Neech

Eddy and Savard are good veteran leaders picked up on the cheap. If Matheson is healthy and scores 50 points this year, he'll be highly sought after with two years remaining at a good cap number. Totally different calculus to (a) dole out a pricy extension to an injury-prone player, and (b) to trade that pricy extension when the player is on the wrong side of 30. I'm fine with keeping Matheson, but an extension brings big risks and we may want to give that money to our young core. He is also one of the few players we have who could bring in a big haul on the trade market.

He also has had some injury issues, which makes an extension riskier. I agree about having veteran leadership on the D corps, but we could possibly pick that up on the cheap in a year or two, while getting a big return for Matheson.

Another retread for Gorton and Hughes, and a reminder of Gorton's spotty record at the top of the draft (which I hope hasn't continued with Slaf and Rickenbacher). They sure seem loyal to 'their guys' - at least there's no possible downside to this deal.

That means extending him, which carries more risk and makes him harder to trade. Right now he's on a sweetheart deal.

The only reason I'm proposing it is because we have a glut of defensive prospects, especially on the left side, and not enough top forwards. If Matheson is healthy and productive this year, he could net us a great return.

So we want Calgary and Florida to both suck in 2024-25.

He's not the classic defensive anchor vet, more like the guy who needs a defensive anchor as his partner. Hutson could fill that role in a few years, at which point Matheson will be expendable. We'll not be contending before then, so I'd be fine getting a future core piece for him.

Disappointing in the end because a healthy Eddy would have a netted a Chiarot-like return, but who knows if we'll ever see a healthy Eddy again. Good to have the spot available for our young D-men. I wonder if Matheson continues his production from down the stretch into this season, if he can be flipped for a first line forward.

It sounds like Michkov wanted to be drafted by the Flyers and angled to get himself there. Maybe he gave the Habs management the impression that he didn't want to join us.

Lots of buyouts this year, including some big names like Wheeler and Duchene. I assume this is good news for contenders who can sign them on the cheap.

What's the ceiling on this guy, could he be a Plekanec level player? Killing penalties is promising, let's hope he has some defensive acumen. He's scored a point per game at every minor league level. Plex had his first 20 goal season when he was 24 and Newhook is only 22. If Hughes can get him on a sweetheart deal similar to Dach we could be in good shape.

Well we have our D corps set up for the future. Hopefully there are at least 3-4 stars among them. Building from the net out can make us a longterm contender, like the Canes for instance. I'll admit I'd have been more excited with Michkov, but who knows who'll be the better player down the line. The armchair experts freaking out over this are a bit much, but hey that's what fandom's all about.

On the bright side, I won't have to compare whoever we took at #31 with all the players taken after #17.

Similar to the Dach deal last year. If he turns into a solid top-6 forward this is good value. Nice to get another Newfie on the team.

The idea of passing on Michkov at #5 seems criminal to me, but given that that appears to be the way we're headed if he's still on the board, a trade down with Detroit or Washington to add another 1st rounder might not be a bad thing. The prospects from 5-8 seem roughly interchangeable and I'd be about the same level of excited for Smith, Benson, Leonard, or Reinbacher.

Whoa Habsworld has its own eyes and ears on the ground! When was the last time we had a beat reporter?

Bergy's always loved Dubois. The Kings have some of the best centre depth in the league, so I don't know how much sense this move makes. If he does sign a longterm deal, I'll take the odds that he'll be demanding a trade before the contract is up.

Hopefully you bring the Habs great fortune!

I think it should be you, DON.

I would love Dubois as a UFA who takes a slight hometown discount. I don't want to either spend serious assets to acquire him or give him a huge payday. We wouldn't even consider going after him if he wasn't a gars de chez nous who made it clear he wants to come here. If he wants that so bad, let him come here as a UFA and be a hero who didn't cripple the rebuild.

Unfortunately it may be better longterm to be plucky bottomfeeders again this season and get another top pick. Slaf and Smith/Benson are good, but I'm not sure they're the bluechippers we need from our tanking years. I'm not saying that we should lose intentionally, but if we draft 10-15th next summer we may be looking back at our bottoming-out period as insufficient.

Any other forwards that you'd rank above Cooley beside the top 6?

Gallagher won't live up to his cap hit, that ship has sailed. If he hits 40 points that'll be a big win at this point.

Almost no risk at all, while the upside is a potential 1st at the deadline. Love it!

It is interesting (and unfortunate) how much more stacked this year is compared to last. It's safe to say the top 4 this year would have been #1 with a bullet last year, and the question is how many more of this crop of forwards would have come before Slaf, Cooley or Wright.