Not enough for Wood. It would take a big overpayment to get him out of NJ. Butcher for Chairot swap is more likely

The D-core is better with Chiarot than Dunn

Blues pass.

Habs have enough young d-men in their pipeline to send young d-man along with some cap to NJD for Wood.

NJD needs young, defensive or two-way guys. L or R.
Preferably with skillsets that help break-out success rate and add to possession game.
(I know Habs have aimed for similar approach, so am guessing there are options that fit).

Yeah, I'm probably overvaluing Lehkonen because he's been so good in the playoffs, but I do think he's valuable player and would help St. Louis. Does replacing the 4th with Josh Brook make it fair?




Harris and Struble would fit that mould, but Harris has the option of going UFA at the end of the collage year and Struble is still a couple of years out. Norlinder would likely be the most valuable D prospect the Habs have, tho he's more of an offensive PMD and might spend another year in the SHL. Cale Fleury would be the best fit on the defensive side, but his stock is fairly low at the moment.

As for Butcher, I can't see him as a fit on the Habs at his cap hit. At half that, he'd probably be worth taking a chance on to see if he has a bounce back year, but Chiarot's grinding out 20+ minutes a night on the top pairing in the Stanley Cup semi finals, so it's hard to see them doing a swap.



I don't agree. The Habs are running their top-4 into the ground to keep a guy like Gustafsson in the lineup to give them some offense from the blueline. While Dunn's had his struggles defensively, he's far more capable than Gus and would likely do well in the Habs system. Also, while the big lumbering D has worked great in the playoffs, the Habs have to actually make the playoffs next season, which will be hard in their division if they can't move the puck out of their zone.
I really like Chiarot and would rather keep him, but I think improving the LW and getting PMD is more important. Then again, this just an ACGM, so who cares what I think?

Doing that might just get the job done, depending on what others offer. Brook is precisely the type of young D they'd like.