Take out Pezzetta, Ylonen, and the third and I'm sure that is fine value for Necas. I just don't understand why fans (not just of Montreal) think that Necas will be moved? The Canes front office has shown a willingness - perhaps to a fault - to not pay out the behind for older players. I do not see Guentzel signing long term with the Canes, and that leaves plenty of money for Necas.

Could they prove me wrong? Certainly, although the Canes can still afford Necas with a Guentzel extension if they bridge Jarvis and buyout/trade Kotkaniemi. Their one potential hole next season is going to be a top4 RD, and I could see Necas being moved for that need to alleviate some additional cap, but Barron is not that player.

Swap Barron for Harris and the Sharks might take that.

Re your title: I think you're right, and I think he's going to be a handful offensively for a long time. I also think he has a ton of work to do defensively. Let him start on 3rd pairing/2PP and find his way. Don't expect the world for a while, if at all.

I was genuinely impressed by him. Always has been a fan of his game, but he looked very good in his first 2 games. The big thing about him is how confident he is. I rarely see young D try to deke out defender like he did in his first game.

Of course defensively is not it, but that’s kinda normal. Look at Luke Hughes this season

Delete the first trade, no point in giving assets away for nothing.

The skating was my big worry, but at least so far it looks more than good enough to hang at the NHL level

2 games against a soft non playoffs team and people think Hutson is NHL ready... they learned nothing from Poehling.

Would like to double like…

Not sure why it's a common theme lately but it's driving me up the wall. So many stupid trades where MTL is giving assets away for FC or pennies on the dollar because now we have some options...smh.

Hughes just said that he won’t buyout a player in the offseason. I think it is the same for dumping a player. Some fans are impatient and reactionnary. As you said, because we have assets some want to give those assets away for short-term sucess. There is a plan and the management group are pretty clear with it.

His skating was his biggest strenght imo. He was flying in the offensive zone. He still needs to learn how to be more effective in his own zone and how to take shots without giving up his position

His quickness and edges are fantastic. I wish I could root more for him but I'll probably end up disliking him somewhat because from my experience a number of habs fans get very upset any time a part of a player's game is criticised.

I have recently had people get upset with me for saying "I think Slafkovsky will be better than Brady Tkachuk, but he currently has a problem with taking penalties"

A stiff like Anderson starts with a 1st down the road