Commandant

I dont think you need to give.up our pick. I think itd be more like the Jets pick, one of Harris/Barron/Struble, and another prospect like Roy.

Do you actually watch these players play? You seem convinced on things but I dont know how many games of theirs you are actually watching. The views are out there. Comparing players to Lindros Wondering if Celebrini is really the number 1. Like i dont know what to say to these things.

Watch if anyone is a late scratch in this one. Could indicate a callup with the RHP injury.

One thing to keep in mind, (and not just him but all KHLers) the quality of the league has really dropped since the war as there is far less quality foreign players. Swedes, Finn, Canadians, Americans, are far less prevalent than they were before

https://x.com/NHL_Watcher/status/1756030326592201051?s=20 25 years old. RfA this summer. Very, very good at creating offence 5v5. Id absolutely be inquiring, though i doubt the Sabres want to move him in the division.

Guhle has really improved his skating since being drafted and its a plus for him. Matheson was probably the best skater on the team for most of the season, however he has been overtaken but not by Guhle. The best skater on the team right now? Brandon Gignac. He can fly.

I think if the Habs move Harris (or any young D) in the summer they would be looking for a similar aged forward instead of a pick.

It takes more skill than you think to score goals, regardless of sliding them 4 feet into an open net. The NHL game moves so fast and the hand eye coordination needed is high. Im confused as to why you think he will be able to score these goals at a high rate, when he isnt able to score them at a high rate in junior hockey playing against 16-19 year olds.

Ryan Smith was a 6th overall pick At 17 he scored 50 goals and 105 points in 72 games. At 18 he scored 41 goald and 86 points in just 50 games. At 19 he was in the NHL. Its another horrible comparison. Tenacity is one aspect of this, but michael pezzetta has plenty of tenacity, so did Steve Begin, Tom Kostopolous, Travis Moen and many guys who never get out of beer league. Scoring NHL goals is hard, it takes more than just tenacity, it takes skill too. You dont seem to understand that.

Of course there are always late bloomers, but there fact is that right now there isn't a single one who has followed the path of Florian Xhekaj and went on to score 30 goals or 60 points in a single season in the NHL. Could he make the NHL? of course. Is he going to reach the levels that have been predicted by Sir Boagalot? That is highly unlikely. In fact there is no precedent for someone with these stats at 19 to do it (37 points in 45 games right now).

If you don't understand why age is important to a players development, then really there is no hope for you. Its the biggest key factor in measuring a player's growth on a year to year basis. And you keep bringing up ridiculous examples. Yes Cale Makar played in a Junior A league. He did that so he could maintain his eligibility for college hockey, not because he wasn't good enough to go in the WHL. He also completely dominated that league showing he was too advanced for it, and after being drafted was immediately one of the best players in the NCAA. By Florian's age he was one of the NHL's best rookies, winning the Calder Trophy. How are you so bad at these comparisons?

The closest comparable who actually became offensively productive is Milan Lucic. That said, he still reached the NHL by the age that Florian is at now, and his 18 year old year is still slightly better than Florian's 19 year old year (and MUCH better than Florian's 18 year old year). So its really unprecedented to have Florian have the type of development that is suggested here, to the point where I call it dreaming.

Id take Ethan Gauthier and/or Jack Thompson from their prospects if they dont want to move picks.

Ryan O'Reilly was in the NHL at 18, immediately after being drafted. At the same age Florian is at now, O'Reilly was playing his 2nd NHL season. So no, the age factor is not comparable, those 19 and 16 goal seasons are his 16 and 17 year old years... not 19.

Salfkovsky has helped but Suzuki has also played at close to Selke levels (he wont get votes but thats where he is playing). Caufield has also improved in his own end to where hes not a huge liability

Do they want a reunion with David Savard.

I think that likely ends his season

At the same age Florian is now, Tom Wilson was an NHL rookie. The year before, he was well over a PPG with 58 points in 48 games. Your comparison is again very bad. Age matters far more than weight, which is often inaccurate.

It would literally be unprecedented for Florian Xhekaj to score 30g or 60 pts in an NHL season. Not one player in the NHL has ever scored 30g or 60 pts in a season after having as low a PPG in his D+2 season in the CHL. Not one.

LoL a 25-30 goal, 55-65 point guy who cant get a PPG in his D+2 year in the OHL. And the muscle thing, he will literally never have a bigger size and strength advantage against opponents than he does right now. This is dreaming. I think his max is to be a bottom six pest Dach is also a horrible comparison considering he was in his 2nd NHL season at the same age Florian is now. Your comparison to getting over 190 lbs has little to do with weight and more to do with Dach like many struggled as a 16 year old WHL rookie, and then exploded as a 17 year old...

Wifi is putting up good numbers. The caveat to that though is the ice time and the fact that he is being sheltered with his zone starts and the opponents who he is being matched against. This indicates that he should get some more icetime and harder matchups to see how he handles it. We've already seen this year with both Struble and Kovacevic that they were putting up great numbers on the third pair, and then fell off entirely when given bigger responsibility. If Xhekaj can continue to play well in his sheltered minutes and avoid penalties, then it will be a good experiment to increase the amount and difficulty of his minutes.

Sure, given the right return. That return isnt Zegras IMO.

I think we are two full seasons before the games. Given the state of Canadian goaltending, I certainly thinks he has a chance. It would take him playing at his current level for that time though (and likely the Habs improving just to get attention on him).

Its not about never trading a young defenceman. Its about not liking a deal that is a stud defensive D in Guhle, for a guy in Zegras where there are serious questions about his overall game, especially his play without the puck.

I dont think we are getting anything for Pearson.