Habs don’t need to do that

Mailloux and Reinbacher are already waiting for the opportunity when Savard gets traded. Hutson should be in the lineup too, this signing makes no sense.

At least 2 Dmen would need to be moved before going out and signing a RD. and if Habs were to target someone, it would probably be a bonafide top 4 guy (Pesce would be my choice). It would allow you to trade Savard once Reinbacher and Mailloux are ready AND would still let MTL shelter their usage / minutes. Chatfield wouldn't really be sheltering them. More like taking away the time you'd want to play Mailloux and Reinbacher...

Chatfield is a 4-5 Dman... Habs definitely don't need him.

Reinbacher should spend the year in the AHL.
If Mailloux is going to play in the NHL, he can take Kovacevic's spot. The Habs can move Kovacevic for assets, while getting an upgrade in Chatfield for free (It costs cap space, but that Habs aren't using that anyway in this scenario).
If Hutson is in the NHL, Guhle has to play on the right, which I would rather avoid. Plus, having him in the AHL with Reinbacher allows them to get used to playing together.




You can go for a guy like Pesce, but he'll be in higher demand and will likely prefer to play in a competitive American market, not a rebuilding Canadian one.
The idea with Chatfield is to give Guhle a solid RHD partner, so that he can develop properly on the left side. Chatfield is playing nearly 20mins a night in the playoffs, so he and Guhle can play 18-20 mins a night together.

Yes, other defencemen will have to be dealt, but that is going to happen anyway, and I would prefer to prioritize the development of the one that's definitely staying over the ones that are probably getting traded out soon. Plus, if Chatfield has a good season as a 28-year-old right shot fourth defenceman, he might be worth something decent at the trade deadline or in the off-season.

Sales pitch to Pesce is "We'll drop off a truckload of $$$, give you 7 years and a NMC, and you'll get 1st pairing minutes the whole time". $7mill x 7 years.

If you want to develop Guhle on the left side as a top pairing Dman...Matheson HAS to go. full stop. Guhle played 1st pairing minutes at 5v5 all year, but had to do it on the right side because of Matheson. So if they were to give him the same time but, on the left, you'd be taking away time from Matheson (and subsequently everyone else on the left side like Hutson, Xhekaj, etc.), and I just don't see Marty St.Louis cutting Matheson's ice time, or even bumping down Guhle to playing 2nd pairing minutes (he's a top pair talent, stick to that).
Also, Guhle's style of play, utilization, and performances follow very closely Jacob Slavin's at the same age... and guess who Slavin's partner was who complimented each other perfectly....yup, Brett Pesce.

I think you've made a few presumptions here that I don't agree with.

First, Reinbacher will probably still spend the season in AHL. I'm just saying there is absolutely no need for Chatfield with Reinbacher already there as depth.

Second, I would also start Mailloux in Laval and call him up if there are injuries or maybe if MTL trades Savard and/or Kovacevic at the TDL. MTL can just claim defenseman off of waivers I'd they don't want to interrupt a potential Laval playoff run as well.

Why does having Hutson in the NHL force Guhle to right side? I would personally dress 7 defenseman next season (Montreal barely uses their 4th Line anyways).

Matheson - Barron / Savard
Guhle - Barron / Kovacevic
Hutson - Xhekaj - Savard

Essentially Matheson and Guhle would play full minutes on the left side. Barron / Kovacevic / Savard would split time on the right side in the top 4, while Hutson, Xhekaj, and the veteran Savard would split time on the 3rd pair.

Icetime would look like this,

- Matheson: 21:00 (-4:33)
- Guhle: 19:00 (-1:51)
- Savard: 18:00 (-2:14)
- Hutson: 15:45
- Barron: 14:50 (-3:48)
- Kovacevic: 13:40 (-2:51)
- Xhekaj: 13:15 (-2:41)

My belief is that Matheson was overused last season and Guhle was misused on the wrong side. This 7 D system fixes both of those issues without having to make any moves on defence.

Alternatively, you can still go 6 D and just roll Barron / Kovacevic / Xhekaj / Hutson in and out of the lineup. The main point being... there is a log jam on defence and adding Chatfield makes that worse without really moving the needle for MTL at all.

Edit: Also, I just noticed you buried Barron in the AHL to accommodate this move? In which case he will be claimed off of waivers. Strongly disagree with this move, I don't see any reason to acquire a depth defenseman like Chatfield when MTL is trying to incorporate youth and upgrade.

Or to not overcomplicate things in your scenario, just scratch Kovacevic, use him in case of injuries, and play Xhekaj on the right side (he can do that too)... 7 D systems never work long term...Teams usually roll with them if there is an injury but the player can still play, or if there's roster waiver issues, both temporary problems.
And I'm assuming in your scenario Harris is traded and Struble is sent down.

Yep it would definitely be less complicated to just rotate some guys in and out of the lineup. Yes I would trade Harris and send Struble to Laval.

So, we agree on Reinbacher playing the season in the AHL and Mailloux starting there and being called up as needed.

I would also be fine with a 7 D system, but I don't think Barron or Kovacevic are great options to partner with Guhle. Chatfield is an upgrade on Kovacevic, who could be traded for a 3rd or 4th this off-season no problem. Alternatively, they could trade Barron if there's a decent offer for him. I don't see either of them as being on Montreal's defence in the long-term.

How much of an upgrade is Chatfield over Kovacevic? I think you need to be wary of a defenseman who is performing well surrounded by dominant players. In Montreal Chatfield would not look so good. I also see no need to commit to Chatfield for 3 years as MTL be transitioning to their new defence anyways.

Not sure why you are concerned about Barron or Kovacevic as partners for Guhle, they are already proven:

342:35 with Barron: 50.00 GF%, 48.92 xGF%
175:44 with Kovacevic: 58.82 GF%, 52.76 xGF%

Not bad numbers in the context of a team that finished 5th last. I personally don't see the appeal of trading Kovacevic for a 3rd or 4th round pick that probably won't be playing NHL hockey.

I'm not sure that the Habs want to have Pesce at 7 million into his late 30s, though I take your point about him being a good fit for Guhle. Personally, I would go with the cheaper option with less term, and let Reinbacher/Mailloux grow into the top 4 roles on the right side.

Guhle can play first pairing minutes on the second pairing, while Matheson plays 1st pairing minutes on the first pairing. Xhekaj and Savard can play lower amounts on the 3rd pairing, I don't think that's too much of a problem. Savard plays on the PK and Xhekaj get PP2 time anyway.

I would be fine with trading Matheson, but that's not going to happen.

Wow, the Kovacevic numbers are actually shockingly good considering their deployment. Fair enough, I guess they should just keep him around and see if they can keep up the good chemistry over a larger sample size.

The Chatfield deal was for 2 years though to avoid blocking the young guys.

This is just me, but I feel Kovacevic is underutilized in MTL. I just don't understand their thought process sometimes...

Justin Barron requires waivers next season. Its a make or break year. Let's send him to Laval for half the season (even though he outperformed Struble), thus reducing his trade value.

Jonathan Kovacevic is on a steal of a contract this season and the next. Let's make him a healthy scratch consistently even though he's one of the best PK guys on the team and has always had positive results in his role at 5v5, thus reducing his trade value.

I think both players have performed about as well as you could expect in their respective roles... but MSL doesn't see it I guess? Now I question where they fit long term with MTL because if they can't fit now what will happen in a few years? They should have been boosting their trade value in these lost seasons if they aren't a part of the long term plans... it's really perplexing for me to say the least.

Yeah, I'm not really sure how they make those decisions. I know that NHL teams have access to way better intel and analytics than we do, but some of their decisions are a bit strange. I assume MSL has a lot of leeway to just do things based on how he feels about players, which won't always be right.

I had thought that Kovacevic had a down year this season, but the more I look at his numbers, the more it looks like they just didn't use him properly.

Barron seems to me like a guy who will have decent metrics, but makes too many major mistakes to stick in that kind of role. So I get why they don't seem to be counting on him to stay long-term, but I wish they had done more to maximize his trade value.

I agree with this. I just think sometimes coaches aren't involves in the big picture thinking and that leads to questionable choices. I would have like to showcase Barron and Kovacevic more this year since it was a wasted season anyways. At one point in the season Kovacevic was paired with Matheson after Savard got hurt and that's when his play really fell off... but I remember watching those games and Matheson was having a brutal stretch with bad turnovers too. Otherwise, Kovacevic performed great with every other linemate (albeit mostly in a 3rd Pair role).

Barron for his part is only 22 years old, so I think you just gotta live with the mistakes as he progresses.

I wouldn't pencil either player in as a top 4 D, but they could share the role in a 7D rotation or rotate in and out of the lineup to stay fresh. Play whoever is hot and rest whoevers struggling throughout the year.