HF Habs: Trade Proposal Thread #88: 2024-25 Season

[Hacketts]

Entertainment purposes only, In this crazy scenario Montreal wins the cup this season! Is it worth it? The cap actually works lol. Let the freak outs begin! Lol

To Pitsburgh: Demidov, Reinbacher/or/Mailloux, 2025 1st, 2025 1st #2, 2026 1st, Barron, Savard, Armia, Matheson, Dvorak, Anderson

To Montreal: Crosby, Malkin, Letang, Karlsson, Puljujarvi


Dach - Crosby - Laine
Slafkovsky - Suzuki - Caufield
Heineman - Malkin - Gallagher
Newhook- Evans - Puljujarvi

Hutson - Letang
Guhle - Karlsson
Xhekaj - Struble

Montembeault
Dobes

you should be exiled to a far away land.

 

[Runner77]

Is Dobson available?

Seems like the type of Dman Lou would never trade.

Probably not. Fan fiction at work.

 

[BozoTheClown]

Because we're rebuilding and they were likely bullish on Reinbacher earning his way into regular minutes.

That’s also a management team that was bullish on Newhook and Dach.

With Kovacevic & Reinbacher we'd have had a surplus of RD... Hindsight is different than foresight.

Many players have successfully short stints in the AHL, but jumping to the NHL at 19 from a European league is a lot different.

Matheson does things Kovacevic can't come close to doing. Like I said, Savard vs Kovacevic is a very legit critique but I'd presume they didn't expect the vet to struggle this much.

We have Hutson and Baron that are supposed to be our pick moving dmen, give them ice time and develop them.
Trading Matheson would have added quality assets for the rebuild.

Reinbacher was damn effective in his brief AHL stint last year and looked as good in camp. Little reason to doubt he'd have pushed hard for NHL spot... Gorton certainly did and explained as much to Kovacevic.


In hindsight, yes, Kovacevic would be more valuable to the Habs than a 4th. At the time of the trade, I was disappointed we didn't get at least a 3rd... But then and now I understand the rationale to trade him and a 4th suggests not one other team in the league thought he'd be playing this well, including the devils.

Maybe teams didn’t know Kovacevic was on the trade board, as I have a hard time imagining that other team didn’t see what we had and especially at the salary he’s getting paid. Kovacevic is definitely not the first and the last player to blossom at 26-27 years old, look at Petry.

I think the trade was mismanaged and not beneficial for the team.

 

[Miller Time]

That’s also a management team that was bullish on Newhook and Dach.

And justified to be so

Many players have successfully short stints in the AHL, but jumping to the NHL at 19 from a European league is a lot different.

Meh. Be it from NCAA to pro, juniors to pro or euro to NA, there's transition impact for all young dMen. The 11 game stint was a very positive indicator.

We have Hutson and Baron that are supposed to be our pick moving dmen, give them ice time and develop them.
Trading Matheson would have added quality assets for the rebuild.

Meh. I think you underestimate Matheson and overestimate how confident anyone was of Hutson being this good this fast. Like Reinbacher, back in August it was no given either would make opening day roster. Replacing what Savard is currently bringing, or what Kovacevic was likely to bring, heading into the season is far far different than replacing what Matheson brings.

Maybe teams didn’t know Kovacevic was on the trade board, as I have a hard time imagining that other team didn’t see what we had and especially at the salary he’s getting paid. Kovacevic is definitely not the first and the last player to blossom at 26-27 years old, look at Petry.

No reason to believe KH wouldn't shopped Kovacevic. There's literally no reason not to.

I think the trade was mismanaged and not beneficial for the team.

I disagree with the former and agree that with hindsight the latter is accurate

 

[BozoTheClown]

And justified to be so

I guess they missed the part on how useless Newhook was on the PP and how he didn’t made much difference or how terrible Dach was on the face off and how bad his work ethic and dedication is. I see now how Gorton’s many picks failed to materialize into anything good, Anderson, Chityl, Kravstov, Kakko, Lundkvist.

Meh. Be it from NCAA to pro, juniors to pro or euro to NA, there's transition impact for all young dMen. The 11 game stint was a very positive indicator.

Coming from a men’s league probably help him a bit playing against AHL players, but he only averaged 40 games per year in Europe and it’s a bit of a difference between the 72 or 82 games in North America where it’s also much more physical.

Meh. I think you underestimate Matheson and overestimate how confident anyone was of Hutson being this good this fast. Like Reinbacher, back in August it was no given either would make opening day roster. Replacing what Savard is currently bringing, or what Kovacevic was likely to bring, heading into the season is far far different than replacing what Matheson brings.

I was not confident with Hutson, but if you are going to develop him, you have to play him. I just didn’t see Hutson in the AHL.
We are rebuilding and trying to develop our young players, but we are playing Matheson 28 minutes a game, instead of giving everyone around 19-21 minutes a game. I would love Matheson if he was on our 2nd pairing, not our first and if we were a cup contender. Trading Matheson and keeping Kovacevic would have been better assets management.

No reason to believe KH wouldn't shopped Kovacevic. There's literally no reason not to.

You might be right.

I disagree with the former and agree that with hindsight the latter is accurate

How would keeping a big cheap right handed dmen being a force on the PK and eventually replacing Savard not be better than trading someone who would have most likely fetch us a at least 1st round pick and good forward prospect?
Matheson has a lot of inadequacies defensively, so has Hutson, Baron, but not Kovacevic.

 

[Miller Time]

I guess they missed the part on how useless Newhook was on the PP and how he didn’t made much difference or how terrible Dach was on the face off and how bad his work ethic and dedication is. I see now how Gorton’s many picks failed to materialize into anything good, Anderson, Chityl, Kravstov, Kakko, Lundkvist.

Meh... Can't say I agree with any of this, or am I just missing the clown humour

Coming from a men’s league probably help him a bit playing against AHL players, but he only averaged 40 games per year in Europe and it’s a bit of a difference between the 72 or 82 games in North America where it’s also much more physical.

Yup, just like jump from NCAA

I was not confident with Hutson, but if you are going to develop him, you have to play him. I just didn’t see Hutson in the AHL.

Not sure many were confident Hutson wouldn't spend any time in the AHL this year... Heck, some fans here and on the main board were still suggesting he'd be better off there well into the season (absurd).

Reinbacher would've been anywhere from an NHL regular to an AHL stud, but the team clearly wanted room for him to earn a spot in Montreal.

We are rebuilding and trying to develop our young players, but we are playing Matheson 28 minutes a game, instead of giving everyone around 19-21 minutes a game. I would love Matheson if he was on our 2nd pairing, not our first and if we were a cup contender. Trading Matheson and keeping Kovacevic would have been better assets management.

In a video game, sure... On an NHL roster, moving a 25min+ dman in his prime & replacing his role with rookies/unproven youth isn't a realistic option unless your intentionally tanking, which we aren't.

You might be right.

How would keeping a big cheap right handed dmen being a force on the PK and eventually replacing Savard not be better than trading someone who would have most likely fetch us a at least 1st round pick and good forward prospect?
Matheson has a lot of inadequacies defensively, so has Hutson, Baron, but not Kovacevic.

Matheson's defensive play is underappreciated. But regardless, point remains that Kovacevic wasn't a legit replacement for Matheson and it wouldn't have been reasonable to expect the team to offload Matheson to keep Kovacevic, even with the considerably greater trade value he'd of course have.

 

[ReHabs]

They are paid to forecast better the progress of young d-men. You keep your insurance policy. Especially a tall RD with experience and cheap contract. Basically, with Kovacevic they have to play to left handed d-men on the right side when they take out Barron or if Savard is sick or injured.

You’re right but you can’t hold it against a GM for thinking the player he purposefully acquired (Barron) has more potential than he’s already shown.

Savard didn’t have much of a market last summer, I reckon, and his workrate and professionalism was respected by the organization.

We need to improve our D man, every time I think about it I’m more convinced if we had marginal improvements over every D position 1-through-7 we’d look much much better under MSL non-system system.

 

[HuGort]

Is Trouba really that bad?

Imo he's the best hitter in the league. For a team like ANA I kind of get it to bring that hard nosed mentality into the lineup.

Kind of funny his last fight as a Ranger was Anderson feeding him his lunch.

Rangers wanted the caproom to lock up Shesterkin

 

[Jurivan Demidovsky]

you should be exiled to a far away land.

Good i need a vacation.

 

[ReHabs]

Good i need a vacation.

Iqualit is lovely this time of year.

 

[BozoTheClown]

Not sure many were confident Hutson wouldn't spend any time in the AHL this year... Heck, some fans here and on the main board were still suggesting he'd be better off there well into the season (absurd).

Makes you wonder if they still make decisions base on pleasing the ticket holders. If they are going to suck, at least make it exciting at times, which is what Hutson brings. The management team can say they won’t listen to what fans wants as it may not be best for the team future, but I wouldn’t be so sure.

Reinbacher would've been anywhere from an NHL regular to an AHL stud, but the team clearly wanted room for him to earn a spot in Montreal.

In a video game, sure... On an NHL roster, moving a 25min+ dman in his prime & replacing his role with rookies/unproven youth isn't a realistic option unless your intentionally tanking, which we aren't.

But this is why we had Baron and Hutson to eat some of those minutes. Ghule, Savard playing north of 20 minutes each as well as Xhekaj and Kovacevic playing more minutes. If you want your players to get better you can’t let them have stay at 16 minutes a game. Kovacevic and Xhekaj are proving it this year.

Matheson's defensive play is underappreciated. But regardless, point remains that Kovacevic wasn't a legit replacement for Matheson and it wouldn't have been reasonable to expect the team to offload Matheson to keep Kovacevic, even with the considerably greater trade value he'd of course have.

Kovacevic wasn’t not Matheson’s replacement, a combination of Baron, Hutson was going to be. It took guys like Matheson and Petry 6 years in the league to start developing his offensive game, but we won’t give Baron a chance in a rebuild. Makes no sense.

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

You’re right but you can’t hold it against a GM for thinking the player he purposefully acquired (Barron) has more potential than he’s already shown.

Savard didn’t have much of a market last summer, I reckon, and his workrate and professionalism was respected by the organization.

We need to improve our D man, every time I think about it I’m more convinced if we had marginal improvements over every D position 1-through-7 we’d look much much better under MSL non-system system.

There IS A SYSTEM. It is just very difficult to adapt to.

 

[1909]

There IS A SYSTEM. It is just very difficult to adapt to.

You need the proper players to implement it.

 

[Miller Time]

Makes you wonder if they still make decisions base on pleasing the ticket holders. If they are going to suck, at least make it exciting at times, which is what Hutson brings. The management team can say they won’t listen to what fans wants as it may not be best for the team future, but I wouldn’t be so sure.

I don't think there's any risk on that front... More than enough fans appreciate what they are doing and enjoy watching this young talented core progress.

But this is why we had Baron and Hutson to eat some of those minutes. Ghule, Savard playing north of 20 minutes each as well as Xhekaj and Kovacevic playing more minutes. If you want your players to get better you can’t let them have stay at 16 minutes a game. Kovacevic and Xhekaj are proving it this year.

That's why they moved Kovacevic...

Kovacevic wasn’t not Matheson’s replacement, a combination of Baron, Hutson was going to be. It took guys like Matheson and Petry 6 years in the league to start developing his offensive game, but we won’t give Baron a chance in a rebuild. Makes no sense.

Again, Barron/Hutson weren't realistic options to replace Matheson... Not sure why that's difficult to understand?

Barron "getting a chance" played into not keeping Kovacevic. Ditto having room for RB.

It makes perfect sense. That you don't agree is a different thing. There's far more grounded reasoning to the approach they took than to your suggestion that they should've kept Kovacevic & traded Matheson imo

 

[BozoTheClown]

I don't think there's any risk on that front... More than enough fans appreciate what they are doing and enjoy watching this young talented core progress.

That's why they moved Kovacevic...

Again, Barron/Hutson weren't realistic options to replace Matheson... Not sure why that's difficult to understand?

Barron "getting a chance" played into not keeping Kovacevic. Ditto having room for RB.

It makes perfect sense. That you don't agree is a different thing. There's far more grounded reasoning to the approach they took than to your suggestion that they should've kept Kovacevic & traded Matheson imo

Aren’t we in a full rebuild or a reset?
If we are in a full rebuild why keeping players that won’t be here in 2-3 seasons instead of cashing in on their production and low salary?
Isn’t part of the rebuilt to add as many assets as possible for better odds at hitting something good?

My guess is that Matheson being an ex client of Hughes and from Montreal is part of the reason they have not trading him, which is a silly reason not to trade someone if you are rebuilding.

I don’t see how having an extra 1st and some other assets for Matheson while giving Baron, Hutson, Xhekaj, Ghule, Kovacevic more responsibilities and and opportunities to show what they have, would in any way impede the rebuild in fact, it would have greatly improved our chances at being a better team in the future.

Kovacevic has only improved since we acquired him and is still improving from the games I have seen from him this year.
You are telling me trading a 27 years old 6’5” 220 lbs right handed dmen that is a jack of all trades, signed under 800K and who could probably have been Savard replacement for a high 4th round pick was a good move for a rebuild team.
Reinbacher didn’t have to play in the NHL the entire season and might have not being ready. There was absolutely no need to trade Kovacevic this year, none!
Savard can barely hold a spot on the 2nd pairing.

 

[Miller Time]

Aren’t we in a full rebuild or a reset?
If we are in a full rebuild why keeping players that won’t be here in 2-3 seasons instead of cashing in on their production and low salary?
Isn’t part of the rebuilt to add as many assets as possible for better odds at hitting something good?

Re"build"... Requires some building pieces. You seem to be talking about a scorched earth tank approach.

My guess is that Matheson being an ex client of Hughes and from Montreal is part of the reason they have not trading him, which is a silly reason not to trade someone if you are rebuilding.

I doubt those factors play any role in the decision to not trade him... While they obviously & logically played a role in acquiring him (which was a massive win for us asset-wise)

I don’t see how having an extra 1st and some other assets for Matheson while giving Baron, Hutson, Xhekaj, Ghule, Kovacevic more responsibilities and and opportunities to show what they have, would in any way impede the rebuild in fact, it would have greatly improved our chances at being a better team in the future.

Nah. Again, scorched earth tank isn't the approach the team was taking this summer.

Kovacevic has only improved since we acquired him and is still improving from the games I have seen from him this year.
You are telling me trading a 27 years old 6’5” 220 lbs right handed dmen that is a jack of all trades, signed under 800K and who could probably have been Savard replacement for a high 4th round pick was a good move for a rebuild team.

Yes, for the reasons clearly understood even by him.

Reinbacher didn’t have to play in the NHL the entire season and might have not being ready. There was absolutely no need to trade Kovacevic this year, none!
Savard can barely hold a spot on the 2nd pairing.

Nobody has to play anywhere... The organization has clear priorities and is managing their assets very much in line with that approach. Doesn't mean each and every move will work out perfectly. With hindsight, I imagine they like to have Kovacevic right now, but crystal balls aren't a part of decision making in the real world

 

[HuGort]

Where is this Dobson talk coming from. No way he's available, I'd assume.

I imagine huge contract also.

 

[BozoTheClown]

Re"build"... Requires some building pieces. You seem to be talking about a scorched earth tank approach.

what is the foundation of this team in 2 years?

I doubt those factors play any role in the decision to not trade him... While they obviously & logically played a role in acquiring him (which was a massive win for us asset-wise)

What makes you so sure?
Inside info?

Nah. Again, scorched earth tank isn't the approach the team was taking this summer.

Season ticket holders don’t want a bottom 3 finish unfortunately.

Yes, for the reasons clearly understood even by him.

What reasons?

Nobody has to play anywhere... The organization has clear priorities and is managing their assets very much in line with that approach. Doesn't mean each and every move will work out perfectly. With hindsight, I imagine they like to have Kovacevic right now, but crystal balls aren't a part of decision making in the real world

People have defended Bergevin for 10 years while he led us to nothing.
What makes you think this management team is any different?

 

[The Last Red]

There’s like a 40 year waiting list for season tickets so I wouldn’t worry too much about what the current ones “want.” Who cares?

 

[Sterling Archer]

There’s like a 40 year waiting list for season tickets so I wouldn’t worry too much about what the current ones “want.” Who cares?

Maybe in the past. I got season tickets within a year or 2.

 

[OldCraig71]

Would anyone entertain a trade offer for Brady Tkachuk that involved Slafkovsky? We are getting Demidov next year and adding a proven young veteran in BT would give this team a big shot in the arm. I like his combination of talent and pesky play, he sort of reminds of a young Corey Perry. I think he would be great come playoff time as well, no lack of confidence and doesn't get intimidated by the competition. If we had only chosen him instead of Kotkaniemi.

 

[Miller Time]

what is the foundation of this team in 2 years?


What makes you so sure?
Inside info?

Season ticket holders don’t want a bottom 3 finish unfortunately.

What reasons?

People have defended Bergevin for 10 years while he led us to nothing.
What makes you think this management team is any different?

This is not really about trade proposals at this point. The rebuild thread is probably a better place to continue this if you want.

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

Would anyone entertain a trade offer for Brady Tkachuk that involved Slafkovsky? We are getting Demidov next year and adding a proven young veteran in BT would give this team a big shot in the arm. I like his combination of talent and pesky play, he sort of reminds of a young Corey Perry. I think he would be great come playoff time as well, no lack of confidence and doesn't get intimidated by the competition. If we had only chosen him instead of Kotkaniemi.

He is 25. I think I would stick with the 20 year old.

 

[Riggins]

Would anyone entertain a trade offer for Brady Tkachuk that involved Slafkovsky? We are getting Demidov next year and adding a proven young veteran in BT would give this team a big shot in the arm. I like his combination of talent and pesky play, he sort of reminds of a young Corey Perry. I think he would be great come playoff time as well, no lack of confidence and doesn't get intimidated by the competition. If we had only chosen him instead of Kotkaniemi.

Tkachuk would probably just leave in a few years when his contract is up

 

[Habs7631]

Tkachuk would probably just leave in a few years when his contract is up

Agreed, this is why even if Brady was available I’d be careful to trade for him. If this team was at the competing stage, yeah I’d trade the farm for him and roll the dice on the 3 years left on his contract. But now, no I’ll pass.

He has a NMC kicking in July 1st. Ottawa would be foolish to not seriously explore what they can get for him this trade deadline if they’re out of the playoffs. If someone offers a haul for him... Sometimes you gotta take a step back so you can take 2 forwards type of thing.