Quoting: FiveForFighting
Habs fans are definitely NOT obsessing over Ceci and Gardiner lmao wouldn’t want either on my team
I completely agree. I keep seeing those trades (to say nothing of a bunch Leddy, lately) and just wondering why.
Kempny's a terrific shutdown defenseman who blocked 135 shots last year, went +24, and had a positive corsi even short-handed, while killing 1:30 of penalties a night. He's been a solid first pairing LHD next to Carlson, and could be one next to Weber, Petry, or whoever steps up. Washington doesn't need to move him, but they also have one of the weakest forward prospect pools in the league, so I could see them looking to address that, at some point. I would see him as worth a little more than two seconds, but I have no idea what Vejdemo is worth, or what his chances are of cracking the Habs' lineup while he's still waiver exempt. I just noticed there were guys outscoring him in the AHL and this is his last year to make it, and I think the Caps have a Swedish kid coming to Hershey this year who could use a buddy.
I'm seeing posts of, like, Leddy for Tatar, and Leddy had 16 even strength points last year, while going minus 26, so I didn't see how that was a good use of Montreal's time or cap space. Someone like Kempny who tied with Klingberg, Karlsson, Ceci, and Gardner for 39th among defensemen in even strength points last year while also finishing top thirty in blocks and plus minus could actually help the Habs make the playoffs. But double check me on those last two?
http://www.nhl.com/stats/player?report=skaterpoints&reportType=season&seasonFrom=20182019&seasonTo=20182019&gameType=2&position=D&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,1&sort=evPoints,points
Kulak had almost as many points, if we're talking forwards, but on even strength points by a defenseman, he tied Leddy and Hamonic for 101st. So that puts him in the #4 defenseman bin, offensively, as opposed to #2 territory. Different ballpark. Different sport.