HF Habs: Trade Proposal Thread #91: 2025 Trade Deadline edition

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People are going to be very disappointed come deadline day when we do nothing / very little. No point trading Savard / Dvorak / Armia for 4th/5th round picks. They are more important to the team currently than a middling pick.

Only one I can see going is Evans and even that is not likely for several reasons. 1) we are only 3 points back of the playoffs and 2) with the Dach injury we are severely limited at centre and trading Evans further depletes that, 3) I don’t think management wants to sewer Laval by having to call up 2-3 players when all we are getting in return are late round draft picks.

I see little to no action from us this deadline. Our moves will happen in the offseason and at the draft.
 
I am going to get some hate by my HF brethren but I’m just gonna say it;
Trade Evans
Sign Dvorak

We cannot totally lose our depth and Evans will bring us more in return, PLUS we need a left handed centerman. Better the devil we know…

Andy, DVo and Gally line can hold a 4th line role easily so why not continue with it.
Yeah, I've been thinking the same. If you can sign Dvo to a 2 year 2mill per, I wouldn't hate it.
 
The perfect is the enemy of the good.

And you shouldn't expect every plan to survive contact with reality unscathed.

It could be that Hughes wants to go for the playoffs, is keeping these players, and it doesn't work out, that's fine.

We live in a world of probabilities, not certainties. There are no guarantees in real life. The team might miss the playoffs with Armia and Evans, and might make it without them. The second rounders acquired from trading them could turn into Lehkonen, Hutson, Romanov, and Subban, or into Ylonen, etc.
It's not a plan to hope for the best. Not a plan to ''let see what happens''. A plan for this league is that you either go at it or don't. If you go, you don't hesitate and forget the future for a whole lot of present. If you don't, it means you are building through the draft to get top end players.

Semi-going at it, patching, and hoping it goes great, is what brought up to this place. It was Bergevin's thinking.
 
Maybe. Maybe not.

That’s the reason I brought it up.

The only way to know is ask. But it makes sense from a lot of angles.

1. We have tons of picks/prospects to trade with.

2. Pens are soon to rebuild whether they want to or not.

3. Crosby loves Montreal

4. Montreal needs a center and his leadership would be great for our young players
Crosby has been asked his answer was very clear. There is no maybe.
 
It's not a plan to hope for the best. Not a plan to ''let see what happens''. A plan for this league is that you either go at it or don't. If you go, you don't hesitate and forget the future for a whole lot of present. If you don't, it means you are building through the draft to get top end players.

Semi-going at it, patching, and hoping it goes great, is what brought up to this place. It was Bergevin's thinking.
Plus if you’re relying on Jake Evans to maybe make a run at the final wild card spot, you’re not ready for the playoffs.
 
The plan has always been the same. Stated over and over again.

Thus far, hard to argue that they've been anything but consistent in their approach. There is clear vision, strategy and tactics recognizable in their approach to each decision. Not every decision works out favorably, and even that seems well understood and considered by this leadership group.

You may or may not agree with their decisions along the way, but it's silly to complain that there is "no plan" just because you don't like how they are executing it.


What the plan most certainly is not, is to accumulate a bunch of picks just for the sake of it. And that's a good thing imo, as much as fans love draft picks lol
Pretty sure that my ENTIRE post is not based on what happened...but the strategy RIGHT now. So not sure what your point is about me not liking it based on how they executed it...that wasn't my point at all. I'm talking about NOW. Us being close at making it while CLEARLY knowing it won't go far. Yes, I do recognize that at one point, making the playoffs while not being a top 3 favorite WILL be necessary and WILL be part of a plan. You need your kids to lose before you win. You need your kids to learn what the playoffs beast is all about. But we are not there just yet.

As far as accumulating the picks FOR THE SAKE OF IT.....I hope you know it' smore than that. I mean, Accumulating the picks made us being able to pick Beck and wait for Hutson. Accumulating picks is what permitted us to get our hands on Hage etc. While the fun part for draft lovers are just teams picking kids and loving it or hating it....accumulating picks is so much more than that right now for us. Trading Monahan was about accumulating picks. And while it's not necessarily the answer for all 'cause you are subject to how your draft guys do, accumulating picks means getting your hands on Stutzle and Sanderson. Just like it gave the possiblity to Boston to get their hands on Chabot, Connor and Barzal before f***ing it up....lol

Right now, as draft lover as I am, I couldn't care less about getting an additional 5th round pick. Unless you are able to package it to get a better 3rd rounder or whatever.
 
It's not a plan to hope for the best. Not a plan to ''let see what happens''. A plan for this league is that you either go at it or don't. If you go, you don't hesitate and forget the future for a whole lot of present. If you don't, it means you are building through the draft to get top end players.

Semi-going at it, patching, and hoping it goes great, is what brought up to this place. It was Bergevin's thinking.

I get what you’re saying and generally speaking I agree with you and this approach. However, our situation is a little unique. We don’t have any assets that will generate a significant return. We are talking about a late 2nd round pick for Evans (at best) and 4th/5th/6th round picks for the rest of our expiring contracts. If we were talking about missing out on first round draft picks and top prospects, then 100% I agree with you. But we aren’t.

It is more valuable for our team to gain experience playing meaningful games, even if we do likely fall short of the playoffs. I don’t want to become the next Sabres because we were obsessed with trading for 5th round draft picks. We need to start building and enforcing a winning culture.

Our overhaul and major changes will happen this offseason and at the draft.
 
Year 4. A rebuild is usually 6-7 years, with a lot of data to support this. Sell Evans, Armia, and maybe Matheson. Get one of Desnoyer, Bear, O'Brian. This summer, swing only if you can get a sure top C and/or top D. If not, wait. McKenna is our year 5 McKinnon, Draistl, etc.

Trying to speed things up has been horrible for pretty much every single rebuilding team.

We know a rebuild takes time but whats important is k owing where the team is at and executing on what you need.
I don't have the exact numbers on the success rate of a 2nd rounder but I know they are low and probably lower than most people here would like to think.

My line of thinking and approach to this tdl is exactly like yours. It would have been different for me if the Habs were still in year 1 of this plan, but I think think they ought to be past the point right now where the main priority is getting as much draft capital as possible.

Besides, if Evans walks, they will still need an NHL ready replacement next year if the Habs want to progress, and the 2nd rounder won't do that. It's very risky to slot in Beck there thinking he is ready to go. The better option is to have an insurance policy at a key position.

Many years ago I actually looked at 10 years of drafts and worked out how many top players ( 6F, 4D and no.1G ) from each round. I remember the 2nd produced about 10 NHL players including 3 top players on average.
 
Pretty sure that my ENTIRE post is not based on what happened...but the strategy RIGHT now. So not sure what your point is about me not liking it based on how they executed it...that wasn't my point at all. I'm talking about NOW. Us being close at making it while CLEARLY knowing it won't go far. Yes, I do recognize that at one point, making the playoffs while not being a top 3 favorite WILL be necessary and WILL be part of a plan. You need your kids to lose before you win. You need your kids to learn what the playoffs beast is all about. But we are not there just yet.

As far as accumulating the picks FOR THE SAKE OF IT.....I hope you know it' smore than that. I mean, Accumulating the picks made us being able to pick Beck and wait for Hutson. Accumulating picks is what permitted us to get our hands on Hage etc. While the fun part for draft lovers are just teams picking kids and loving it or hating it....accumulating picks is so much more than that right now for us. Trading Monahan was about accumulating picks. And while it's not necessarily the answer for all 'cause you are subject to how your draft guys do, accumulating picks means getting your hands on Stutzle and Sanderson. Just like it gave the possiblity to Boston to get their hands on Chabot, Connor and Barzal before f***ing it up....lol

Right now, as draft lover as I am, I couldn't care less about getting an additional 5th round pick. Unless you are able to package it to get a better 3rd rounder or whatever.
Agree with you, pretty sure the plan is to get 2nd rounders+
Like someone else said, if Hughes give up on what hes asking for Evans/Armia/Savard, he will lose leverage in futur negociations with GMs. Stick with your price, we are not a 4th rounder away from having a deep prospect pool.
 
I am going to get some hate by my HF brethren but I’m just gonna say it;
Trade Evans
Sign Dvorak

We cannot totally lose our depth and Evans will bring us more in return, PLUS we need a left handed centerman. Better the devil we know…

Andy, DVo and Gally line can hold a 4th line role easily so why not continue with it.
Assuming Dvo takes league minimum, or close to it that would work, too.
 
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Fascinating. I just find it interesting that they had nearly identical statistics, but thank for pointing out they are in fact not the same person.
No problem dude

You imply you would like Crosby in Mtl and I imply it would take a lot. I don’t think you are just comparing stats (in a trade thread) for the sake of it, maybe I’m wrong.
 
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Are you willing to trade 2 first rounder and Hage?
No.
We are not getting him craps like Mesar. It would take something like that. Unless Sid is saying he will only accept a trade to Mtl, which i really doubt. If he accept a trade, he is gonna want Pittsburgh to have a great return.
Yep. It won't be cheap. We could give them a couple of firsts and a prospect (not Hage.) Either two this year or one this year and one the next. Maybe Mailloux goes the other way as well.
 
No.

Yep. It won't be cheap. We could give them a couple of firsts and a prospect (not Hage.) Either two this year or one this year and one the next. Maybe Mailloux goes the other way as well.
It’s not gonna be enough (IMO). They gonna want at least a blueship prospect.Even more considering we are not shipping them a top first rounder. It’s tough to find a comparable for a trade involving Crosby, but muost superstar lands blueships, not medium prospects/picks.
 
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On the value of second round draft picks to the Habs.

2003: Corey Urquhart, C, 51st overall
2005: Guillaume Latendresse, RW, 45th overall
2006:
Ben Maxwell, C, 49th overall
Mathieu Carle, D, 53rd overall
2007: P.K. Subban, D, 43rd overall
2008: Danny Kristo, RW, 56th overall
2012:
Sebastian Collberg, RW, 33rd overall
Dalton Thrower, D, 51st overall
2013: Artturi Lehkonen, LW, 55th overall
2017:
Josh Brook, D, 56th kverall
Joni Ikonen, C, 58th overall
2018:
Jesse Ylönen, RW, 35th overall
Alexander Romanov , D, 38th overall
2019: Jayden Struble, D, 46th overall
2020:
Luke Tuch, LW, 47th overall
Jan Mysak, LW, 48th overall
2021:
Riley Kidney, C, 63rd overall
Oliver Kapanen, C, 64th overall
2022:
Owen Beck, C, 33rd overall
Lane Hutson, D, 62nd overall

Looks like the probability of getting an impact player is around 25%.

So if the Habs trade all of Armia, Evans, Savard, and Dvorak, they should expect to get one impact player out of it.
 
On the value of second round draft picks to the Habs.

2003: Corey Urquhart, C, 51st overall
2005: Guillaume Latendresse, RW, 45th overall
2006:
Ben Maxwell, C, 49th overall
Mathieu Carle, D, 53rd overall
2007: P.K. Subban, D, 43rd overall
2008: Danny Kristo, RW, 56th overall
2012:
Sebastian Collberg, RW, 33rd overall
Dalton Thrower, D, 51st overall
2013: Artturi Lehkonen, LW, 55th overall
2017:
Josh Brook, D, 56th kverall
Joni Ikonen, C, 58th overall
2018:
Jesse Ylönen, RW, 35th overall
Alexander Romanov , D, 38th overall
2019: Jayden Struble, D, 46th overall
2020:
Luke Tuch, LW, 47th overall
Jan Mysak, LW, 48th overall
2021:
Riley Kidney, C, 63rd overall
Oliver Kapanen, C, 64th overall
2022:
Owen Beck, C, 33rd overall
Lane Hutson, D, 62nd overall

Looks like the probability of getting an impact player is around 25%.

So if the Habs trade all of Armia, Evans, Savard, and Dvorak, they should expect to get one impact player out of it.
Why do we automatically assume picks will be kept? What’s to stop us from using any picks acquired (hopefully high ones) in a package to either acquire a player or to move up in the draft?

I don’t buy at all this whole talk of “ we don’t need anymore draft picks, so we might as well keep our scrubs who won’t be back next year anyways “

You sell period
 
The plan has always been the same. Stated over and over again.

Thus far, hard to argue that they've been anything but consistent in their approach. There is clear vision, strategy and tactics recognizable in their approach to each decision. Not every decision works out favorably, and even that seems well understood and considered by this leadership group.

You may or may not agree with their decisions along the way, but it's silly to complain that there is "no plan" just because you don't like how they are executing it.


What the plan most certainly is not, is to accumulate a bunch of picks just for the sake of it. And that's a good thing imo, as much as fans love draft picks lol
Not the fans: this board.
 
On the value of second round draft picks to the Habs.

2003: Corey Urquhart, C, 51st overall
2005: Guillaume Latendresse, RW, 45th overall
2006:
Ben Maxwell, C, 49th overall
Mathieu Carle, D, 53rd overall
2007: P.K. Subban, D, 43rd overall
2008: Danny Kristo, RW, 56th overall
2012:
Sebastian Collberg, RW, 33rd overall
Dalton Thrower, D, 51st overall
2013: Artturi Lehkonen, LW, 55th overall
2017:
Josh Brook, D, 56th kverall
Joni Ikonen, C, 58th overall
2018:
Jesse Ylönen, RW, 35th overall
Alexander Romanov , D, 38th overall
2019: Jayden Struble, D, 46th overall
2020:
Luke Tuch, LW, 47th overall
Jan Mysak, LW, 48th overall
2021:
Riley Kidney, C, 63rd overall
Oliver Kapanen, C, 64th overall
2022:
Owen Beck, C, 33rd overall
Lane Hutson, D, 62nd overall

Looks like the probability of getting an impact player is around 25%.

So if the Habs trade all of Armia, Evans, Savard, and Dvorak, they should expect to get one impact player out of it.
Draft yearly in 2nd round would increase odds of getting good player
 
Hughes said he isn't looking for picks. He wants roster players or prospects.
So all those vets being traded for picks in your scenario is kind of moot.
Really what I'm trying to get at is I don't care what they get back. My point is any UFA they don't plan on keeping should be moved. With Dach out for the year now, maybe hold on to Dvorak since he's a C and would prb not garnish very much at this point.
 
I think Montreal will have to stick to a comity system with dealing with the #2 center position to start next season.
Our middle six wingers are going to be Laine, Demidov, Heineman and Newhook, so I don't think the Cs need to be world beaters offensively. All they need to do is win faceoffs, work hard and be responsible defensively. I think Evans and Beck can handle that. Dvorak is good insurance and should center a dependable 4th vet line that MSL can put out there without worry. These are not bad options if nothing better becomes available.
 
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