anomaly in the NHL because of his tools and skillset. He also happens to be pretty much the perfect kind of center for guys like Keller and Schmaltz because he has a great shot, is good at cycling, defensively responsible, and a great net front presence. He could stand to improve on many of those aspects as well, but he's still young and has a solid base with which to improve. Mostly he needs to improve on his defense and faceoffs.

Whether or not McBain is a better player than Harris is pretty debatable, they're both 24 and haven't done much in the NHL.

But McBain is absolutely more valuable to Utah than Harris would be, and his skillset is currently more valuable across the league.

So this trade doesn't work for Utah because of needs, and it also doesn't work with Utah because of value.

PS. McBain has more upside because he plays the more valuable position, has more goalscoring potential, and his ceiling is higher because of a combination of size, skating, shot, and defensive awareness- all things highly valued in "big" players.

 

[Heldig]

Habs will likely have Matheson, Guhle, Xhekaj, Hutson on the left side next year and Savard, Barron and Kovacevic on the right side leaving Harris as the odd man out while also needing help on forward.

McBain being a centre on Utah, is behind the likes of Cooley and Schmaltz and they also do not have any dmen signed next year.

Harris has 1 year left paying 1.4 million posting 31 points in 121 games played over 2 seasons

McBain has 1 year left paying 1.6 million posting 52 points in 149 games played over 2 seasons

Is this a fair trade?

Replace Harris with Xhekaj and GM Armstrong may listen.

McBain is a beast of a checking C. Schmaltz is a RW. Coyotes depth is on wing.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

How exactly does it do that?


I'm saying Hughes will not waive Harris and lose him for nothing. But realistically...is Harris worth any more than Kovacevic, who the Habitants found on waivers? Can you explain how that's the case? How the big solid RHD is worth less than the small LHD of a comparable mostly bottom-pairing level?


I don't know if it even makes sense. But that's the way NHL GMs tend to operate.

He's one of the top-3 Habs homers on this board you have to take his opinions with a grain of salt

Only Habs fans are arguing that this is a good and fair deal

 

[Habs Halifax]

I'd go 2 for 2. Who can Utah add to even this up?

McBain and ???
for
Dvorak and Harris

Replace Harris with Xhekaj and GM Armstrong may listen.

McBain is a beast of a checking C. Schmaltz is a RW. Coyotes depth is on wing.

Xhekaj >> McBain

After what you just flipped, I'm sure you don't know much about either of Harris or Xhekaj.

I'm aware of McBain's game. I don't see Utah taking Harris for him. Value is not off but it's a team need problem.

 

[BKarchitect]

First of all as has been explained previously in the thread, Utah does not need another LD 4-6 tweener.

Moser and Valimaki are both natural LD's and Durzi has played the left side plenty of times in Arizona.

Simashev, Kolyachanok and Duda are all also LD's. Then you have guys like Langlois and Soderstrom.

There are LD's like Ghost and Skjei that are better than Harris on the FA market which are LD's.

Is Harris better than Moser and Durzi? No.

Is Harris better than Valimaki? Defensively, quite possible. Offensively, not really. Valimaki had a down year but he had some good moments too and the year before that showed that he could be a top 4 offensive D and he was mostly competent on defense.

Does Harris project to be better than Simashev? No.

Koly and Duda, very debatable as neither have lots of NHL time, though Koly looked extremely good in his limited time playing for the team this year.

Is Harris better than guys Utah could hypothetically get on the FA market? Also no.

Harris is a solid D-man who is a swiss army knife and very flexible in your roster, he isn't elite at any one thing but has solid tools all round and isn't weak at any one thing either. He has somewhat limited offensive upside because of that, but Utah does definitely need some stability on the back end which he would provide.

The problem with that is that a) as professed above, there's basically no room for him in our organization unless we a) make no moves and run Moser/Durzi as our top pair and b) choose to play him over younger prospects within our organization who need more development time than he does. And honestly even if we do that, Simashev is pretty much just a better version of him and as soon as he makes the NHL will likely completely take over that role. Utah also just really, really needs a top pair. Moser-Durzi and Valimaki-Kesselring/Lamoreaux is a great 2nd and 3rd pair.

The other problem is that guys who are worse than Harris offensively but just as good defensively can be found very easily in FA. Scott Harrington has been on like 10 teams and will accept whatever contract you give him. Utah just gave away Troy Stecher for a pittance despite the fact he's a near carbon ass copy of Harris, but older.

Guys like McBain on the other hand, are much harder to find. You don't find a lot of 6'4 guys who are physical, nasty, good net front presence, young, and centers while also still being defensively responsible. Utah's center depth is also a lot worse than their defensive depth.

Outside of Cooley they have no one in the org who projects as a top 6 center, and on a good cup contender Kerfoot and Bjugstad should be bottom 6ers who can play up the lineup. Hayton is yet another guy who has currently only ever shown the ability to be a decent but not great middle sixer, and Boyd is trash who should be catapulted into the sun.

McBain, much like Crouse, is somewhat of an anomaly in the NHL because of his tools and skillset. He also happens to be pretty much the perfect kind of center for guys like Keller and Schmaltz because he has a great shot, is good at cycling, defensively responsible, and a great net front presence. He could stand to improve on many of those aspects as well, but he's still young and has a solid base with which to improve. Mostly he needs to improve on his defense and faceoffs.

Whether or not McBain is a better player than Harris is pretty debatable, they're both 24 and haven't done much in the NHL.

But McBain is absolutely more valuable to Utah than Harris would be, and his skillset is currently more valuable across the league.

So this trade doesn't work for Utah because of needs, and it also doesn't work with Utah because of value.

PS. McBain has more upside because he plays the more valuable position, has more goalscoring potential, and his ceiling is higher because of a combination of size, skating, shot, and defensive awareness- all things highly valued in "big" players.

Great post. None of the posters who should read it an absorb it are going to because it’s much easier just to say “no you’re wrong!!” and add a bunch of “>>>> duuurrrr”.

And, ironically they selectively weaponize the same line of thinking with their bigger players to emphasize how valuable and untouchable are given limited performance or track record.

So sorry you wasted your time. But great post.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

Xhekaj >> McBain

After what you just flipped, I'm sure you don't know much about either of Harris or Xhekaj.

I'm aware of McBain's game. I don't see Utah taking Harris for him. Value is not off but it's a team need problem.

Right but at least try and look at it from the Coyotes perspective, if they really wanted to add a Jordan Harris level defenseman, they could do it easily without giving up McBain. Or if they give up McBain, they could get a much better player than Harris.

Habs fans need to ask ourselves why we are so comfortable trading Harris and not Xhekaj or Struble. Is it because he is undersized, weak, and not very good offensively? If so, why would any team trade a player they actually like for him?

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

First of all as has been explained previously in the thread, Utah does not need another LD 4-6 tweener.

Moser and Valimaki are both natural LD's and Durzi has played the left side plenty of times in Arizona.

Simashev, Kolyachanok and Duda are all also LD's. Then you have guys like Langlois and Soderstrom.

There are LD's like Ghost and Skjei that are better than Harris on the FA market which are LD's.

Is Harris better than Moser and Durzi? No.

Is Harris better than Valimaki? Defensively, quite possible. Offensively, not really. Valimaki had a down year but he had some good moments too and the year before that showed that he could be a top 4 offensive D and he was mostly competent on defense.

Does Harris project to be better than Simashev? No.

Koly and Duda, very debatable as neither have lots of NHL time, though Koly looked extremely good in his limited time playing for the team this year.

Is Harris better than guys Utah could hypothetically get on the FA market? Also no.

Harris is a solid D-man who is a swiss army knife and very flexible in your roster, he isn't elite at any one thing but has solid tools all round and isn't weak at any one thing either. He has somewhat limited offensive upside because of that, but Utah does definitely need some stability on the back end which he would provide.

The problem with that is that a) as professed above, there's basically no room for him in our organization unless we a) make no moves and run Moser/Durzi as our top pair and b) choose to play him over younger prospects within our organization who need more development time than he does. And honestly even if we do that, Simashev is pretty much just a better version of him and as soon as he makes the NHL will likely completely take over that role. Utah also just really, really needs a top pair. Moser-Durzi and Valimaki-Kesselring/Lamoreaux is a great 2nd and 3rd pair.

The other problem is that guys who are worse than Harris offensively but just as good defensively can be found very easily in FA. Scott Harrington has been on like 10 teams and will accept whatever contract you give him. Utah just gave away Troy Stecher for a pittance despite the fact he's a near carbon ass copy of Harris, but older.

Guys like McBain on the other hand, are much harder to find. You don't find a lot of 6'4 guys who are physical, nasty, good net front presence, young, and centers while also still being defensively responsible. Utah's center depth is also a lot worse than their defensive depth.

Outside of Cooley they have no one in the org who projects as a top 6 center, and on a good cup contender Kerfoot and Bjugstad should be bottom 6ers who can play up the lineup. Hayton is yet another guy who has currently only ever shown the ability to be a decent but not great middle sixer, and Boyd is trash who should be catapulted into the sun.

McBain, much like Crouse, is somewhat of an anomaly in the NHL because of his tools and skillset. He also happens to be pretty much the perfect kind of center for guys like Keller and Schmaltz because he has a great shot, is good at cycling, defensively responsible, and a great net front presence. He could stand to improve on many of those aspects as well, but he's still young and has a solid base with which to improve. Mostly he needs to improve on his defense and faceoffs.

Whether or not McBain is a better player than Harris is pretty debatable, they're both 24 and haven't done much in the NHL.

But McBain is absolutely more valuable to Utah than Harris would be, and his skillset is currently more valuable across the league.

So this trade doesn't work for Utah because of needs, and it also doesn't work with Utah because of value.

PS. McBain has more upside because he plays the more valuable position, has more goalscoring potential, and his ceiling is higher because of a combination of size, skating, shot, and defensive awareness- all things highly valued in "big" players.

Damn @Miller Time got eviscerated

GET UP

 

[Stewie Griffin]

Habs fans need to ask ourselves why we are so comfortable trading Harris and not Xhekaj or Struble.

Preach. Thank you.


Can you go into the other 16 threads with Harris and keep saying this?

 

[Miller Time]

Preach. Thank you.


Can you go into the other 16 threads with Harris and keep saying this?

Like all fan bases, some fans have no clue how to assess what they are watching...

Right but at least try and look at it from the Coyotes perspective, if they really wanted to add a Jordan Harris level defenseman, they could do it easily without giving up McBain. Or if they give up McBain, they could get a much better player than Harris.

Any team can add any player provided they are willing to pay the cost of acquisition.

Pretty straightforward.

Habs fans need to ask ourselves why we are so comfortable trading Harris and not Xhekaj or Struble. Is it because he is undersized, weak, and not very good offensively? If so, why would any team trade a player they actually like for him?

Maybe because any player can be traded?

 

[Heldig]

I'd go 2 for 2. Who can Utah add to even this up?

McBain and ???
for
Dvorak and Harris



Xhekaj >> McBain

After what you just flipped, I'm sure you don't know much about either of Harris or Xhekaj.

I'm aware of McBain's game. I don't see Utah taking Harris for him. Value is not off but it's a team need problem.

LOL of course.

Illuminate me.

From what I see / know Harris is a small, soft offensive type D that has not put up many points yet. He is a 5/6/7 guy and likely waiver fodder if a few Montreal prospects make the jump.

Meanwhile Xhekaj and McBain are both big, mean physically imposing players with upside. Xhekaj is an RFA while McBain is signed.

GM Armstrong loves big, mean players. Zero chance he trades McBain for Harris. The value is not there nor is the fit.

 

[Mersss]

LOL of course.

Illuminate me.

From what I see / know Harris is a small, soft offensive type D that has not put up many points yet. He is a 5/6/7 guy and likely waiver fodder if a few Montreal prospects make the jump.

Meanwhile Xhekaj and McBain are both big, mean physically imposing players with upside. Xhekaj is an RFA while McBain is signed.

GM Armstrong loves big, mean players. Zero chance he trades McBain for Harris. The value is not there nor is the fit.

Xhekaj likely ends up as a physical #4 like prime Bogosian

The other is a 4th liner for life

 

[Stewie Griffin]

Xhekaj likely ends up as a physical #4 like prime Bogosian

The other is a 4th liner for life

So MTL's prospect gets an absolute best case scenario development as a "likely" scenario while the other teams player doesn't progress at all?