The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted January 17 Posted January 17 2 hours ago, dlbalr said: Considering the two organizations aren't on speaking terms and there's a lot of bad blood between Gorton and Rangers ownership, Drury would probably get hung for merely discussing any trade with the Habs let alone making one. This is the kind of drama queen mindset that really should have no place when you're running a billion dollar business. But you may be right. Rags are a hilarious example of a team that completely and abjected f***d up a rebuild. Now, having messed that up, Drury is being charged with a 'retool.' How he still has a job is beyond me. Quote
Habs Fan in Edmonton Posted January 17 Posted January 17 43 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said: This is the kind of drama queen mindset that really should have no place when you're running a billion dollar business. But you may be right. Rags are a hilarious example of a team that completely and abjected f***d up a rebuild. Now, having messed that up, Drury is being charged with a 'retool.' How he still has a job is beyond me. Agreed, Drury has done a lousy job and now has an aging team. A lot of hard work and tough decisions to be made there. Quote
tomh009 Posted January 17 Posted January 17 1 hour ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said: Rags are a hilarious example of a team that completely and abjected f***d up a rebuild. Now, having messed that up, Drury is being charged with a 'retool.' How he still has a job is beyond me. Gorton actually had them on the right path for the rebuild, so this failure is even more egregious. Quote
Prime Minister Koivu Posted January 21 Posted January 21 I don’t exactly have a proposal but I’m spitballing ideas to see if the Habs have pieces to land this guy without crushing our roster. Engstrom Hage Reinbacher Picks and cap dump as required Is this offer in the ballpark? I don’t want to trade these guys but Thomas would have an immediate impact Quote
hab29RETIRED Posted January 21 Posted January 21 1 hour ago, Prime Minister Koivu said: I don’t exactly have a proposal but I’m spitballing ideas to see if the Habs have pieces to land this guy without crushing our roster. Engstrom Hage Reinbacher Picks and cap dump as required Is this offer in the ballpark? I don’t want to trade these guys but Thomas would have an immediate impact No way I’d give up our top two prospects that are going to be on low cap hits. I’d move Reinbacher for the right guy, but the floor and ceiling on Hage are too high to move. You should only be moving a top prospect when a guy like Thomas is the last piece for a cup contender, we have some other key holes to fill - top 4 RHD with size would be one of those holes. Quote
Habs Fan in Edmonton Posted January 21 Posted January 21 1 hour ago, Prime Minister Koivu said: I don’t exactly have a proposal but I’m spitballing ideas to see if the Habs have pieces to land this guy without crushing our roster. Engstrom Hage Reinbacher Picks and cap dump as required Is this offer in the ballpark? I don’t want to trade these guys but Thomas would have an immediate impact I want Hughes to build a team that can compete for a cup for many years and currently he is headed in the right direction. This trade would definitely help in the short and medium term BUT at a significant cost in the longer term giving up Hage and Reinbacher. Thomas won't be cheap and shouldn't be as he is a top notch center. I think your trade proposal is in the ballpark and is what St. Louis would expect. After watching Hage at the world juniors it is certainly possible he could turn into Thomas but of course that's maybe wishful thinking. Quote
Prime Minister Koivu Posted January 21 Posted January 21 28 minutes ago, hab29RETIRED said: No way I’d give up our top two prospects that are going to be on low cap hits. I’d move Reinbacher for the right guy, but the floor and ceiling on Hage are too high to move. You should only be moving a top prospect when a guy like Thomas is the last piece for a cup contender, we have some other key holes to fill - top 4 RHD with size would be one of those holes. 13 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said: I want Hughes to build a team that can compete for a cup for many years and currently he is headed in the right direction. This trade would definitely help in the short and medium term BUT at a significant cost in the longer term giving up Hage and Reinbacher. Thomas won't be cheap and shouldn't be as he is a top notch center. I think your trade proposal is in the ballpark and is what St. Louis would expect. After watching Hage at the world juniors it is certainly possible he could turn into Thomas but of course that's maybe wishful thinking. Hage is definitely a guy I don’t want to trade and you both make good points. I would still be tempted Quote
Habs Fan in Edmonton Posted January 21 Posted January 21 5 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said: Hage is definitely a guy I don’t want to trade and you both make good points. I would still be tempted There would be a whole lot of interest in Robert Thomas, he will get a St. Louis a substantial package should they decide it's rebuild time. It's obviously tempting, Suzuki and Thomas down the middle is about as good as it gets. Quote
illWill Posted January 22 Posted January 22 If anyone suggests trading Michael Hage, I recommend watching this video to see if you still feel the same afterwards https://www.tsn.ca/video/2026/01/04/how-canadas-michael-hage-is-living-his-late-fathers-advice-every-day/ Quote
Prime Minister Koivu Posted January 22 Posted January 22 1 minute ago, illWill said: If anyone suggests trading Michael Hage, I recommend watching this video to see if you still feel the same afterwards https://www.tsn.ca/video/2026/01/04/how-canadas-michael-hage-is-living-his-late-fathers-advice-every-day/ Yeah I don’t want to trade Hage at all. Thomas would help right away and for the next few years. Hage should reach Thomas’ level in the NHL but not for a little while. I would still be tempted because Montreal is already very strong and would adding a guy like Thomas push us over the top? Quote
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted January 22 Posted January 22 1 hour ago, Prime Minister Koivu said: Yeah I don’t want to trade Hage at all. Thomas would help right away and for the next few years. Hage should reach Thomas’ level in the NHL but not for a little while. I would still be tempted because Montreal is already very strong and would adding a guy like Thomas push us over the top? We won't go over the top until we get a goalie IMHO. Unless one of the current trio of options suddenly gets hot...which none of them have done all season. As I said in a post a little while back, this is a tricky moment in the rebuild. The team is so good that the temptation to accelerate things will be real. Thomas will be 27 this year. He could make us a contender the moment we do sort out our goaltending, but at the potential cost of shortening our ultimate contending window by 4-5 years. I can see pulling the trigger on Thomas, but Kapanen is good enough that my own preference would be to hold off and see if other less costly C options emerge - especially as we're likely not winning anything anyway until Fowler is fully cooked. Quote
Prime Minister Koivu Posted January 22 Posted January 22 9 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said: We won't go over the top until we get a goalie IMHO. Unless one of the current trio of options suddenly gets hot...which none of them have done all season. As I said in a post a little while back, this is a tricky moment in the rebuild. The team is so good that the temptation to accelerate things will be real. Thomas will be 27 this year. He could make us a contender the moment we do sort out our goaltending, but at the potential cost of shortening our ultimate contending window by 4-5 years. I can see pulling the trigger on Thomas, but Kapanen is good enough that my own preference would be to hold off and see if other less costly C options emerge - especially as we're likely not winning anything anyway until Fowler is fully cooked. Goalie problems are a legit concern. Montembault has had very good stats since his Laval trip - despite his 5 goals against lately. If Montembault continues to have strong expected save % above expected then we should do ok in goal. All comments here about Thomas are wise and good. Still very tempting Quote
DON Posted January 22 Posted January 22 Seems like Summer is likely better time for big deal like this. Isnt any sensible long-term looking deal that will make the Habs a contender this season is there? Quote
Commandant Posted January 22 Posted January 22 2 hours ago, Prime Minister Koivu said: Yeah I don’t want to trade Hage at all. Thomas would help right away and for the next few years. Hage should reach Thomas’ level in the NHL but not for a little while. I would still be tempted because Montreal is already very strong and would adding a guy like Thomas push us over the top? I don't want to trade Hage, but I would for Robert Thomas. There is no guarantee that Hage comes even close to what Robert Thomas currently is, which would be like adding a second Nick Suzuki to the team. Quote
Prime Minister Koivu Posted January 22 Posted January 22 8 minutes ago, Commandant said: I don't want to trade Hage, but I would for Robert Thomas. There is no guarantee that Hage comes even close to what Robert Thomas currently is, which would be like adding a second Nick Suzuki to the team. It is seriously tempting and if we could get a deal with Hage as the key piece without including Reinbacher (Struble or Engstrom instead) I think I would do it. Quote
illWill Posted January 22 Posted January 22 If we were to trade Hage before he plays a game with us, we would deserve all of the bad karma that would come our way Quote
GHT120 Posted January 22 Posted January 22 Robert Thomas is a superbly talented player, but he fits the profile of our other top players other than Slafkovsky ... what the Habs NEED up front is a Top 6, or an "elite" 3rd line, physical forward ... on the back-end a physical Top 4 RHD ... unless HuGo are trying to change the paradigm for winning a Cup, Thomas does not bring the Habs what they need. 1 Quote
Prime Minister Koivu Posted January 23 Posted January 23 Thomas and Parayko for Hage, Struble, Engstrom, Laine, conditional second rounder that becomes first rounder if we make finals Or something like this? Quote
Commandant Posted January 23 Posted January 23 On 1/22/2026 at 10:20 AM, GHT120 said: Robert Thomas is a superbly talented player, but he fits the profile of our other top players other than Slafkovsky ... what the Habs NEED up front is a Top 6, or an "elite" 3rd line, physical forward ... on the back-end a physical Top 4 RHD ... unless HuGo are trying to change the paradigm for winning a Cup, Thomas does not bring the Habs what they need. An elite 2 way centre who can play in all situations is something the Habs could absolutely use. Strength down the middle is such a huge key to a strong team and a suzuki-thomas pairing would be top 2 or 3 in the league. Quote
Prime Minister Koivu Posted January 23 Posted January 23 30 minutes ago, Commandant said: An elite 2 way centre who can play in all situations is something the Habs could absolutely use. Strength down the middle is such a huge key to a strong team and a suzuki-thomas pairing would be top 2 or 3 in the league. Hage seems to perfectly fit what the Blues are looking for. My vote would be to make the trade. Two Suzuki level and style centres would be very, very strong and I don’t know how we say no Quote
dlbalr Posted January 23 Author Posted January 23 2 hours ago, Prime Minister Koivu said: Thomas and Parayko for Hage, Struble, Engstrom, Laine, conditional second rounder that becomes first rounder if we make finals Or something like this? One top prospect, a decent prospect, a fringe defenceman, a cap dump, and a second-round pick doesn't feel like the type of package they can't say no to, especially for not just one but two of their top players. Here's a number one in-prime centre who isn't available barring an overpayment (a too good to be true offer). That's what teams are being told. A stud top-six F that's slightly younger than Thomas. That's Slafkovsky, not Hage and a collection of spare parts. 1 Quote
tomh009 Posted January 24 Posted January 24 47 minutes ago, dlbalr said: A stud top-six F that's slightly younger than Thomas. That's Slafkovsky, not Hage and a collection of spare parts. I don't dispute the price, but I also can't see Hughes paying that. Quote
Prime Minister Koivu Posted January 24 Posted January 24 50 minutes ago, dlbalr said: One top prospect, a decent prospect, a fringe defenceman, a cap dump, and a second-round pick doesn't feel like the type of package they can't say no to, especially for not just one but two of their top players. Here's a number one in-prime centre who isn't available barring an overpayment (a too good to be true offer). That's what teams are being told. A stud top-six F that's slightly younger than Thomas. That's Slafkovsky, not Hage and a collection of spare parts. 2 minutes ago, tomh009 said: I don't dispute the price, but I also can't see Hughes paying that. If Hage isn’t enough of a centrepiece then I can’t see Hughes making the trade. I just can’t see us trading from our active core pieces. I mean I would be willing to add Kapanen but he doesn’t move the needle enough. I was hoping that Engstrom was a solid top 4 Dman piece and Hage as the key piece but it seems I came up short Quote
GHT120 Posted January 24 Posted January 24 10 minutes ago, tomh009 said: I don't dispute the price, but I also can't see Hughes paying that. Don't think anyone was suggesting he should or would ... just that you aren't getting Thomas and Parayko in a deal unless the decision to support it isn't absolutely heart-wrenching. Quote
dlbalr Posted January 24 Author Posted January 24 47 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said: If Hage isn’t enough of a centrepiece then I can’t see Hughes making the trade. I just can’t see us trading from our active core pieces. Neither do I. But if you're getting an in-prime top centre, St. Louis has no reason to trade him unless they get one back or a boatload of top future assets. Yes, Hage is having a very good year in college but I don't think he's viewed around the league as an elite prospect by any stretch. Him as a centrepiece of a deal probably isn't going to get a core piece, unless it's one on a very short-term deal. Quote
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