HF Habs: Trade Proposal Thread #86: 2023-2024 Season

[Draft]

Fair, though I feel like Suzuki (who is a legit Selke candidate at this point), Dach & Slaf would provide enough buffer to the softish play of Z, Necas & CC.

Slaf Suzuki Necas
Zegras Dach CC

A top 6 like that could be absolutely dynamite over the next 3-5 yrs imo.

If we are going to target any established offensive talent upgrades in the near future, there will inevitably be some flaws we need to be willing to live with... Either that, or target more Dach/Newhook "potential" talents.

I think finding guys that can complement what we already have will be important. Adding two high skill 60+pt players will undoubtedly change how the team plays, but I’d be very wary about shaking up the strong foundation and young leaders by bringing in two guys that don’t buy in and have had issues with contracts. One headache feels worth it, two feels dangerous.

In terms of style of play, I don’t think we’ll overwhelm teams with a handful of 2nd tier offensive talents. Finding a way to be versatile/dynamic at both ends and play high-compete hockey as a team will likely be necessary to be competitive. The goal should still be a team built for the playoffs. Room for development with both players but I’m not entirely convinced.

 

[nhlfan9191]

Great to hear KH talk about bringing in more players a la Dach and Newhook. Gotta stack the contending window age wise

Dach was one of the more creative trades we’ve seen here in a long time. Big young centres that were at the development stage Dach was at don’t become available hardly ever even if they have some warts. I’m not sure I really understand the vision with Newhook yet but I’d like to see something more substantial then that added in the near future.

 

[salbutera]

Dach was one of the more creative trades we’ve seen here in a long time. Big young centres that were at the development stage Dach was at don’t become available hardly ever even if they have some warts. I’m not sure I really understand the vision with Newhook yet but I’d like to see something more substantial then that added in the near future.

Dach trade also happened due to familiarity of D prospects in the Habs system - Hughes & MSL knew Harris & Struble for years in youth hockey. Deal doesn’t happen without that recency bias…. Hughes alluded to it at PC

It’s akin to Al Murray having scouted Point & Cirelli in their early teens as head scout for Team Canada, timeline was perfect for drafting them as TBay’s head scout

 

[sampollock]

so many picks Kent has, it is time to load some up and get a prospect

 

[BenchBrawl]

so many picks Kent has, it is time to load some up and get a prospect

My guess this will happen at the draft.

 

[pth2]

With Barron a healthy scratch, I'm now wondering if he might be on the block.

RD with high end offensive talent are rare, and with Reinbacher and Mailloux coming up (as well as Matheson doing a good job offensively, and Hutson coming up), it's possible he'd be available if a GM always liked his game.

 

[sampollock]

With Barron a healthy scratch, I'm now wondering if he might be on the block.

RD with high end offensive talent are rare, and with Reinbacher and Mailloux coming up (as well as Matheson doing a good job offensively, and Hutson coming up), it's possible he'd be available if a GM always liked his game.

All these D men and goalies.. something has to give

 

[vokiel]

Will the GM succeed trading Joel Armia this season? We already have plenty of lowbe picks. What kind of return could we get for Armia, if the goal is to help development?

 

[Miller Time]

Will the GM succeed trading Joel Armia this season? We already plenty of lowbe picks. What kind of return could we get for Armia, if the goal is to help development?

With how Armia handled himself with the AHL demotion, the way he's been playing since returning, the relatively increasing cap flexIibility the Habs have, and our roster/fwd situation, I don't know that they will be looking to move him outside of a strong offer (as opposed to moving him for the sake of offloading his contract or for a late pick/depth prospect).

He's frustrating & overpaid, but also a strong bottom 6 option who is low maintenance & reliable defensively.

Won't be surprised if he's still on the roster next September unless some contender or wild card hopeful values him enough to pay ~2nd pick (either straight up, or as part of a larger deal with other pieces involved)

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

Will the GM succeed trading Joel Armia this season? We already plenty of lowbe picks. What kind of return could we get for Armia, if the goal is to help development?

Would take a half eaten sandwich for him.

 

[Leon Lucius Black]

With Barron a healthy scratch, I'm now wondering if he might be on the block.

RD with high end offensive talent are rare, and with Reinbacher and Mailloux coming up (as well as Matheson doing a good job offensively, and Hutson coming up), it's possible he'd be available if a GM always liked his game.

I would say with Kovacevic getting back into the lineup, perhaps it is him who could be on the block. He's a decent 3rd pairing guy who is on a dirt cheap contract, playoff teams would see lots of value in that for adding defensive depth.

 

[Leon Lucius Black]

I am not sure who would be available, but I think it'd be a good idea to try and take a chance on a young centre with 2nd or 3rd line potential to finish the season as there would be a lot of minutes available at ES and on the PP.

Once Monahan is gone, we are left with Suzuki/Evans/Stephens as our centres.. the top centres in Laval I believe are Gignac and Maillet so we don't have much there.

With Dach's injuries, Dvorak/Evans UFA after next year and not many good centre prospects, it'd be a good idea to get more depth down the middle.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Armia was good in the playoffs on the perry line maybe somebody will remember that and want him in the bottom 6 for a run *fingers crossed*

 

[Habs 4 Life]

Armia was good in the playoffs on the perry line maybe somebody will remember that and want him in the bottom 6 for a run *fingers crossed*

The team can also count on him for next season as he is under contract, but if moved, I believe we will have to retain, maybe not 50% but at least 25%

 

[pth2]

I would say with Kovacevic getting back into the lineup, perhaps it is him who could be on the block. He's a decent 3rd pairing guy who is on a dirt cheap contract, playoff teams would see lots of value in that for adding defensive depth.

The difference is one of return... Kovacevic might fetch a 3d from a team looking for cheap depth in the short term.

Barron might fetch a first round pick (I'm thinking like Sandin fetched the Leafs), or rather he might fetch a 1st round equivalent value in a forward on a team with a lack of RD.

----

For those discussing Armia - with his cap hit, I don't see anyone wanting him, and retention slots are too precious to waste them shipping out warm bodies for little to no return. Dvorak (next season), Allen, Savard, even Monahan, would be better uses for retention slots: players that other teams might actively want and be willing to give up assets for. Not just getting rid of Armia.

Now, next season's deadline might be a good time to move out Armia and get some kind of a return for him. But not now.

 

[Benstheman]

Kovacevic traded this deadline. Savard next and Matheson at 2026 deadline.

Agreed. Although as far as Matheson is concerned, if Hutson is nhl ready for 2025-2026 season, Matheson will be traded during the summer. There will be a lack of available spot and quite frankly, his value will be bigger if a team is interested in trading for him and immediately extend him.

If Hutson is not ready, Matheson will be traded at the deadline if Habs are not in a playoffs spot.

 

[vokiel]

With how Armia handled himself with the AHL demotion, the way he's been playing since returning, the relatively increasing cap flexIibility the Habs have, and our roster/fwd situation, I don't know that they will be looking to move him outside of a strong offer (as opposed to moving him for the sake of offloading his contract or for a late pick/depth prospect).

He's frustrating & overpaid, but also a strong bottom 6 option who is low maintenance & reliable defensively.

Won't be surprised if he's still on the roster next September unless some contender or wild card hopeful values him enough to pay ~2nd pick (either straight up, or as part of a larger deal with other pieces involved)

I'd rather give the ice time to one of the numerous forwards in the system. You keep playing Armia, and imho that means you gave up on some of your draft picks, like... Ylonen for instance.

 

[Benstheman]

With how Armia handled himself with the AHL demotion, the way he's been playing since returning, the relatively increasing cap flexIibility the Habs have, and our roster/fwd situation, I don't know that they will be looking to move him outside of a strong offer (as opposed to moving him for the sake of offloading his contract or for a late pick/depth prospect).

He's frustrating & overpaid, but also a strong bottom 6 option who is low maintenance & reliable defensively.

Won't be surprised if he's still on the roster next September unless some contender or wild card hopeful values him enough to pay ~2nd pick (either straight up, or as part of a larger deal with other pieces involved)

The reality with all those contracts (Gallagher, Anderson, Armia, Dvorak) is we have the cap flexibility to wait for them to expire without making decisions that will impair our flexibility to sign ro trade for big bucks players. Except for Gallagher, i would let them run out until they become rentals.

As for Gallagher, i think he will be bought out 1 year (2026 off-season) before his contract expires, maybe 2 (2025 off-season) if we have an opportunity to sign a player and we need the money.

 

[sampollock]

The difference is one of return... Kovacevic might fetch a 3d from a team looking for cheap depth in the short term.

Barron might fetch a first round pick (I'm thinking like Sandin fetched the Leafs), or rather he might fetch a 1st round equivalent value in a forward on a team with a lack of RD.

----

For those discussing Armia - with his cap hit, I don't see anyone wanting him, and retention slots are too precious to waste them shipping out warm bodies for little to no return. Dvorak (next season), Allen, Savard, even Monahan, would be better uses for retention slots: players that other teams might actively want and be willing to give up assets for. Not just getting rid of Armia.

Now, next season's deadline might be a good time to move out Armia and get some kind of a return for him. But not now.

Kent needs to move a D man. Barron may be the guy..

 

[Kosseca]

Kent needs to move a D man. Barron may be the guy..

You may be right, but oddly this is the weak side of the D right now. In fact, you could say that all RD could be traded.... Savard, Barron and Kova. The Guhle/Harris RD experiment tend to indicate that they would prefer keeping a LD and have him play RD, then trading a LD to keep a RD.

I was always of the view that future D pair would look something like this due to natural position
Guhle - XXX
Hudson - Reinb.
Wifi - Mailloux
Struble

But now, I think that at least for the next season, we could see:
(if huson and Reinb jump to the nhl, they may start in Laval as a top pair)

Matheson - Guhle
Wifi - [Barron/other]
Struble - Harris

and later:
Hudson - Reinb.
Struble - Guhle
Wifi - Mailloux/Harris

 

[eklund the clown]

Would take a half eaten sandwich for him.

What kind?

 

[BaseballCoach]

But now, I think that at least for the next season, we could see:
(if huson and Reinb jump to the nhl, they may start in Laval as a top pair)

Matheson - Guhle
Wifi - [Barron/other]
Struble - Harris

and later:
Hudson - Reinb.
Struble - Guhle
Wifi - Mailloux/Harris

Right now with no one injured Struble is being played as the 4th D.

 

[Habs 4 Life]

so many picks Kent has, it is time to load some up and get a prospect

I was thinking of this last night watching the game and discussing with a buddy. Not saying they would do it, but the team that wins the lottery assuming it's not us, would you guys trade our 1st this year, Calgary's 1st and a solid prospect say like Harris to the lottery winner to take Celebrini? Now I'm not saying it's enough to get it done, but I'd be willing to add to get it done. i think it's time we "go for it" and get that legit franchise player

 

[sampollock]

I was thinking of this last night watching the game and discussing with a buddy. Not saying they would do it, but the team that wins the lottery assuming it's not us, would you guys trade our 1st this year, Calgary's 1st and a solid prospect say like Harris to the lottery winner to take Celebrini? Now I'm not saying it's enough to get it done, but I'd be willing to add to get it done. i think it's time we "go for it" and get that legit franchise player

most teams never trade away the top pick, not sure if it has been done??

 

[Saundies]

I think we end up with Zegras somehow. I have no idea for what, but the situation itself has Kent Hughes written all over it. Probably more than what we'd like to give up.

We need scoring and he brings it (in a good year).