Start with Harris for Spence 1 for 1

Harris aint moving for another defensemen ill tell you that right now

Maybe. I like the idea of bringing back a higher impact RHD. Maybe Durzi or Ceulemans. Engstrom is such a dark horse. People have no idea how good he's gonna be... but the kid will be a star if we can get him some playing time.

They definitely need to figure it out as Hutson, guhle and engstrom could be the left side in the future. Got to trade the guys while they have value or you may have a couple more norlinders that seem promising but just losses it and become throw ins

A LHD for a RHD of similar calibre? Can you tell me why that's a poor decision...?

Engstrom will be a LHRD book it.

Ghule - Barron
Hutson - Engstrom
Xhekaj - Mailloux
Struble - Harris
Trudeau - Kovacevic

Question is how we pair them and who can bring up their game to NHL

I am not a big fan of offside defense. I hate watching the guys turn the wrong way to dump the puck.

Does he play LHRD now?

You traded Matheson & Savard? Isn't that too much youth?

oh no i just put the kids in perspective (sorry)

ive heard that he was able to play both side but can't confirm

Harris is becoming a fan favourite in MTL and has played on the right side a lot this season. Additionally, Spence doesnt really fit in MTL and would never get power play time so he doesn't really fill any needs. If Harris gets moved eventually it will most likely be for an established shutdown dman or for a forward.

found this

He seems to be doing few shift on the right side or even use to go right on many plays (doesn't seem uncomfortable at all)

I don't think it's an "if" or "eventually" I think it's closer to the Sandin move where Harris is good/great but ends up being the odd man out with the talent that is available at his position within the organization. I get that he's becoming a fan favourite but Lord Stanley is also a fan favourite and we're stacked up on the left (whether he plays RD or not isn't my point, he's still a lefty). Personally I think it's a decent deal for both sides but I can see your point I suppose, maybe we target a different RD then but either way I'd be moving him for a RD (ie one of the budding RD prospects/young RD in LA).

I really agree. The only way to get value out of our LHD pipeline is to keep the best and trade the rest

It's too many kids though. Trudeau and Struble... These guys make the NHL in a lot of organizations even next season as "tweeners". They won't see a minute of ice time in Montreal baring injuries on the scale we've seen once again next season.

Hopefully Hughes learned from Dubas mistakes of trading Sandin at a discounted price. I actually don't think he'll be an odd man out thought, hes really good and I think hes good enough to play RD as a bottom pair down the line. This is my future top 6:

Guhle - Barron
Hutson - Mailloux
Xhekaj - Harris

As of right now, I don't see Engstrom, Struble or Trudeau achieving the same level as Harris (Engstrom is the most likely)


This would be after Matheson and Savard contracts are both expired / traded cause the young guys are ready.

Everyone is taking it for granted that Mailloux makes the NHL. A lot of amateur scouts who follow the Habs say he struggles with making smart decisions when put under pressure. He's loaded with skill but does not have great "hockey sense". The last 1st round pick defensemen we had who scored in bunches in junior who was described that way: Nate The Gr8 (Beaulieu).

Mailloux still has a lot of time to figure this out and I hope he can, but the ability to score from the blue line does not trump being able to read and react at NHL speed.

yeah I mean it's no guarantee he makes it but most of these "amateur scouts" have their opinions skewed by what happened in Mailloux's past, which was horrible, but he's been to therapy and has changed as a person since then. I've seen enough of him to know that he's got all the tools to be a top 4 dman in the NHL, he'll just need to learn to dump it off the glass once in a while (much easier to teach than to tell a kid to learn how to score).