Oh i was just wondering who you think they would target in free agency, im not saying it cant be done.

We won’t though
We don’t have a spot to play Barron in
He’s not a top4 guy, and @john514 is wrong, we can’t play him at RD3 bc Clifton is signed for 2 more years & occupies that slot

The trade just doesn’t make sense for us
Especially now with Krebs getting his shot on the 3rd line in a more offensive role
He’s also not a guy we are looking to trade

Just don’t see any way something like this happens
If we trade for a RD- and that’s a big IF- then it’s gotta be a top4 guy to play w Power & replace Jokiharju
But we could just sign Jokiharju & go forward with the defense “as is” too

*we don’t actually “need” a RD anymore
At this point, even bringing one in just doesn’t make sense unless it’s an upgrade over Jokiharju

Understood. I just think most of the ice time in a few years will be going to the pair of:

Hutson Reinbacher
Guhle Mailloux

or maybe

Guhle Reinbacher
Hutson Mailloux

Either way I don't think Arber gets enough ice time to make the sort of impact he's been making the past 5 games.

OS is never gonna happen.

Teams do not value Engstrom, an untested/unsigned european defender, as a potential top 4. If we could wait 2 years to make a deal, then your trade idea could make sense, but we need to improve our forward group right away, because this team needs to contend for the playoffs next year.

Thanks sir, I am blushing!

While I have not given up on Barron, I recognize that it's Mailloux's turn to get a shot and it feels wrong to make him wait in Laval because Barron's contract dictates he must play in Montreal next season. If Barron could remain on a 2-way deal for 1 more season, I would keep him. I believe he's gonna be a really good player for a lot of years. Anyone Crosby praises generally deserves it. The CBA being what it is, it's time to move on from Barron rather than make him the 7th D by default.

I think you would know better than us AA. I guess I just question why a team which misses the playoffs year after year would not want to try and make some changes. Don't get me wrong, the Habs have similar challenges, I'm not crapping on Buffalo, but playing the same D-core and expecting them to be better because they are a few months older seems a bit too optimistic to me.

I totally get that Barron doesn't solve any problem, but I guess I am saying the mix is off and the team feels like they are contributing less than the sum of their parts.

This is said with all due respect, I am not trying to pick a fight.

Except the defense won’t be the same- not at all really
Byram will be here for the full year, and he & Dahlin together on our top pair has been DOMINANT

This allows Samuelsson to slide down to pair3 and improve that pairing (with Clifton)

And pair2 of Power & Jokiharju is the only real question mark here, as it’s uncertain if we want to spend the $$$ to keep Jokiharju, or if we wanna spend even more on a UFA upgrade at that spot


Either way, our defense next year will look quite a bit different than it did last season

Also, we’ve stabilized our goaltending with UPL taking such a big leap forward- and that obviously helps
Plus, there’s holes at forward we have to figure out
3C, top9 winger, checking line (the whole thing, lol)

So there’s still room for us to make some changes here
We just got started on them already at the deadline by trading for Byram & shipping out our Captain (Okposo)


No offense, but i went into detail here bc u seemed to have a rather pedestrian view of us.
Back to your trade though…. we aren’t gonna want Barron.
He isn’t a top4 guy, and our RD3 is already set with Clifton for the next 2 years.
Plus, (again), we aren’t looking to move Krebs.
Trading Mittelstadt has actually freed up room for him to get a shot at a more offensive role in our top9, so we’ll see how that goes.

I get how the trade makes sense to you,
but with a little more thought i hope u can see why we clearly wouldn’t make this deal

Lol I just made a thread trading for Lundell (didn't see this one beforehand).

I suggested Barron being the target for FLA, with additional assets added as well (I guess Evans could be a good candidate, as you said, FLA are in win now). FLA might have more interest in Barron's higher ceiling then Xhekaj's higher floor. Not to mention FLA are thin at RD, especially if Montour leaves for free agency.


I've said this many times before. I think Habs management have fully committed to Xhekaj and have clearly put him in the "not for sale" category. and I doubt Lundell would change that stance (even though I think Lundell is more valuable than Xhekaj). I believe Barron is also "not for sale", but for what he provides, not to the same extent of "not for sale"ness as Xhekaj lol

As strange as it is to say because it was the biggest trade of the TDL... I actually forgot that you got Byram... makes a lot of sense now.

Thanks for sharing your position.

I have been asking a lot of Habs fans who say that to do a small exercise. Can you please project for me what your 3 D-pairs are in 2025-26? Is Xhekaj on the 3rd pair? If yes, can you please tell me why a 3rd pair defender based on our depth cannot be traded to shore up the top 6?

That's an overly simplistic way of thinking. Just because Xhekaj is projected to play behind Guhle and Hutson at LD in 2025-26, does not equate that he'd be a 3rd pairing defensemen in terms of value by then. Ideally if you have "perfect" defense squad, you could divide the playing time almost equally 20minutes a game per defense pairing.
If Xhekaj develops how Habs management want him to, he could still log close to 20 minutes a game and put up 15g 15a 30pts seasons, and absolutely destroy opponents physically, all while only being on the "3rd pair" on paper...

That being said, if MTL projects Lundell to be a center worth more than what they project Xhekaj to be, then sure. You can definitely make an argument to do that trade. imo I don't see that being the case. Listening to the Basu and Godin podcast, Arpon suggested after a conversation with Hughes, that he feels Habs management have put Xhekaj in the same "not for sale" category as Guhle. I'm paraphrasing, but that's high praise! Many might disagree, but I think it's true since Eric Engels essentially said the same thing a few months ago when Xhekaj was playing well in Laval.


I'd like Lundell (which is why I traded for him in my thread too!), but I believe if FLA asks for Xhekaj in return, MTL turns it down for better or worse.

He's only averaged 16:30 over the last 5 games though, so if you think he is making a good impact currently with that amount of ice time then I think you just contradicted yourself.

Edit: Something I don't love about MTL's defensive deployment is that Matheson has the 4th hardest matchups in the NHL and Guhle has the 7th hardest matchups. At times, I think they are overwhelmed, having a good 3rd pair (like Xhekaj - Savard right now for example) should help lessen the workload during those tough stretches throughout a season.