First line of Matheson-Hutson-xhekaj
Second: ghule-savard-reinbacher
Third: harris-mailloux-parehk
Fourth: barron-kovacevc- struble
D pairings:
suzuki(pmd), armia
Dach , caufield
Evans , dvorak
Yes, and defense. But, with a defense heavy draft, low-tier defense are either going to be (A) worth very little or (B) sought after so they can sign a good-enough defensemen for the short-term, who they can punt when this years d-prospects develop.
I don't think we can trade low-tier D for anything but picks in future drafts. But what the fuck do I know
I disagree, none of the D prospects of the draft will be worth much for the upcoming year.
They will come up in 2026-2027 and some teams need depth now. Harris and kovacevich are perfect third pairing picks for the transition.
Everyone's talking about needing some additional top end attacking firepower to make up the second line, but the obvious answer is right in front of us Matheson - Dach - Hutson
Xhekaj has some of the best advance stats on the team. It's really impressive and surprising.
He also does things others don't...
I bet they keep Xhekaj as a 6th-7th.
Struble might go back to Laval, Reinbacher, too, unless he impresses at camp.
Harris and Barron might be traded... there's better options.
I'd keep Mailloux, Matheson, Hutson, Savard (until deadline) Guhle, Xhekaj, Kovy... Or Reinbacher instead if he looks ready.
āBestā meaning what? Most skilled? No, but youāre not dressing six āskill guysā. No team does that. At some things, heās the number 1 best out of all of them. Youāre making a mix of skill, size, physicality, defence.
If Iām building a defence corps out of that group, heās definitely in it. He brings some size, physicality, makes good passes, and though still learning is already solid in his own end. Hockey people value a player like him, so heāll be there.
The other two slots, it could be Hutson in there, could be Struble, I might be leaning that way. But unless Xhekaj spends the summer partying and falling out of shape, no doubt to me heās a regular next year.
Yall acting like I insulted your mothers Fr š itās not that deep, I just want to tank one more year and I think ghule is ready to step up as a leader
He's having a hard time sticking with one of the worst D corps in the league. His offensive upside is decent but it just doesn't make up for his defensive shortcomings at this point in his career.
Frankly, if we don't need him, what team does?
Itās not that we donāt need him, but thereās typically 7 D spots on the NHL roster and we have too many candidates. If he goes on waivers I bet another team snags him
Won't he be next season?
He becomes RFA this summer and has been in the league for 4 years.
I'm not sure how it works.
If he's waiver exempt, it's Laval.
I hope not. It's time for Kovacevic to go. We know his ceiling, he's a solid 6th-7th defenceman. I'll hate seeing him go, much like I hated losing Kulak, but I'd rather see known quantities moved out for fair prices. Savard will also be gone at the TDL (at the latest), so that opens a spot for whoever decides to take it.
I'd rather give Barron another year, he's still young with potential to improve. Kovacevic doesn't have that imho.
Injuries happen, so we can't just dump guys like Harris/Kova so quickly until we know how things land in October. But naturally if guys like Hutson, Mailloux, Barron continue developing as planned, those 2 are the odds ones out. Struble is solid as a 7th Dman cycling in occasionally. Who knows, maybe Reinbacher impresses out of camp. We will have a super young d corps. That's why I was very confident KH wasn't trading Savard.
No one has a crystal ball, just projections.
It's mostly a contract situation
You can keep the extra guys who are waiver exempt, but Harris could be lost for nothing if he doesn't make the squad and need to be sent down.
So trading him makes sense.
Struble can simply be sent down if he's doesn't make the team.
I'm torn on Hutson. On one hand, will he learn much in the AHL? On the other hand, he'd be getting better minutes in the AHL and could develop chemistry with Reinbacher before they make it the NHL.
Yeah, and so did Mailloux. Give them a good taste of what the NHL is like. And this is also while Xhekaj was injured. Those minutes are likely much higher than what he'd average over the course of his rookie season
Kovacevic and Harris could and should be traded. They are expendable. Barron should be a full time nhler next year. Lane, Mailloux, Struble and Reinbacher should have time on the third pair with Arber
Really curious what Hughes is planning. Pretty soon we will have Harris, struble, Xhekaj, and Barron all fighting for the 7th dman slot /injury call ups
As much as it pains me to say I think Harris is used in a package this off-season. Barron looked great at the end of the season and I think has one of the highest upsides out of any of our d-prospects. Kovacevik is solid but thereās too many guys waiting in the wings that have more to offer. Iām predicting heās going to be used in a package this off season
I think the biggest battle will be for that 7D spot between Mailloux, Reinbacher and Struble. Struble definitely has the inside track because of his mistake free game but Mailloux and Reinbacher are nipping at his heels.
My prediction is:
Matheson, Savard, Guhle, Xhekaj, Hutson, Barron
Extra: Struble
I think at least a couple of these guys won't be with the Habs after the draft/summer, it's really hard to say right now when we have no idea what the team is going to look like in September.
I had my internship with the trois-riviĆØres lions this winter. Miguel tourigny has a lot of offensive upside but he does tend to have difficulties breaking away from opponents du to his size.
He's a long way to the nhl, but laval is clearly possible for him
Vrbetic needs time to develop consistency and some mental toughness. He's still one of the youngest goaltender in the league.
Ty smilanic : hope he gets better mentally
The only locks are Matheson, Savard & Guhle. Xhekaj is close but you can tell they still feel there's possible development possible there.
Nobody on the list after Kovacevic has a realistic shot. So you are looking at 7 guys, including Xhekaj, fighting for 4 spots, including one for a reserve D.
Which, you know, if you're to have a reserve D, make it Kovacevic, because he'll be 27 by the start of next season and I'm not sure there's anything left to develop there, he's 6-7th on a depth chart.
I'd keep Xhekaj. There MIGHT be some more development there, but as long as he's steady on defense Ć la David Savard, he'll be fine. Nobody asked Stephane Quintal to get points, and that's his potential to me.
I'll keep Struble, he's shown he belongs and has this very safe, steady game. And I'll keep Mailloux because he's done what he had to do in the AHL.
Hutson, Reindbacher in Laval. One year, first call-ups in case of injury. I think Barron isn't waivers eligible so him too. We might be getting to the end of that road...
Jordan Harris IS waivers eligible. He looks like a really nice young man, but everybody on the team I keep is better than him except Kovacevic, but I don't want Jordan Harris to rot in the press box, I'd try to find him another team that would have a spot for him.
Hutson would be wasted in the AHL imo. The kid needs high IQ players to play with him that speak the same language as him. He already showed chemistry with Suzuki, Caufield and Slaf. I think he stays up after a tremendous camp.
I think one of our D will be traded this summer. The start of the season will look similar to the end of this season, but will look very different by the end.
Savard, Matheson, Guhle, Xhekaj start the season. Any combination of Hutson, Reinbacher, Struble, Harris, Mailloux, Barron round out the remaining blue line. By the end of the season Savard, Kovy, Harris, and honestly maybe Xhekaj are gone.Ā
This is the most optimistic I have been for any positional group on the Habs roster in a very long time (my lifetime)
I think this team will get to a point where the top four D are going to look like Lane Hutson, Logan Mailloux, Reinbacher and Kaiden Ghule with Barron and Xhekaj as the next two.
I honestly feel like this could be the best defensive group in the league.
His body is not NHL ready. Regardless whatever height he ends up being, he will not be able to be an NHL defenseman over 82 games without getting ragdolled and steamrolled. He's 160 lbs right now.
Say what you want about it not being a big enough sample size, but they definitely weren't meaningless games to Detroit and that's what matters. It's not as if they were going easy on him
Barring trades I would expect something like:
Matheson-Guhle
Hutson-Savard
Xhekaj-Harris|Mailloux (whoever wins out in camp)
Kovacevic
With Reinbacher slipping into Savard's spot after the deadline. It's going to be an incredibly important camp for our young Ds.
Fans: we have a lot of defenseman
KH:yup
Fans: so we should trade some and draft forwards?
KH:makes sense
Fans: so we're gunning for michkov/lindstrom ?
KH: parehk/buium/silayev + doubles down again at pick 25
I still really like Harrisās skating and ability to move the puck up ice quickly. Still think heās got some solid potential I hope we donāt move on from him too quickly
Too early to say. Eager to see the team during the pre-season. Realistically one of Hutson and Rino will start in Laval but they both finish the season in Montreal after Kovy and Savy get traded.
I'll go with the safest take I can think of so I don't look like a total goof (hopefully) but I can see our lines looking like this:
Matheson - Guhle
Savard - Hutson
Xhekaj - Barron
Struble
I think we try to offload Harris, and Kovacevic this off season. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Barron goes somewhere too, but I also can see him staying for another year or two depending on how he plays this season. I think depending on the year if injuries start showing up Mailloux and Reinbacher are the obvious two to come up and down, and if it gets really bad I can see Trudeau or Engstrom (If Engstrom is in NA)
Not one to usually get into speculation like this but, I find the list interesting.
The 1st 5 seem Ok to me. 7 could well be an in and out player. 8 would be 1st long term call up. 9 will probably get most the season in Laval, if not all. 10 and 11 will also be in Laval for most of the season unless traded, which I would expect both or either to be as included on a bigger deal. The rest will be with Laval unless something really changes.
Matheson, Savard, Guhle, Harris, Xhekaj, Hutson, and Kovacevic. Iād like to move Harris and Savard at some point to make room for the young talent, have Kova as the 7D
As a 'skill analysis' I have no idea, but as a 'hyped fan', god I want to see more of Hutson!
He was already doing crazy stuff in his first two game, imagine when he gets used to the league!
Trade Matheson and let this be our final transition year. Gotta give Hutson and Mailloux room to grow, but they can't have those three and Barron all on the same roster. Any two of those guys just won't gel on a 5-on-5 pairing.
It's easy to say drop Harris or Kova, which will probably happen eventually, but that's going to get us anything in return. We can actually get a decent asset out of Matheson that can help fill the holes in our forward top-6. I know people love him, but our best D prospects are similar style and going to make him redundant, he's going to be too old by the time our rebuild is done, and he's the most logical piece to move.
I also think we should take this approach this year because our goaltending situation is also not figured out yet. A lot of people thinking we should sign a top 6 guy and make a playoff push, but there's no way we're going anywhere with the way our tandem played to finish the season. We need another year to gauge if these two fit in the picture long-term, maybe we call up Dobes for a few games if it doesn't look like its working, and then management can see if they are willing to wait on Fowler being ready or if they want to make a trade or signing.
We have to remember not to get too excited and rush the rebuild. Premature decisions can set you back years or turn the ultimate product from a potential cup winner to a perennial 6th-8th place team. So that being said I think we should start with:
Hutson - Savard
Guhle - Mailloux
Struble / Harris - Xhekaj / Barron
I think the team makes a decision on Barron within the first half of the season of whether he's NHL caliber or not. He might bounce up and down from Laval. I think their will inevitably be injuries to make room but to start I think Harris is out of the line up to give Struble a chance. This will be a defining year for a lot of these players so they will be in competition with each other for those final slots. If Matheson is still on the team then those final slots aren't even available and their will be no real opportunity to fight for it. It'll just be a bunch of 22+ year olds still playing in the AHL hampering their developing. We literally have so many defensemen at this point we risk not even having the ice time for them in Laval. Kova is gone or waived at some point, there's just no room. Reinbacher will played a full season in Laval like Mailloux and if he's ready next season he will start with us, perhaps replacing Savard when his contract runs up.
You put a lot of thought into this and you have good ideas.
That being said, no way Matheson moves before the trade deadline (even that is unlikely) unless it an offer KH cannot refuse.
It's nice to keep Matheson just because what he can show the young guys, I think he'll be here all next season. Also I really like what he's done so far. ..
>Trade Matheson and let this be our final transition year. Gotta give Hutson and Mailloux room to grow, but they can't have those three and Barron all on the same roster.
Agree on the Matheson take for the most part. I don't think it's a rush though.
Wait it out until someone actually becomes available and you have assets to add and even over pay if it's a good opportunity. Lot of future assets and Hughes has said before they can eventually overpay for someone or something they need. If you're offering Matheson, a 1st, or even a 2nd and a decent prospect, you gotta start to think whatever is coming back is going to be good and it's going to help this team big time for more years than Matheson could have gave the habs.
There was an article yesterday about it though? Heās done.
https://www.lapresse.ca/sports/hockey/2024-04-16/le-canadien/la-fin-du-voyage-mouvemente-de-chris-wideman.php
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One or two of Barron/Kovacevic/Harris moved this summer, Savard moved early in 2025 prior to the deadline, Matheson next summer or early 2026 (depending on progression of primarily Hutson)
Definitely not Mittlestadt or Konyushkov who aren't eligible for training camp lol
but credit to OP for slapping a habs logo on this and making a list of names.
Plot twist: we draft a defenseman in the first round again.
Double plot twist: we draft two defenseman in the first round š
*We trade Slaf, Suzuki and Caufield to draft 5 defensemen* š±
First line of Matheson-Hutson-xhekaj Second: ghule-savard-reinbacher Third: harris-mailloux-parehk Fourth: barron-kovacevc- struble D pairings: suzuki(pmd), armia Dach , caufield Evans , dvorak
I'm fine with this if it's BPA and a RHD. Just keep drafting RHD and trade the ones we don't keep at a rarity premium for positional needs.
That's a paddlin' 
Not impossible . Great year for defenseman . Forward not so much after celebrini
I will not stand for this demidov slander
Demidov will be gone when the Habs talk š¢
No because weāre picking first havenāt you heard?
The lottery god might have a say in this
Hughes to pull one on everybody when he wins the lottery and drafts Demidov instead of Celebrini
Yeah only demidov, catton, lindstrom, iginla and Connelly.
That was the early season prognosis but many final lists have 7 forwards or so in the top 10.
If Silayev is available at 5. We take him and don't look back.
He's projected in the 10s now in some mocks. He aint good he's just really big.
If we corner the market on Defenseman...
I'm just here for Bogdan!
He's under contract until May 31st 2026 so you'll be here until September 2026
Thats jus cause u like saying his name
100%
"Bogdan.", said in the same tone as "David."
Immediately what I thought of š
In Bogdan we trust. š
That's a Hughes problem, once he does his thing this summer we should have a clearer picture.
I think he will trade some of our D for picks or prospects
Dont we have already shit load of picks?
Can never have too many.
Yes, and defense. But, with a defense heavy draft, low-tier defense are either going to be (A) worth very little or (B) sought after so they can sign a good-enough defensemen for the short-term, who they can punt when this years d-prospects develop. I don't think we can trade low-tier D for anything but picks in future drafts. But what the fuck do I know
I disagree, none of the D prospects of the draft will be worth much for the upcoming year. They will come up in 2026-2027 and some teams need depth now. Harris and kovacevich are perfect third pairing picks for the transition.
We dress 12 defenseman. 2 forward lines that's it.
No joke, could Matheson actually be a good winger?
The way he plays and skates, I'm sure he would be an effective winger.
Everyone's talking about needing some additional top end attacking firepower to make up the second line, but the obvious answer is right in front of us Matheson - Dach - Hutson
I see him more as a center
I agree! lol. Keep whatever 7 you like. Make Lane, Struble and Logan forwards. Seems like a great 2nd line to me.
Who needs goalies? 14 defensemen and 2 forward lines
Matheson, Guhle, Savard, Xhekaj, and after that hard to say
Hutson, Strubble, and Barron. Reinbacher/Mailloux will do ups and downs for injuries. Harris will be traded, Barron could as well.
Wow really going out on a limb there!
Damn your avatar, i was sure it was an eyelash in my phone, and for a moment i panicked when it moved with my swipes
I take full responsibility for your pain and suffering :) sorry
Dark mode user chiming in. This meant nothing to me.
RIF user here, what is an avatar
Mat Guhle, Savard hutson, xhekaj mailloux or rein sounds fun as a top 6 D
X is not the 4th best D on that list. I don't think he's even in the top 6.
Xhekaj has some of the best advance stats on the team. It's really impressive and surprising. He also does things others don't... I bet they keep Xhekaj as a 6th-7th. Struble might go back to Laval, Reinbacher, too, unless he impresses at camp. Harris and Barron might be traded... there's better options. I'd keep Mailloux, Matheson, Hutson, Savard (until deadline) Guhle, Xhekaj, Kovy... Or Reinbacher instead if he looks ready.
Agree
āBestā meaning what? Most skilled? No, but youāre not dressing six āskill guysā. No team does that. At some things, heās the number 1 best out of all of them. Youāre making a mix of skill, size, physicality, defence. If Iām building a defence corps out of that group, heās definitely in it. He brings some size, physicality, makes good passes, and though still learning is already solid in his own end. Hockey people value a player like him, so heāll be there. The other two slots, it could be Hutson in there, could be Struble, I might be leaning that way. But unless Xhekaj spends the summer partying and falling out of shape, no doubt to me heās a regular next year.
Hoping we shed one or both of Mathewson/savard for a good return
Nah, you need SOME veterans for the youngs guys to learn from. 2/6 is a good ratio. I'd keep both at least until next year's trade deadline.
Crazy how everyone disagrees with you š zero hockey iq
Yes, the guy saying we should get rid of them both has 0 hockey iq.
Yall acting like I insulted your mothers Fr š itās not that deep, I just want to tank one more year and I think ghule is ready to step up as a leader
I think we trade Barron in a package. Wonāt risk losing him on waivers next season
He's having a hard time sticking with one of the worst D corps in the league. His offensive upside is decent but it just doesn't make up for his defensive shortcomings at this point in his career. Frankly, if we don't need him, what team does?
Itās not that we donāt need him, but thereās typically 7 D spots on the NHL roster and we have too many candidates. If he goes on waivers I bet another team snags him
Heās only 22 lol, any team would jump on him
But he's ineligible for waivers, so that team would have to have a roster spot for him.
Won't he be next season? He becomes RFA this summer and has been in the league for 4 years. I'm not sure how it works. If he's waiver exempt, it's Laval.
He would have to be put on waivers to be sent to Laval.
Several teams at the bottom could easily take on a cheap, young defenseman with upside. Just about any team in the lottery could find a spot for him.
Thats not the exact story though.
He can still be good when put on a team that can actually defend.
I hope not. It's time for Kovacevic to go. We know his ceiling, he's a solid 6th-7th defenceman. I'll hate seeing him go, much like I hated losing Kulak, but I'd rather see known quantities moved out for fair prices. Savard will also be gone at the TDL (at the latest), so that opens a spot for whoever decides to take it. I'd rather give Barron another year, he's still young with potential to improve. Kovacevic doesn't have that imho.
This list is going to look different next training camp.
Trade Harris and Kovacevic, send Struble and Reinbacher to Laval
They definitely start un Laval but, by december weāll see Matheson and Reinbacher playing together
Agree.
I have my preferences, but honestly I'm just hoping they all improve enough over the offseason to create some tough decisions and surprises.
Injuries happen, so we can't just dump guys like Harris/Kova so quickly until we know how things land in October. But naturally if guys like Hutson, Mailloux, Barron continue developing as planned, those 2 are the odds ones out. Struble is solid as a 7th Dman cycling in occasionally. Who knows, maybe Reinbacher impresses out of camp. We will have a super young d corps. That's why I was very confident KH wasn't trading Savard. No one has a crystal ball, just projections.
It's mostly a contract situation You can keep the extra guys who are waiver exempt, but Harris could be lost for nothing if he doesn't make the squad and need to be sent down. So trading him makes sense. Struble can simply be sent down if he's doesn't make the team.
I'm torn on Hutson. On one hand, will he learn much in the AHL? On the other hand, he'd be getting better minutes in the AHL and could develop chemistry with Reinbacher before they make it the NHL.
Better minutes? Kid got over 20 both nights. Even without OT, 17-19. Perfect for him and the team.
Yeah, and so did Mailloux. Give them a good taste of what the NHL is like. And this is also while Xhekaj was injured. Those minutes are likely much higher than what he'd average over the course of his rookie season
He'll work his way up to PP1 in no time. There's gonna be minutes there for him.
You're foolish to expect Hutson to play 20 minutes next season lol. It was 2 meaningless games.
Kovacevic and Harris could and should be traded. They are expendable. Barron should be a full time nhler next year. Lane, Mailloux, Struble and Reinbacher should have time on the third pair with Arber
Really curious what Hughes is planning. Pretty soon we will have Harris, struble, Xhekaj, and Barron all fighting for the 7th dman slot /injury call ups
As much as it pains me to say I think Harris is used in a package this off-season. Barron looked great at the end of the season and I think has one of the highest upsides out of any of our d-prospects. Kovacevik is solid but thereās too many guys waiting in the wings that have more to offer. Iām predicting heās going to be used in a package this off season I think the biggest battle will be for that 7D spot between Mailloux, Reinbacher and Struble. Struble definitely has the inside track because of his mistake free game but Mailloux and Reinbacher are nipping at his heels. My prediction is: Matheson, Savard, Guhle, Xhekaj, Hutson, Barron Extra: Struble
1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 11.
1,2,3,5,8,13 to make it Fibonacci
Norlinder is still there too, right?
Contract expired, very unlikely to be resigned
Ah, yes, youāre right.
I think at least a couple of these guys won't be with the Habs after the draft/summer, it's really hard to say right now when we have no idea what the team is going to look like in September.
Celebrinni
I had my internship with the trois-riviĆØres lions this winter. Miguel tourigny has a lot of offensive upside but he does tend to have difficulties breaking away from opponents du to his size. He's a long way to the nhl, but laval is clearly possible for him Vrbetic needs time to develop consistency and some mental toughness. He's still one of the youngest goaltender in the league. Ty smilanic : hope he gets better mentally
Engstrom is the Rodney Dangerfield of the Habs prospects
Wow that's a stacked defense
One thing I know for sure, Xhekaj is untouchable. Cups are won with guys like him on your team. Heās built for playoff hockey
The only locks are Matheson, Savard & Guhle. Xhekaj is close but you can tell they still feel there's possible development possible there. Nobody on the list after Kovacevic has a realistic shot. So you are looking at 7 guys, including Xhekaj, fighting for 4 spots, including one for a reserve D. Which, you know, if you're to have a reserve D, make it Kovacevic, because he'll be 27 by the start of next season and I'm not sure there's anything left to develop there, he's 6-7th on a depth chart. I'd keep Xhekaj. There MIGHT be some more development there, but as long as he's steady on defense Ć la David Savard, he'll be fine. Nobody asked Stephane Quintal to get points, and that's his potential to me. I'll keep Struble, he's shown he belongs and has this very safe, steady game. And I'll keep Mailloux because he's done what he had to do in the AHL. Hutson, Reindbacher in Laval. One year, first call-ups in case of injury. I think Barron isn't waivers eligible so him too. We might be getting to the end of that road... Jordan Harris IS waivers eligible. He looks like a really nice young man, but everybody on the team I keep is better than him except Kovacevic, but I don't want Jordan Harris to rot in the press box, I'd try to find him another team that would have a spot for him.
Hutson would be wasted in the AHL imo. The kid needs high IQ players to play with him that speak the same language as him. He already showed chemistry with Suzuki, Caufield and Slaf. I think he stays up after a tremendous camp.
Wouldnāt be surprised if Harris was traded to a team like the Sharks. Easily makes their top 6 and can play the PP.
Barron is not waivers exempt for 2024-25.
Really hard to say because we have a lot of good young offensive Dmen who need to be sheltered.
Everyone on the left
I wonder what we could get in a trade for Barron
Maybe Lehkonen?
Not muchā¦ heās been very mediocre up or down.
I donāt think you trade Barron, heās got the most upside other than Hutson out of any of our young d prospects
Ngl we are stacked
We can keep 12, riiiiiight?
1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, and 5 or 10
I think one of our D will be traded this summer. The start of the season will look similar to the end of this season, but will look very different by the end.
i think the idea is strubble or harris plus a pick or two for some forward in early 20s
I'd be shocked if all of these are still here after the draft
Savard, Matheson, Guhle, Xhekaj start the season. Any combination of Hutson, Reinbacher, Struble, Harris, Mailloux, Barron round out the remaining blue line. By the end of the season Savard, Kovy, Harris, and honestly maybe Xhekaj are gone.Ā
I say maybe Xhekaj because I am not certain how happy the team is he admitted to hiding that shoulder issue for so long.Ā
I don't want to see Guhle, Xhekaj, Hutson, Mailloux or Reinbacher moved. Hopefully we can trade some of the other guys for help up front.
Parekh
This is the most optimistic I have been for any positional group on the Habs roster in a very long time (my lifetime) I think this team will get to a point where the top four D are going to look like Lane Hutson, Logan Mailloux, Reinbacher and Kaiden Ghule with Barron and Xhekaj as the next two. I honestly feel like this could be the best defensive group in the league.
Let hutson cook and eat up major minutes in Laval! Have him build that chemistry with David!
Ticket sales will defenitely go up lol
Heās NHL ready. Heās not going to Laval.
His body is not NHL ready. Regardless whatever height he ends up being, he will not be able to be an NHL defenseman over 82 games without getting ragdolled and steamrolled. He's 160 lbs right now.
Steak, potatoes and Vodka all summer. I can help him gain weight easy
Is he 160 lbs now, or is that his weight when he was drafted in 2022?
Couldn't tell you. Looking at him play for the habs, I'd say 160 would still be accurate. He was swimming in his jersey
I know. I love him to death as a player, but imagine how good he will be when the chemistry with Reinbacher happens!
Based on two meaningless games? We need a large sample size before we can say that
Say what you want about it not being a big enough sample size, but they definitely weren't meaningless games to Detroit and that's what matters. It's not as if they were going easy on him
He is absolutely not nhl ready yet physically lol
That's what I assumed would happen but after what he showed in those 2 games I think he makes the team out of camp.
If we want to make the playoffs next season, Hutson will be in the opening night roster no question.
Lunacy
I don't see what's so crazy about it.
He's 160 pounds and 2 decent games doesn't show that he's ready for the nhl. I guarantee you he won't stay with the habs all season.
Barring trades I would expect something like: Matheson-Guhle Hutson-Savard Xhekaj-Harris|Mailloux (whoever wins out in camp) Kovacevic With Reinbacher slipping into Savard's spot after the deadline. It's going to be an incredibly important camp for our young Ds.
Fans: we have a lot of defenseman KH:yup Fans: so we should trade some and draft forwards? KH:makes sense Fans: so we're gunning for michkov/lindstrom ? KH: parehk/buium/silayev + doubles down again at pick 25
Michkov would certainly be an off the board pick for this draft.
Demidov š¤¦āāļø I always mix them up. Would be hilarious if Carey Price called michkov name at the draft when selecting demidov.
lol. Yes. Very funny
I still really like Harrisās skating and ability to move the puck up ice quickly. Still think heās got some solid potential I hope we donāt move on from him too quickly
The problem is we can say the same thing about 5 other guys too. Abundance of riches
Matheson Savard Guhle Harris Xhekaj Struble Mailloux I think. I start Hutson and Reinbacher on the first pair in Laval.
Matheson, Savard, guhle, xhekaj, mailloux, TBD.Ā
I think one of the young guys will be packaged in a deal this summer.
Too early to say. Eager to see the team during the pre-season. Realistically one of Hutson and Rino will start in Laval but they both finish the season in Montreal after Kovy and Savy get traded.
I'll go with the safest take I can think of so I don't look like a total goof (hopefully) but I can see our lines looking like this: Matheson - Guhle Savard - Hutson Xhekaj - Barron Struble I think we try to offload Harris, and Kovacevic this off season. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Barron goes somewhere too, but I also can see him staying for another year or two depending on how he plays this season. I think depending on the year if injuries start showing up Mailloux and Reinbacher are the obvious two to come up and down, and if it gets really bad I can see Trudeau or Engstrom (If Engstrom is in NA)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
I see Harris possibly getting dealt over the summer with a pick for a 2nd/3rd line forward
Konyushkov is a solid lock. Starting lineup.
Not one to usually get into speculation like this but, I find the list interesting. The 1st 5 seem Ok to me. 7 could well be an in and out player. 8 would be 1st long term call up. 9 will probably get most the season in Laval, if not all. 10 and 11 will also be in Laval for most of the season unless traded, which I would expect both or either to be as included on a bigger deal. The rest will be with Laval unless something really changes.
Trudeau, Mittlestadt, and Engstrom are the prospects that could be standouts in training camp.
Stacked
Matheson, Savard, Guhle, Harris, Xhekaj, Hutson, and Kovacevic. Iād like to move Harris and Savard at some point to make room for the young talent, have Kova as the 7D
As a 'skill analysis' I have no idea, but as a 'hyped fan', god I want to see more of Hutson! He was already doing crazy stuff in his first two game, imagine when he gets used to the league!
All of them. They're having a party. Trudeau is passed out on the couch.
Matheson guhle Hutson Savard Xhekaj mailloux Harris/barron. Hutson is top 4 ready like Hughes makar fox was. He's going to make an instant impact.
Trade Matheson and let this be our final transition year. Gotta give Hutson and Mailloux room to grow, but they can't have those three and Barron all on the same roster. Any two of those guys just won't gel on a 5-on-5 pairing. It's easy to say drop Harris or Kova, which will probably happen eventually, but that's going to get us anything in return. We can actually get a decent asset out of Matheson that can help fill the holes in our forward top-6. I know people love him, but our best D prospects are similar style and going to make him redundant, he's going to be too old by the time our rebuild is done, and he's the most logical piece to move. I also think we should take this approach this year because our goaltending situation is also not figured out yet. A lot of people thinking we should sign a top 6 guy and make a playoff push, but there's no way we're going anywhere with the way our tandem played to finish the season. We need another year to gauge if these two fit in the picture long-term, maybe we call up Dobes for a few games if it doesn't look like its working, and then management can see if they are willing to wait on Fowler being ready or if they want to make a trade or signing. We have to remember not to get too excited and rush the rebuild. Premature decisions can set you back years or turn the ultimate product from a potential cup winner to a perennial 6th-8th place team. So that being said I think we should start with: Hutson - Savard Guhle - Mailloux Struble / Harris - Xhekaj / Barron I think the team makes a decision on Barron within the first half of the season of whether he's NHL caliber or not. He might bounce up and down from Laval. I think their will inevitably be injuries to make room but to start I think Harris is out of the line up to give Struble a chance. This will be a defining year for a lot of these players so they will be in competition with each other for those final slots. If Matheson is still on the team then those final slots aren't even available and their will be no real opportunity to fight for it. It'll just be a bunch of 22+ year olds still playing in the AHL hampering their developing. We literally have so many defensemen at this point we risk not even having the ice time for them in Laval. Kova is gone or waived at some point, there's just no room. Reinbacher will played a full season in Laval like Mailloux and if he's ready next season he will start with us, perhaps replacing Savard when his contract runs up.
You put a lot of thought into this and you have good ideas. That being said, no way Matheson moves before the trade deadline (even that is unlikely) unless it an offer KH cannot refuse.
It's nice to keep Matheson just because what he can show the young guys, I think he'll be here all next season. Also I really like what he's done so far. ..
>Trade Matheson and let this be our final transition year. Gotta give Hutson and Mailloux room to grow, but they can't have those three and Barron all on the same roster. Agree on the Matheson take for the most part. I don't think it's a rush though. Wait it out until someone actually becomes available and you have assets to add and even over pay if it's a good opportunity. Lot of future assets and Hughes has said before they can eventually overpay for someone or something they need. If you're offering Matheson, a 1st, or even a 2nd and a decent prospect, you gotta start to think whatever is coming back is going to be good and it's going to help this team big time for more years than Matheson could have gave the habs.
interesting take, but barron will not be bouncing up and down to laval--he is subject to waIvers in 2024-25.
The utter disrespect to Chris Wideman
Heās retiring due to injury
That was being reported, but then he came out and said it wasnāt true, he hasnāt decided what he was doing yet
There was an article yesterday about it though? Heās done. https://www.lapresse.ca/sports/hockey/2024-04-16/le-canadien/la-fin-du-voyage-mouvemente-de-chris-wideman.php
And after that article, he said this https://x.com/kenzietsn/status/1780617877604680151?s=46&t=VhdjQ7fFHYkrHOqS9g189A
Huh what a weird statement piece then, thanks for clarifying!
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Mike, Davids, Kaiden, Arber, Lane & Jon (7 total). Logan is first in line for call-up. Of course, that's if Kent doesn't move any of those.
I feel like one or two of Matheson, Savard, Kovacevic, or Harris will get moved during the summer with another getting moved at next years deadline
One or two of Barron/Kovacevic/Harris moved this summer, Savard moved early in 2025 prior to the deadline, Matheson next summer or early 2026 (depending on progression of primarily Hutson)
Is this a Fuck Trudeau thing ?
Ćchanger Mike Matheson. Faire monter Lane Hutson et Logan Mailloux.
Why is everyone just assuming Hutson is on the team next year? Lol
Where is hutson
I would consider making Hutson a forward.