HF Habs: Trade Proposal Thread 92 Waiting on the DRAFT Edition

[Habs Icing]

690 this am is fueling the Sid fire to MTL

here we go all LOL

I guess they just caught up with what was written two weeks ago in this thread.

 

[Ozmodiar]

Crosby
Letang (with 50% retention)

For

1st 2025 (CGY)
1st 2025 (MTL)
Dach
Anderson
Mailloux

Letang is to add RD depth and keep Crosby comfy after leaving the only team he's ever played with. The overpayment is to get Crosby to feel okay about leaving Penguins in good place still.

Slafkovsky - Suzuki - Caufield
Demidov - Crosby - Laine

Imagine Laine getting back to his early career mojo too.


I'd flip Matheson for Pageau but that's a different story.

Hard to rate this transaction will all the supposedly negative value assets.

But I’ll try.
I don’t think it would take both 1sts. Also, 2 firsts and Mailloux are 3 potential replacements for Letang after 3 seasons.

Dach broken, Anderson net zero. They won’t want.

Matheson would likely be traded but not for Pageau.

1st 2025 (MTL)
2nd (pit)
Newhook
Mailloux

 

[le_sean]

He's like 9 foot 8 i don't think it matters much what he does in the AHL. Byfuglien and Protas struggled in the AHL too. Considering his size his chances to success at the NHL level are low but his AHL stats don't mean much in that regard.

Yeah but I would want the team to acquire good players. He hasn’t shown himself to be good.

 

[BergevinBurner]

690 this am is fueling the Sid fire to MTL

here we go all LOL

I don't think it's overly likely, but there's a very clear logical path that could lead to it.

• Penguins are out of their cup window with one of the worst prospect pools in the league.
• 2 upcoming drafts with clear franchise players available.
• Pens are likely talented enough to stay out of the bottom 5 with Crosby in the lineup, so management may ask if he'd be open to a trade.
• Montreal would nearly certainly be on the shortlist of teams he's open to.
• Crosby has 2 years left which lines up perfectly with the arrival of Hage(1 more year in NCAA then 1 year in the AHL)

It all comes down to if Pens management goes for a rebuild. If they do then I'm fairly certain Crosby would accept a trade.

 

[DiglettDangles]

If HuGo think our window is officially open, Bo Horvat would be the perfect complimentary 2nd line center - and he wouldn't cost a lot of assets given the remaining dollars owed on his contract.

If HuGo doesn't think it's quite opened, they will target a younger player but it will cost more assets.

Bortholomew Horvat has been brought up several times in the last month, and while the fit + current off/def performance + handedness + shot to profit from the Demidov setups are exactly what we should be looking for, I strongly disliked the combination of age and remaining contract (years 31-36 at 8.5M), and kinda dismissed it quickly.

But today I went beyond this very real concern and made the herculean mental effort to go to PuckPedia and study his contract. Yes, I am that lazy sometimes.

If we assume Horvat is going to be a decent top 6 C for another 4 years out of 6 (until he is 34), which would be a perfectly believable timeline, the cost to buy him out of the last 2 years (if we need cap flexibility to keep our window open) is a mere $2.833M for 4 years. FYI, it's the same amount over 6 years if we buy him out halfway to fund the Demidov extension. We could also trade him to be someone else's 3rd/4th C at $4.25M for 2 years.

That is so fantastically stomach-able given how high the cap is set to go. That'll essentially be the cost for a coveted 4th liner in 3 years, at which point we will be swarming with ELC talent to fit on the bottom 6 instead.

Now I will leave smarter people to comment on how his skating is likely to keep him efficient or not at 34yo etc., but from a pure cap management POV, I think we can say that's a complete non-issue going forward.

I would add that since his contract was signed somewhere else than Montreal, and is less than a million above Suzuki (+ likely lower than Hutson and Demidov's post-ELC contracts), we would not be messing up with the current internal cap structure.

Figured I'd post this epiphany because I read many posts sharing my own misconception.
Bo Horvat can both be a short-term and medium-term solution for the Habs' 2C.

...

Just need to figure out how to get him out of the tragically irrelevant NYI - no simple task.
I say we bypass Jurassic Lou, throw the farm at their owner directly, pay whatever fine we deserve for it, and enjoy.

 

[DrBizz4r3]

I still believe that Crosby is not ideal currently and is not plausible. But we are in hypothesis world, so every conversation is as relevant as the next.
I would like Mactavish, but I have only arguments that align with the desire ending… I don’t see why ducks will do it.
Like I don’t see why penguins will do it except for a ripoff

 

[Miller Time]

I'd say they've been fortunate.

2024/25 team injury breakdowns

Notes Cap Hit of Injured Players (CHIP) represents the per-game cap charge of a player missing a game through injury/...

nhlinjuryviz.blogspot.com

Tampa has been healthiest team in the NHL. I don't think Dach and Laine missing more games than Matthews evens things out, and Toronto also had both goalies miss time and have had key D out for long stretches.

Guhle is as, if not more, vital to our teams success than Matthews to theirs imo (Matthews is the better player, if course, but their cup contending roster has far more top 6/top 4 depth of talent).

That we are in the bottom tier for games lost is less relevant than who missed how much.

Factor that in and were likely more in the mid to top tier in games lost.

Future remains very bright, but I remain a committed Debbie Downer.

Lol fair enough

 

[vokiel]

What's he gonna do? Piss his pants and go for a nap?

He'll stare you to death, or until you shave your beard..

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

He'll stare you to death, or until you shave your beard..

 

[themilosh]

Don't get me wrong, he's not my #1 target to go after to address our need at center, but every target will have their respective warts.

Zegras isn't a physical guy and has a history of injuries, but he fits the age of our core perfectly and has shown he has elite offensive potential.

Other guys might have that desired physicality, but lack the offensive upside and are considerably older than our current core. There's not going to be a perfect fit either way, we just need to hope Hughes gets his hands on the best available one out there.

If he plays with Laine and Demidov would he even need to worry about D?

 

[TomKosto]

If HuGo think our window is officially open, Bo Horvat would be the perfect complimentary 2nd line center - and he wouldn't cost a lot of assets given the remaining dollars owed on his contract.

If HuGo doesn't think it's quite opened, they will target a younger player but it will cost more assets.

Horvat would be perfect but we need Islanders to have a new gm. Lou wont trade his first center and just said he dont believe in rebuilds.

 

[BergevinBurner]

If he plays with Laine and Demidov would he even need to worry about D?

With Zegras I'd honestly consider reshuffling our top 6. I don't love the idea of Laine on Zegras' wing, especially on the same line as a rookie. I think Demidov-Suzuki-Laine and Slaf-Zegras-Caufield would balance out the top 6 a little better.

 

[vokiel]

Was Brock Nelson ever against the idea of playing in Canada?

 

[CzarDemidov]

Why are you looking at Montreal's situation that way?

Like if the question is would it cost Montreal more than 20 mil to sign a 4D, 2C, 3C, 3W and 2D, then sure. But its also not even close to being what Montreal should be doing. Nor is it accurate, as replacing Savard (6D), Dvorak (3/4C), Armia (3/4W) and adding a 2C wont cost 20 mil.

If you want a better team than one struggling for 8th overall in the conference despite few injuries, you should want to make improvements to the roster’s skill and depth…

I want a good 3C because I don’t want Evans as 3C. I want a very good 2C (5-8.7m). I want a good physical bottom6 winger to replace Armia.

Dealing with the defence and post-Savard is a funny one because he started the season as 4D but the Habs only took off when he went down to 6D and Carrier came in as a 4D.

If Reino comes as a 6D and Carrier remains 4D I’d like a significant roster change in the form of Matheson+ for a 2D. Otherwise, in the case Guhle plays 2D off-handed, I want a better 4D than Carrier.

The point is we won’t be swimming in cap space and Anderson and Gallagher are overpaid. They gotta be replaced with more cap effective players asap. If there is finally going to be a market for Anderson, after all these awful seasons he’s put up, it’s time for him to go.

I hope he has a good playoffs and rises in value and I hope Hughes doesn’t blow this chance like he did last time.

 

[sampollock]

funny how the 2C talk died here when demi signed....LOL

 

[Captain Mountain]

If you want a better team than one struggling for 8th overall in the conference despite few injuries, you should want to make improvements to the roster’s skill and depth…

I want a good 3C because I don’t want Evans as 3C. I want a very good 2C (5-8.7m). I want a good physical bottom6 winger to replace Armia.

Dealing with the defence and post-Savard is a funny one because he started the season as 4D but the Habs only took off when he went down to 6D and Carrier came in as a 4D.

If Reino comes as a 6D and Carrier remains 4D I’d like a significant roster change in the form of Matheson+ for a 2D. Otherwise, in the case Guhle plays 2D off-handed, I want a better 4D than Carrier.

The point is we won’t be swimming in cap space and Anderson and Gallagher are overpaid. They gotta be replaced with more cap effective players asap. If there is finally going to be a market for Anderson, after all these awful seasons he’s put up, it’s time for him to go.

I hope he has a good playoffs and rises in value and I hope Hughes doesn’t blow this chance like he did last time.

That's fine, but it sounds like you're personally finished with the rebuild and want Montreal to shift to aggressive buyer with specific personal objectives (like get a new 3C).

And there isn't really any reason to expect that based on where Montreal is, what the management team has said or looking at other rebuilds. There's a step or two inbetween.

 

[TomKosto]

funny how the 2C talk died here when demi signed....LOL

People gonna get back to Crosby in June lol

 

[salbutera]

Was Brock Nelson ever against the idea of playing in Canada?

Gotta believe he’s going home to Minny - local boys seem to all like playing back home or across the border in Winter-peg

 

[Ezpz]

f*** just trade for Crosby guaranteed cup. f***ing tell me before the trade goes down Kent though so I can sneak in a Habs cup bet at 1:10000 odds first.

 

[CzarDemidov]

That's fine, but it sounds like you're personally finished with the rebuild and want Montreal to shift to aggressive buyer with specific personal objectives (like get a new 3C).

And there isn't really any reason to expect that based on where Montreal is, what the management team has said or looking at other rebuilds. There's a step or two inbetween.

What shift? Dvorak is a UFA, he has to be replaced. Evans is not a good enough 3C AND we don’t have a 2C.

The rebuild is now just regular building. It’s not unusual or strange to want new players to improve upon departing players… we’re just not used to it because Bergevin was awful at his job.

 

[Ezpz]

Gotta believe he’s going home to Minny - local boys seem to all like playing back home or across the border in Winter-peg

Just get them a house in rural Quebec, there's boring nothing to do stuff there too. Just like Minny. Less stabbings than Winnipeg too.

 

[Captain Mountain]

What shift? Dvorak is a UFA, he has to be replaced. Evans is not a good enough 3C AND we don’t have a 2C.

The rebuild is now just regular building. It’s not unusual or strange to want new players to improve upon departing players… we’re just not used to it because Bergevin was awful at his job.

Even ignoring the strange aversion to Evans who has been clearly better than Dvorak for all but 15 games the last 4 years, and assuming Montreal's getting a 2C, why the hell can't Dvorak not be replaced by one of Dach/Newhook/Kapanen/Beck?

Replacing guys exclusively via UFA or trade and adding salary was Bergevin's whole MO, because he couldn't draft or develop for shit. Montreal's not going to be filling every hole externally because they have players they need to see in the NHL. Same reason they traded for Carrier in December and didn't address the D in the offseason. Hopefully they have answers in the system.

 

[Hacketts]

If Montreal trades for Crosby, Price is going to duct tape his knee and play backup.

 

[Jack Spider]

Is there a trade with ANA for one of their center(not zegras) or move to their spot to grab Caleb?

 

[CzarDemidov]

Even ignoring the strange aversion to Evans who has been clearly better than Dvorak for all but 15 games the last 4 years, and assuming Montreal's getting a 2C, why the hell can't Dvorak not be replaced by one of Dach/Newhook/Kapanen/Beck?

Evans isn’t a 3C in my book.

Beck and Kapanen are rookies, neither of them exactly fit to take on heavy minutes in the NHL. Newhook is irrelevant at C and Dach is irrelevant overall.

Replacing guys exclusively via UFA or trade and adding salary was Bergevin's whole MO, because he couldn't draft or develop for shit. Montreal's not going to be filling every hole externally because they have players they need to see in the NHL. Same reason they traded for Carrier in December and didn't address the D in the offseason. Hopefully they have answers in the system.

Yeah, I disagree with your interpretation of Bergevin. We had some years with Price and Weber on the books and tons of cap space (and, predictably, a mediocre team). He only spent cap space during the COVID cap crunch and to great effect.

But this is all a diversion

We know which prospects are at the door and which are not, and our team should be a playoff team next year — so we should expect a playoff worthy roster. Armia, Dvorak, and Savard HAVE to be replaced and a 2C has to be acquired.

But I understand your POV: If Beck or Kapanen, somehow, is pencilled in as an Armia replacement, and Beck or Newhook is somehow pencilled in as a Dvorak replacement, and so on for Savard and Reinbacher… then sure we have cap space for a 2C but I don’t think this lineup is a viable as a playoff lock. Too much uncertainty. Not a strong enough team. Too many rookies in hard positions (PK and top4 D).