habs decline pretty easily.

I agree that Guhle is the one who is getting moved. Have to move quality for quality.

At the same time there's no chance Seattle would trade their 1C with no replacements

agreed, which is why beniers won't be traded to the habs

I would argue 27 year old Jared McCaan is their 1C. He had the better starts and the better results this year. Beniers could be their future 1C, but so could Shane Wright now that he looks NHL ready.

McCaan, Wright, Gourde would not be a bad 1-2-3 next year.

If they want to do it with RFAs, Guhle has the most value, and there are replacement players on their way.

The Habs D would be different next year without Guhle, but this team is probably better overall.

Beniers is their 1C, McCann can play center but is better suited for a top 6 winger role, which is what he played nearly all season. He doesn't have nearly as strong a 2-way game as Beniers

If they want to really swing he is the key piece. Not sure exactly who to target - maybe Beniers although I would not trade 5OA and Guhle for that. Nor do I really want a young player like that. We need a mix of vets and youth.

No they don't. This is the kind of deal they are dreaming of. You can't perpetually be waiting 3-4 years for players to mature. Eventually you end up in cap hell.

I would target Chandler Stephenson. He's the closest thing to Danault in this UFA crop and we miss Danault badly.

there's a difference between trading away picks for established players, and trading away a top 5 pick in a very top heavy draft and a young top 4 defenceman for someone who would play on your 2nd line.

Guhle and pick 5 could be up in play, not for matty beniers

McCaan was jumping from Center to Wing, no? I know he played LW with Beniers for a while when Burakovsky got hurt, but he also played center about half the year and looked really good doing it.

I think results matter a while lot and McCaan got results where Beniers did not.

Not for a 21 year old with 103 points and 167 NHL games under his belt? Why the heck not? What forward are you planning to draft at 5OA that will be in a similar position when he's 21?

It wasn't half the year, he filled in when Beniers got hurt. He only had ~300 FO's taken, Beniers, Gourde, and Wennberg all had over 1000

Alright. Let's say it was 30 games. Lots of teams play 2 centers on a line when other wingers aren't bringing it.

Im not arguing that. Barzal for example has played wing all year

Seattle needs to make a lot of changes IMO. They won't be back in the playoffs any time soon. Having two top 10 picks this year might be worth swapping Beniers for Guhle, especially if they sell players like Dunn.

I'm not predicting it happens, I'm just saying it's not as far fetched as people feel given that Shane Wright looked very good at the end of the year in the NHL.

Habs have 2 dman under 25 yo with top pairing / top 4 potential : Kaiden Guhle & Lane Hutson

When Matheson deal expires, you have Guhle & Hutson on your top 4 for the next decade

You are forgetting that Dach has immense potential, we saw it during the 2nd half of the 2022-2023 season. Suzuki & Dach or Dach & Suzuki (we will see) is a really good 1-2C. If we get another top 6 C (let’s say we pick 1st OA or we draft Lindstrom and he becomes a beast, move Dach on the RW).

I would argue Reinbacher & Mailloux have the potential to be top pair guys as well. Also, maybe Konyushkov. Maybe Engstrom. It's hard to know.

We have a lot of defenders. Guhle is ahead of everyone right now, but that doesn't mean he can't be traded. The fact that there are so many guys behind him makes him the ideal player to trade.

Dach and Newhook are good players. I hope they can become core guys, but they aren't yet and when you look at the forwards in the system who are not yet core players:

Dach, Newhook, Roy, Beck, F. Xhekaj, Mesar, Tuch, Farrell, Kidney... There's not a ton of reason to believe that 4 core forwards will emerge from that bunch. We need to add an infusion of talent to that group in a big way.

................................... Dude ... omg ... my eyes are bleeding
I was talking about left handed defenseman. Xhekaj Harris Struble are bottom pairing dman. Engstrom we will see, might have top 4 potential but let's see how he looks in Laval next year
Dach & Newhook are core players, like Suzuki Caufield Slafkovsky Guhle and Reinbacher. Those are the guys you will see in a Habs uniform in the next decade
You can't trade Guhle because you don't have LHD prospect with his potential or higher. Trading Guhle creates a whole on the blueline in two years

I DO. I have Matheson & Hutson. Matheson is getting BETTER each year, not worse. I'm re-signing Matheson all day in 2 years, unless one of the other guys pops.

You can't play everyone, some guys will have to move.

Matheson wasn't better this season than the last one. He was brutal defensively, but hey he put up 60 points so that means he was better, right ? Right ? He got a ton of points on the PP, that's means he's a good QB, right ? Right ? NO, he is a bad QB on the PP, can't make a pass on the tape, he was brutal defensively and he can't hit the net. When his contract expires, he will be 32 yo. He will be looking for a long terms deals and he will steal the QB position on the PP from Hutson (because he is a vet). Hutson-Reinbacher Guhle-Barron/Mailloux should be MTL top 4 in 2 years

I don't agree with this at all. Like the Devils they were missing their #1 defenseman for a large portion of the season. Their top prospect in Wright is finally coming into his own and they have some other really promising prospects in Jagger Firkus and Eduard Sale too. Not to mention Kartye will probably take another step.

The most difficult position to fill in the league is 1C. The 2nd most is 1RD. They already have the 1C and trading that would vastly set them back. This would be similar to the Habs trading Suzuki for like Byram and Buffalo's 1st, the value is there for sure but it doesn't solve the fundamental issue