Player Discussion Mike Matheson

[Sasha Orlov]

Matheson is a double threat. Hutson has no shot. But I'd be ok having them both and removing Dach from PP1.

Matheson is a double threat to his own team lmao

 

[sampollock]

KH screwed up not moving him when his value so high last year.
he sucks this year and not helping the young D man at all.

big time fail

 

[BLONG7]

KH screwed up not moving him when his value so high last year.
he sucks this year and not helping the young D man at all.

big time fail

Hanging on to an asset too long, can be as big a mistake, as trading one too soon.
There is a fine line eh....
Yesterday, in the first period, was possibly his worst period of hockey with the habs....
An absolute tire fire at times, and yet, there is the offensive game that can work.....he is a cheaper version of Karlsson, with a very similar game.

 

[Pure Laine]

Man, that assist on the Bruins PK goal. Incredible brain fart.

 

[Tyson]

He is playing in the wrong chair. He is clearly not a 26 minute Dman and he shows it playing against top lines. Brisebois was put in the same situations, always playing top minutes when in reality he was a #4 D at best. Matheson is not a top pairing Dman.

 

[BaseballCoach]

KH screwed up not moving him when his value so high last year.
he sucks this year and not helping the young D man at all.

big time fail

Don't agree. I think it's superior to have both Hutson and Matheson on the team.

Guhle is a 2nd pair D I think.

Hopefully Reinbacher rounds out our top 4.

 

[McGees]

Don't agree. I think it's superior to have both Hutson and Matheson on the team.

Guhle is a 2nd pair D I think.

Hopefully Reinbacher rounds out our top 4.

Guhle is a far superior D than Matheson.
Matheson is a Jake Gardiner, a Gustafsson...can skate and provide offence but cost u even more through all his low IQ mistakes.
Definitely should have traded last year.

 

[The Real Timo]

Matheson can never seem to make just a simple clear out of the zone. I don’t understand why coaches don’t work with him on that.

 

[LaP]

Matheson can never seem to make just a simple clear out of the zone. I don’t understand why coaches don’t work with him on that.

You can be sure many coaches worked with him on that at this point of his career. He is who he is. Much better game tonight.

 

[Jurivan Demidovsky]

Don't agree. I think it's superior to have both Hutson and Matheson on the team.

Guhle is a 2nd pair D I think.

Hopefully Reinbacher rounds out our top 4.

Matheson not needed, trade him. Trade Savard too. Aquire a top pairing stay at home partner for Hutson in the off-season. Play Barron next season and leave Reinbacher in Laval. For the 2026 - 2027 season the team could look like this:

Hutson - RHD acquisition
Guhle - Reinbacher
Xhekaj - Mailloux

 

[Habs Halifax]

Something to ponder as a possibility (like it or not)...

Matheson is on a value contract for one more year. Age 31 season coming for 25/26. How happy or upset would you be if he stays and is open to extending on a team friendly deal? lets say 3 years at $5.5M (age 32-34). Those are not bad years for a smooth skater like Matheson.

He's playing well with Hutson and we have faced some tough teams over the last 2 weeks. What are the chances we are going to be able to trade for a RD and it's an upgrade?

Hutson / Matheson
Guhle / Reinbacher
Xhekaj / Mailloux
Struble, Engstrom, BK

 

[Benstheman]

Time to trade him while he's doing good.

I want a rock defensively to play with Hutson. Might be Reinbacher but in 2-3 years only.

The best would be a guy that can play 20 minutes at ES and contribute on the PK. A rock defensively and physical.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Time to trade him while he's doing good.

I want a rock defensively to play with Hutson. Might be Reinbacher but in 2-3 years only.

The best would be a guy that can play 20 minutes at ES and contribute on the PK. A rock defensively and physical.

Fair when you talk about defensive D vs offensive D. I do think we might miss his puck moving.

Very curious to see what he would return. Probably something around the Toffoli deal IMO. A late 1st and a B+ prospect trending well.

 

[Ezpz]

Mailloux is trade bait. He's not smart enough to be a top 4 dman.

Matheson's future depends on Reinbacher next year. Carrier will be here for his entire contract plus maybe a few more years as he's in that prime age for dmen.

I don't think they're making a decision in the short term. None of our dmen or goalie picks from 2025 on are likely to crack the team in the beginning or middle of our opening window.

 

[Deebs]

Where's Carrier? He and Guhle are playing terrific together. Reinbacher is at minimum another year away and even at that point, his potential won't be fully realized.

As for Matty, he's holding the fort right now at RD but I would like to add a RD vet into the mix there. Easier said than done of course. I think depending what's happening with the team over the next couple months standings wise, we hold tight, keep taking calls on him and if anything/everything should be on the table.

 

[Hins77]

Lets say we trade him now. Wich player is gonna eat his minutes? Xhekaj?, Struble? They are going to be expose on a bad way imo, Guhle and Carrier are already playing a lot.
I mean, we want to make a step forward. We shouldnt trade him now. And nobody in Laval is ready to make a jump.

 

[Benstheman]

Fair when you talk about defensive D vs offensive D. I do think we might miss his puck moving.

Very curious to see what he would return. Probably something around the Toffoli deal IMO. A late 1st and a B+ prospect trending well.

Off course it depends on the return we can get.

And also if such a player (defensive/2-way top 4D) is disponible on the market. There's a context to all this.

 

[BergevinBurner]

Time to trade him while he's doing good.

I want a rock defensively to play with Hutson. Might be Reinbacher but in 2-3 years only.

The best would be a guy that can play 20 minutes at ES and contribute on the PK. A rock defensively and physical.

I'm in the same boat. I don't think we move him at the deadline unless we completely collapse before then. I'd ideally move him this summer and look for a shutdown defenseman to pair with Hutson while Reinbacher develops in Laval.

 

[StCaufield]

Sure let’s trade him while we are finally doing well and while he’s been better too. Might as well just be sellers again. The only way I’d trade him is for another puck moving d man with a longer contract in a hockey trade but that doesn’t happen

 

[Walrus26]

Stay.

We lose something we wouldn't be able to replace for the $$$, just when we're emerging into relevance for the first time in how long.

His recent play, all told, is a part of the resurgence. Just who would we replace his play and his minutes with?

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

We missed an opportunity last season
Ship him now Guhle and Hutson can play offensively and he sucks defensively and he's not physical.

We got him for Petry so who cares if we don't get the moon

 

[Benstheman]

Lets say we trade him now. Wich player is gonna eat his minutes? Xhekaj?, Struble? They are going to be expose on a bad way imo, Guhle and Carrier are already playing a lot.
I mean, we want to make a step forward. We shouldnt trade him now. And nobody in Laval is ready to make a jump.

Yep like I said, there is context to this. In the an actual situation, I don't think they trade Matheson without getting a favourable replacement on the right side. But the Habs situation is pretty volatile in a sense that 3-4 losses in a row and they are back in the bottom 5-8 teams of the league.

A lot of variables but in the long scheme, Matheson is not a partner for Hutson or Guhle on the right side imo.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Off course it depends on the return we can get.

And also if such a player (defensive/2-way top 4D) is disponible on the market. There's a context to all this.

Just looked at some numbers between Dobson and Matheson (giveaways, takeaways, hits, blocks, points, corsi, and zone starts). These two are neck/neck in terms of those numbers. Are we overlooking Matheson? I think there is a fair chance Gorton/Hughes might agree and they have plans of extending him if he is open to a team friendly deal.

If Matheson and Hutson continue to perform (especially against the top 10 teams), why should we not consider keeping Matheson? Age 31 season next year and sign him for 3 years (32-34). Those will be decent years and Matheson will be very mature and experienced. This thought that he can't improve defensively as a vet is nonsense. It's happening right in front of our eyes

I might go back/forth on this but I am not 100% sold on unloading Matheson. I like having Hutson on one PP and Matheson on the other. Lets not overlook Matheson's improvement on D and his rare puck moving ability. When you don't have puck moving, you will miss it!

 

[Naslundforever]

Just looked at some numbers between Dobson and Matheson (giveaways, takeaways, hits, blocks, points, corsi, and zone starts). These two are neck/neck in terms of those numbers. Are we overlooking Matheson? I think there is a fair chance Gorton/Hughes might agree and they have plans of extending him if he is open to a team friendly deal.

If Matheson and Hutson continue to perform (especially against the top 10 teams), why should we not consider keeping Matheson? Age 31 season next year and sign him for 3 years (32-34). Those will be decent years and Matheson will be very mature and experienced. This thought that he can't improve defensively as a vet is nonsense. It's happening right in front of our eyes

I might go back/forth on this but I am not 100% sold on unloading Matheson. I like having Hutson on one PP and Matheson on the other. Lets not overlook Matheson's improvement on D and his rare puck moving ability. When you don't have puck moving, you will miss it!

Matheson with half the brain farts (which seem to happen less and less often prob partly because of Hutson on pp1) is super valuable to the habs or by trade. Nice balance of vets too now.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Matheson with half the brain farts (which seem to happen less and less often prob partly because of Hutson on pp1) is super valuable to the habs or by trade. Nice balance of vets too now.

If the return for Matheson is like a Toffoli trade (late 1st and B+ prospect), I think I would retain. If the offer is good but not pry away value and Matheson is open to 3x $5-$6M, I would consider it for sure. Age 31-34 years will be solid years for Matheson and his skating.

You are right with Matheson's turnovers being better lately with Hutson on PP1. However, his improvement on D goes further than just his time with Hutson and off the PP1. There has been some small evidence of him improving in the D zone over the last season and a half. We should stop jumping on his back for being terrible in his own zone. He should be allowed to improve and get acknowledgement for it.