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Post by BigTed3 on Jun 22, 2024 21:18:57 GMT
This is one of the big debates facing the team right now. So let's see what people think... as we build towards a Cup winner, who are the three players you envision as being the ones we stick with on the left side of the D? Is Matheson here for more than 2 years? Do we bother selecting another LHD this draft if we think he's BPA? Who do we trade away, factoring in what the return for each player might be?
Please pick exactly 3 guys as your answer. I'm curious to know who people think should be here and which ones we should be aiming to trade.
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Post by claremont on Jun 22, 2024 21:26:55 GMT
This is one of the big debates facing the team right now. So let's see what people think... as we build towards a Cup winner, who are the three players you envision as being the ones we stick with on the left side of the D? Is Matheson here for more than 2 years? Do we bother selecting another LHD this draft if we think he's BPA? Who do we trade away, factoring in what the return for each player might be? Please pick exactly 3 guys as your answer. I'm curious to know who people think should be here and which ones we should be aiming to trade. You left Lane off the poll so is he other? |
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regis
Le Gros Bill
Posts: 1,095
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Post by regis on Jun 22, 2024 21:44:31 GMT
In 2 to 3 years Matheson might / should be gone as his contract is up so I selected
Other Hutson - hopefully he follows Q Hughes footsteps in Vancouver
Guhle
Xhekaj - I think he brings something no one else does but I keep reading MSL isn’t too fond of him
Ps you have Harris listed twice . I suspect one should be Hutson 🤷♂️
Harris and struble are ok D men I just don’t think they bring something that differentiates them from the next guy .
Engstrom needs to play in Laval before a determination can be made . He may well be the next Norlinder
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Post by maasart on Jun 22, 2024 22:02:25 GMT
I think one of those Harris' should be hutson but i dont believe i can edit your poll!
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Post by BigTed3 on Jun 22, 2024 23:23:29 GMT
^^ Yes, the 2nd Harris should have been a Hutson... so for future voters, just ignore the 2nd Harris (use the 1st one if you want to vote for him) and use "other" to vote for Hutson, as I think some have already done.
My own votes went to Hutson, Xhekaj, and Struble. I personally think the first two were near-locks. They're both so unique that I don't see trading them away (unless we draft a Buium, Silayev, etc. that makes someone a bit more expendable). The third is a coin flip for me. I expect the Habs see Guhle in that role, but I also think he garners you a better trade return and/or he could play on the right if really needed. Struble is a guy who can fill out the third pairing, still skate and move the puck, but also be physical enough that you won't have to worry about match ups as much. It could well be that someone else supplants this trio, but as we speak today, I think these are the three most likely guys we keep.
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Post by selteeck on Jun 23, 2024 1:28:22 GMT
Other
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Post by BigTed3 on Jun 23, 2024 1:36:28 GMT
So this poll is kind of confirming what I thought it would: thus far, people seem to envision the left side of our defence in 2-3 years as most likely to be featuring Hutson, Guhle, and Xhekaj. A few votes for Struble and some questions about what Engstrom will be able to do. But there are zero votes here for Matheson and zero votes for Harris. And so that's where this should really be clear: if Matheson isn't a guy who is likely to be in your plans in 2-3 years, if you have the horses to replace him, and if his value is the highest it's ever been right now, we should be trading him. Hughes can't and shouldn't be attached to a guy just because he was his agent. Matheson was far and away our best D man the past two years, but it's also why he'll fetch the biggest return without hurting our future. With so many teams looking to improve their defence to try to win now (Carolina, New Jersey, Buffalo, Toronto, maybe Edmonton or Utah, maybe Ottawa if they deal Chychrun, and so on...) there is a market to be able to deal him. Some of those teams we know have top 10-12 picks on the table to offer. This poll is illustrating that Hughes needs to be looking at what he can get with Matheson as the key piece going out. Is it Necas? Is it a top 10 pick? Let's find pieces who can help us for more than the next two years.
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Post by claremont on Jun 23, 2024 14:04:47 GMT
So this poll is kind of confirming what I thought it would: thus far, people seem to envision the left side of our defence in 2-3 years as most likely to be featuring Hutson, Guhle, and Xhekaj. A few votes for Struble and some questions about what Engstrom will be able to do. But there are zero votes here for Matheson and zero votes for Harris. And so that's where this should really be clear: if Matheson isn't a guy who is likely to be in your plans in 2-3 years, if you have the horses to replace him, and if his value is the highest it's ever been right now, we should be trading him. Hughes can't and shouldn't be attached to a guy just because he was his agent. Matheson was far and away our best D man the past two years, but it's also why he'll fetch the biggest return without hurting our future. With so many teams looking to improve their defence to try to win now (Carolina, New Jersey, Buffalo, Toronto, maybe Edmonton or Utah, maybe Ottawa if they deal Chychrun, and so on...) there is a market to be able to deal him. Some of those teams we know have top 10-12 picks on the table to offer. This poll is illustrating that Hughes needs to be looking at what he can get with Matheson as the key piece going out. Is it Necas? Is it a top 10 pick? Let's find pieces who can help us for more than the next two years. The problem with trading Matheson now is that it puts a lot of pressure on the current Habs D to pick up that puck moving and power play goals / assists that Matheson provides. I don't know that HuGo are provided to take that gamble on Guhle, an emerging Hutson and Xhekaj / Struble / Harris and even Mailloux on the RHD side to be that guy at this time. I believe we should take that gamble - let's continue the evaluation of the youth core. We have the depth in quantity just not the quality. We may not have a Matheson replacement but IMO that forward we obtain can be a compensating factor. FWIW, my votes were Guhle, Hutson, Struble. Not to say Xhekaj is not valuable (indeed he also has a great shot), but Struble offers up some better skating, has some physicality and may be better defensively (rookie season he had some late season lapses), but it is too early to tell. I see Arber as that platoon 7th d-man. |
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regis
Le Gros Bill
Posts: 1,095
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Post by regis on Jul 9, 2024 12:05:19 GMT
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Post by claremont on Jul 9, 2024 13:44:11 GMT
It is an interesting dilemma: Option 1 - Don't trade Matheson. How are you going to get a top 6 forward that will vault this team forward? Harris on his own is not likely to fetch a difference maker. Guhle + maybe, however I don't like giving up bangers/grit and Guhle's versatility to cover the RHD side. IMO without another strong forward in our top 6, a recovered Dach and Dvorak are unlikely to push us further ahead. The youngsters grow in experience, but the team is destined to finish bottom 10 and we settle for another long season and a draft pick. Can the players be patient with that degree of growth or feel management is not strongly supporting them? Option 2 - Trade Matheson now while his value is high. Places pressure on all of Guhle, Harris, Hutson / Struble, Xhekaj. Likely lack a #1 D-man at either side unless Hutson surprises. Gain a top 6 scoring forward. Option 3 - Trade Matheson mid-season. Those types of deals don't often work. The top 6 forward will come from an underachieving team that needs a reset. The benefit is we get to see a glimpse of the impact of that new player for the 2nd half of the season. |
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regis
Le Gros Bill
Posts: 1,095
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Post by regis on Aug 28, 2024 21:37:45 GMT
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Post by habsalways on Aug 29, 2024 15:02:44 GMT
It is an interesting dilemma: Option 1 - Don't trade Matheson. How are you going to get a top 6 forward that will vault this team forward? Harris on his own is not likely to fetch a difference maker. Guhle + maybe, however I don't like giving up bangers/grit and Guhle's versatility to cover the RHD side. IMO without another strong forward in our top 6, a recovered Dach and Dvorak are unlikely to push us further ahead. The youngsters grow in experience, but the team is destined to finish bottom 10 and we settle for another long season and a draft pick. Can the players be patient with that degree of growth or feel management is not strongly supporting them? Option 2 - Trade Matheson now while his value is high. Places pressure on all of Guhle, Harris, Hutson / Struble, Xhekaj. Likely lack a #1 D-man at either side unless Hutson surprises. Gain a top 6 scoring forward. Option 3 - Trade Matheson mid-season. Those types of deals don't often work. The top 6 forward will come from an underachieving team that needs a reset. The benefit is we get to see a glimpse of the impact of that new player for the 2nd half of the season. Harris got us Laine .... hehe |
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