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

[HabzSauce]

I'm really annoyed about this whole Kovacevic nonsense.

I will preface this by saying that I really liked the guy, but here are the facts: Kovy played almost two full seasons with the habs. Not only did he almost play two full seasons with the habs, but he played those seasons with a very similar d-core that the team currently has. The habs finished bottom 5 twice.

He is not a difference maker. The problem with the current habs is not depth defense. You can bring in all the depth d-man you want on this club. The defense will improve when team defense gets better, and you have your top two defenders playing as legit top two defenders.

Enough of this.

Kovacevic playing 16-20 minutes a night doesn't change the fact that habs team d look trash and that the entire team is out of sync.

The habs need top pairing performance. Kovacevic doesnt bring that.

He is an improvement though on what we have. Small or big who cares. He wasn't sexy but he gave us stability. Would give us more options with pairings than trying to force combos like Matheson/Barron. And if he was here, mailloux wouldn't need to be rushed as well.

Nobody is saying he would have catapulted us to da playoffs. We'd still be trash. Doesn't change fact they would be better off had they held on to him. At least as a stop gap until they acquire a real top 4RD.

 

[Andy]

He is an improvement though on what we have. Small or big who cares.

No he isn't at all. Kovacevic playing minutes over Struble, Hutson, Guhle, Arber, Barron, doesn't make this team any better.

Kovacevic was already part of a d-core that included all these guys (Hutson excluded). The team finished bottom 5 in back to back seasons. He didn't make a difference in those seasons, and he wouldnt make a difference now.

We already know what the Habs look like with Kovacevic. It's not a theoretical game. We already experienced it.

 

[Victoire HuGo]

Yes because we currently don't have that top 4 RD. And very rarely do those get traded this early into the season. Who knows how long it will be before we get one. Wouldn't it be nice to have Kovy right now while we wait for that trade? That way we have some stability in mean time and mailloux doesn't need to be rushed in? We could always trade him after getting that top 4 RD no problem....

It's not a massive problem in the grand scheme of things so whatever, but nothing wrong with objective criticism even for the small moves. Kovy would be an improvement right now even if it's just a little bit. I'm sure even HUGO is saying the same stuff between themselves.

Savard got injured last year, Kovacevic got a try out when that happened and showed he's not a good stopgap.

Remove hindsight and keeping Kovacevic would have prevented one of Heineman/Kapanen to make roster. Barron might have been waived. Struble might have been sent down despite a good camp. Heck maybe Kovacevic would have had a terrible camp after feeling the heat of Reinbacher or Mailloux knocking at the door. This would have not been good asset management.

 

[HabzSauce]

No he isn't at all. Kovacevic playing minutes over Struble, Hutson, Guhle, Arber, Barron, doesn't make this team any better.

Kovacevic was already part of a d-core that included all these guys (Hutson excluded). The team finished bottom 5 in back to back seasons.

I don't agree. He is better than Barron and Mailloux who are both in the lineup. Even a healthy lineup id have Kovy in rotation. Helps with injuries and giving the kids a break.

Saying we'd be bottom 5 with or without him doesn't change how I feel about this. There are other positives besides where we finish in standings. I see any + as a good thing even if it's small. Having depth on such a green defence like what we have is always a good thing.

 

[Habs Icing]

I'm really annoyed about this whole Kovacevic nonsense.

I will preface this by saying that I really liked the guy, but here are the facts: Kovy played almost two full seasons with the habs. Not only did he almost play two full seasons with the habs, but he played those seasons with a very similar d-core that the team currently has. The habs finished bottom 5 twice.

He is not a difference maker. The problem with the current habs is not depth defense. You can bring in all the depth d-man you want on this club. The defense will improve when team defense gets better, and you have your top two defenders playing as legit top two defenders.

Enough of this.

Kovacevic playing 16-20 minutes a night doesn't change the fact that habs team d look trash and that the entire team is out of sync.

The habs need top pairing performance. Kovacevic doesnt bring that.

The Habs finished bottom 5 with Kovacevic in the line up.

Funny, he gets traded to New Jersey, leads that d-core in points, has a positive +/-, and plays more than 21 minutes a game. 3rd on the team. Maybe the problem was not with Kovacevic.

 

[Andy]

The Habs finished bottom 5 with Kovacevic in the line up.

Funny, he gets traded to New Jersey, leads that d-core in points, has a positive +/-, and plays more than 21 minutes a game. 3rd on the team. Maybe the problem was not with Kovacevic.

Or maybe NJ has a better team that has other players carrying the team?

 

[Andy]

I don't agree. He is better than Barron and Mailloux who are both in the lineup. Even a healthy lineup id have Kovy in rotation. Helps with injuries and giving the kids a break.

Saying we'd be bottom 5 with or without him doesn't change how I feel about this. There are other positives besides where we finish in standings. I see any + as a good thing even if it's small. Having depth on such a green defence like what we have is always a good thing.

The Habs were a de facto lottery team with Kovacevic. Replacing Mailloux with Kovacevic means we have the exact dcore that finished bottom 5 the previous two years.

There is no greater proof of his impact given that the team was already as bad you can get when he was here,

 

[WeThreeKings]

Or maybe NJ has a better team that has other players carrying the team?

And the sample size is hilariously small.

Brian Savage and Marcel Hossa to the rescue.

 

[HabzSauce]

Savard got injured last year, Kovacevic got a try out when that happened and showed he's not a good stopgap.

Remove hindsight and keeping Kovacevic would have prevented one of Heineman/Kapanen to make roster. Barron might have been waived. Struble might have been sent down despite a good camp. Heck maybe Kovacevic would have had a terrible camp after feeling the heat of Reinbacher or Mailloux knocking at the door. This would have not been good asset management.

Kovy is a better stop gap than mailloux and Barron right now. Gives MSL more options with pairings too.

Kapenen is a fair point I get that. Personally I would have preferred him play a big role in SHL instead of playing for dumpster fire Habs, so maybe that would have been a good thing.

Barron wasn't getting waived. If anything maybe struble gets sent down but nothing is permanent. Look how fast the injury bug hit us this year. He'd be called up immediately.

 

[sampollock]

Maybe the Habs need tougher D
Easier to trade for that then a centre

Toughen this team up KH

 

[Miller Time]

Last season, Kovacevic, who was not injured once, played only 62 games and was 8th among Ds for avg TOI per games played per NHL.com stats page. 6th if we remove Hutson and Mailloux.

MSL used him like a 7th D.

He's being used on the 2nd pair (a defensive shutdown pair) on the Devils.

He was the 4th most played dman under MSL in his first two seasons coaching the team.. Look it up.

 

[vokiel]

We'd still be losing games. You know it. I know it. Kovacevic's mom knows it

Being in the mix implies we're still losing games, I think Molson knowing it is more important than Kovacevic's mom knowing it.

 

[morhilane]

He was the 4th most played dman under MSL in his first two seasons coaching the team.. Look it up.

I looked up the stats on NHL.com from last season, maybe you should too.

 

[sampollock]

I looked up the stats on NHL.com from last season, maybe you should too.

Sorry
Who you all talking about?

 

[morhilane]

Sorry
Who you all talking about?

Arguing with Miller Time over Kovacevic usage because I said MSL wasn't a fan with the low TOI he gave him. Miller Time argue Kovacevic was the 4th most used dmen, but the NHL.com stats shows he had the 6th avg TOI on the team last season.

 

[Mrb1p]

Arguing with Miller Time over Kovacevic usage because I said MSL wasn't a fan with the low TOI he gave him. Miller Time argue Kovacevic was the 4th most used dmen, but the NHL.com stats shows he had the 6th avg TOI on the team last season.

It's crazy how many things are made up on this board.

 

[sampollock]

Arguing with Miller Time over Kovacevic usage because I said MSL wasn't a fan with the low TOI he gave him. Miller Time argue Kovacevic was the 4th most used dmen, but the NHL.com stats shows he had the 6th avg TOI on the team last season.

Kovacevic would not move the needle
Need tougher forwards to even out the Scotties little softies on the top 2 lines

 

[Habs]

He wasn't last year and he isn't this year.

well I disagree lol

 

[vokiel]

Kovacevic would not move the needle
Need tougher forwards to even out the Scotties little softies on the top 2 lines

Like who? We didn't draft those, so it's hard to make proposals to other clubs when the only benchmark we have is Pezzetta, who's not really used on the roster that much. Besides, if the club isn't getting in the ozone, it's because they're mostly struggling in the other zones.

 

[sampollock]

Like who? We didn't draft those, so it's hard to make proposals to other clubs when the only benchmark we have is Pezzetta, who's not really used on the roster that much. Besides, if the club isn't getting in the ozone, it's because they're mostly struggling in the other zones.

That's a good question
KH job to find who.
But getting pushed around I as fan see that.
Pezz is not a NHL player.
Showa the weak grit on this team
KH gets pd to have a balanced team

 

[Andy]

I don't know how anyone can say with a straightface that Kovacevic would make this team better when they finished bottom 5 in back-to-back seasons WITH Kovacevic in the lineup.

• Matheson, Savard, Guhle, Kovacevic, Barron, Harris, Xhekaj, Edmundson,Wideman = bottom 5 finish in 2022
• Matheson, Savard, Guhle, Kovacevic, Barron, Harris, Xhekaj, Struble = bottom 5 finish in 2023

But somehow:
Matheson, Savard, Guhle, Kovacevic, Barron, Xhekaj, Struble, Hutson will be better than the previous 2 years?? It's the SAME damn d-core folks.

Kovacevic is not moving the needle.

 

[sampollock]

I don't know how anyone can say with a straightface that Kovacevic would make this team better when they finished bottom 5 in back-to-back seasons WITH Kovacevic in the lineup.

Matheson, Savard, Guhle, Kovacevic, Barron, Harris, Xhekaj, Edmundson,Wideman = bottom 5 finish in 2022
Matheson, Savard, Guhle, Kovacevic, Barron, Harris, Xhekaj, Struble = bottom 5 finish in 2023

But somehow:
Matheson, Savard, Guhle, Kovacevic, Barron, Xhekaj, Struble, Hutson will be better than the previous 2 years. It's the SAME damn d-core folks.

Kovacevic is not moving the needle.

Bingo
He would not

 

[vokiel]

I don't know how anyone can say with a straightface that Kovacevic would make this team better when they finished bottom 5 in back-to-back seasons WITH Kovacevic in the lineup.

Matheson, Savard, Guhle, Kovacevic, Barron, Harris, Xhekaj, Edmundson,Wideman = bottom 5 finish in 2022
Matheson, Savard, Guhle, Kovacevic, Barron, Harris, Xhekaj, Struble = bottom 5 finish in 2023

But somehow:
Matheson, Savard, Guhle, Kovacevic, Barron, Xhekaj, Struble, Hutson will be better than the previous 2 years. It's the SAME damn d-core folks.

Kovacevic is not moving the needle.

We ain't concerned with where the club finishes, we're concerned with rookies getting burned needlessly trying to make that >= bottom 5th finish.

I mean, like I wrote, I'm all for the tank thread eh.

 

[Andy]

We ain't concerned with where the club finishes, we're concerned with rookies getting burned needlessly trying to make that >= bottom 5th finish.

Barron, Guhle, Arber ain't rookies anymore.

Adding Kovacevic doesn't make Barron, Guhle or Arber take the next step in the development.

Having Kovy changes NOTHING for the club. The only rookie it pushes out of the lineup is Hutson, who quite frankly, should be playing in the nhl and needs those reps to develop.

 

[vokiel]

Barron, Guhle, Arber ain't rookies anymore.

Adding Kovacevic doesn't make Barron, Guhle or Arber take the next step in the development.

There aren't any steps left for those imho.

Look more at playing Hutson and Mailloux like monkeys in their own zone every night. Tell me you wouldn't want to have a stopgap instead of playing them together?