Permanent Rumour Thread

[revvvrob]

1 hour ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

Thats the rub - he is closer to a 3C or an in between 2-3

 

Habs could then spend capital on a serious winger perhaps. I can’t imagine McTavish costing grade A prospects

Makes me wonder if management sees him as 2C placeholder until Hage is ready, then drops to 3C or is traded again. 

[tomh009]

1 hour ago, dlbalr said:

23-year-old centre signed long-term at a reasonable rate.  Yeah, he's going to cost a ton or Anaheim will have no reason to move him.

 

Is he enough better (going forward) than Kapanen to merit spending a ton on an acquisition? Giving up Hage, for example, would seem excessive, given that McTavish seems to be a 20-goal, 40-50-point player, pretty consistently over the last four years.

 

I guess that's the question Hughes will need to answer.

[dlbalr]

1 hour ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

His production isn’t enough for me to spend major assets. 
 

Kapanen, Engstrom was the level I was thinking

 

I would consider Guhle if the deal was basically a 1 for 1

 

Curious to see what his value is

 

If you're not wanting to spend major assets, why would Anaheim move him?  He's a former third overall pick who has demonstrated a 40-point floor.  Relatively unproven secondary youngsters aren't going to move the needle when they're a team with as deep of a prospect pool as Montreal's and they're not in a spot where they have to move money out (they're more than $38M under the cap).  If all they can get is secondary-level assets, they may as well just keep him and see if he rebounds.  If he doesn't, those same secondary-level assets will be there next summer.

[dlbalr]

42 minutes ago, tomh009 said:

Is he enough better (going forward) than Kapanen to merit spending a ton on an acquisition? Giving up Hage, for example, would seem excessive, given that McTavish seems to be a 20-goal, 40-50-point player, pretty consistently over the last four years.

 

I guess that's the question Hughes will need to answer.

 

I think Kapanen's ceiling is that of a 40-point player most years, more of a 3C than a 2C.  (His shooting percentage this season is unsustainable over the long haul).  McTavish has hit that in four straight years (and he's only been a full-time NHL player for four years).  With ice time at the level of a second liner in Montreal (which is more than the 15 minutes he gets in Anaheim) and playing with Demidov, I could see him getting past the 50-point mark again and doing so regularly.  It's not a massive upgrade in terms of points but it's an incremental upgrade that 20 other teams would be looking to get, turning more of a 3C to a 2C.  If the Ducks move him, they're going to get a pretty penny for that incremental upgrade.

[WildTurkeyXX]

I thought that McTavish would be a great addition, last off season, and I think I still feel the same about it now. But admittedly, I don't watch a lot of Ducks games. I've heard he has some skating issues, but I haven't witnessed it. He definitely had a down year on the stat card, but without digging too deep I can see a couple of obvious excuses for it.

For one, I believe he missed most of, if not all of training camp. That's bound to have some impact.

Second, the addition of Granland bumped him down the depth chart, that's also bound to have an impact.

I don't know what I'd be comfortable trading for him, but if definitely still be very interested. Especially since he has aspects to his game that we simply don't have throughout our roster.

All of this is probably moot, since my prediction is that he gets packaged with something or other and sent to Detroit for Larkin. I just have a feeling...

[tomh009]

5 hours ago, dlbalr said:

I think Kapanen's ceiling is that of a 40-point player most years, more of a 3C than a 2C.  (His shooting percentage this season is unsustainable over the long haul).  McTavish has hit that in four straight years (and he's only been a full-time NHL player for four years).  With ice time at the level of a second liner in Montreal (which is more than the 15 minutes he gets in Anaheim) and playing with Demidov, I could see him getting past the 50-point mark again and doing so regularly.  It's not a massive upgrade in terms of points but it's an incremental upgrade that 20 other teams would be looking to get, turning more of a 3C to a 2C.  If the Ducks move him, they're going to get a pretty penny for that incremental upgrade.

 

This is my point, really. Maybe Kapanen maxed out in his rookie year, and 40 points is as much he will ever score. It's possible. But giving up Hage-plus-plus to go from a 40-point guy 50-point one does not seem like a good deal to me, even if 20 other teams are willing pay that.

 

But I don't expect that Hughes will be calling me to get my opinion on that ...

[GHT120]

24 minutes ago, tomh009 said:

But I don't expect that Hughes will be calling me to get my opinion on that ...

 

Just got off the phone with Kent ... he won't.

 

😉  😜

[dlbalr]

28 minutes ago, tomh009 said:

This is my point, really. Maybe Kapanen maxed out in his rookie year, and 40 points is as much he will ever score. It's possible. But giving up Hage-plus-plus to go from a 40-point guy 50-point one does not seem like a good deal to me, even if 20 other teams are willing pay that.

 

But I don't expect that Hughes will be calling me to get my opinion on that ...

 

There's probably an in-between option between Kapanen and Hage if it came to that.  But Anaheim and Montreal haven't been viewed as good trading partners for a while given that Montreal's surpluses are at spots the Ducks are pretty well set in.

[Habs]

13 hours ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

McTavish would be great - I would like a touch more production but he has a lot of positives 

 

Left handed centre

220lbs

23 years old 

signed until 2030/31 at 7 million cap hit 

roughly 40-50 points last 4 seasons with 15ish games missed

 

Not my first choice but I would be happy if the price wasn’t too crazy

 

 

Yes Mactavish seems like a good buy low guy.  Doesn’t seem to fit in Anaheim so I can see them moving him.  I can’t see us getting one of the top few centers on the trade market because prices will be high with the weak free agent class.
 

Would be nice to improve the roster without trading away all of our top prospects. I have kind of got attached to some of them already haha

[DON]

5 hours ago, Habs said:

Would be nice to improve the roster without trading away all of our top prospects. I have kind of got attached to some of them already haha

The cost obviously would be painful and have to include top prospects or good roster players for sure.

Like dlbalr noted, Ducks dont seem to need what Habs have for offer.

Adding a top six forward seems like the obvious need and will shall see in next few weeks how that plays out.

 

Is anyone bothering to watch or follow the finals, soon the NHL playoffs will end in July.

 

[GHT120]

BREAKING NEWS

 

 

Panthers get a 21-yr-old, 3rd round ECHL defenceman for an undrafted, 26-yr-old forward who was 5th on his SweHL team last year after one decent AHL season

 

This is sure to get the ball rolling.

 

😉

 

[dlbalr]

12 hours ago, DON said:

Is anyone bothering to watch or follow the finals, soon the NHL playoffs will end in July.

 

The season will start earlier moving forward thanks to the shortened training camp (and extra two regular season games).  It should start in late September now with the target end staying around the 15th to 20th of June.

[DON]

On 6/13/2026 at 8:46 PM, dlbalr said:

 

The season will start earlier moving forward thanks to the shortened training camp (and extra two regular season games).  It should start in late September now with the target end staying around the 15th to 20th of June.

Greedy basturds.

[GNick]

On 6/13/2026 at 2:23 AM, Habs said:

Yes Mactavish seems like a good buy low guy.  Doesn’t seem to fit in Anaheim so I can see them moving him.  I can’t see us getting one of the top few centers on the trade market because prices will be high with the weak free agent class.
 

Would be nice to improve the roster without trading away all of our top prospects. I have kind of got attached to some of them already haha

Big contract, too many red flags for me. He was scratched many games this year

[DON]

He is doing OK, stat wise. He is no Slafkovski, might fit well but at what cost.

 

 

[Prime Minister Koivu]

3 hours ago, DON said:

He is doing OK, stat wise. He is no Slafkovski, might fit well but at what cost.

 

 

I can’t see Hughes spending big assets on a mediocre solution to our centre problem. 
 

As discussed here, the cost is going to be high but if he was available for a modest price then maybe 

 

 

[Prime Minister Koivu]

Surely Montembault is a goner. I don’t expect a big return but perhaps there is a larger deal possible 

[Commandant]

I dont see McTavish as fitting with the team.  Too slow and has to be massively sheltered defensively.

[GNick]

Montembeault to Edmonton. It's such an Oilers move

[GHT120]

 

So the cost to move up 7 spots in the "20s" is hardly intimidating

 

[Commandant]

28 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

 

So the cost to move up 7 spots in the "20s" is hardly intimidating

 

 

Kesselring is a nice player IMO, criminally underused in Buffalo, was great for Utah and a key piece of the Peterka trade one year ago.

 

Him and Doan were seen as close to being equal value at that time.  Obviously his value is lower and Doan's higher now, but its not zero either.

[Prime Minister Koivu]

If that is the ask for Knies could Montreal made a plausible offer?

 

Guhle, 2026 first, Beck

 

🤷‍♂️

[dlbalr]

1 hour ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

If that is the ask for Knies could Montreal made a plausible offer?

 

Guhle, 2026 first, Beck

 

🤷‍♂️

 

That seems like a lower price than what the original one was reported to be.  I also think the Habs would have a hard time selling Guhle as a top-pairing defenceman.

[GHT120]

4 minutes ago, dlbalr said:

That seems like a lower price than what the original one was reported to be.  I also think the Habs would have a hard time selling Guhle as a top-pairing defenceman.

 

The key seems to be that John Chayka won't just accept picks and prospects (as was the deadline offer) ... I expect his mandate is a playoff-run ... I might try Guhle, Evans and the 2026 first, but they may prefer a higher first rounder to have a foot in both the now and the future.

[GHT120]

Question for those who follow other teams more closely than do I ... would Vincent Desharnais be an upgrade on Carrier on the 3rd pairing?  Pending UFA ... took him awhile to make it to the NHL ... played the most yet in his 4-yr career last season but it was on the 3rd worst GA/Gm team in the NHL.