Filling RD longterm with RFA

Team: 2022-23 Montreal Canadiens

Initial Creation Date: Aug. 21, 2022

Published: Aug. 21, 2022

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Before we start this post is AFTER the TDL in 2022-23 when we sold.
The lines are based on building up next years crop of UFA's for similar returns.
The youth have a strong team in Laval and Primeau carried half an ECHL team to a ECF game 7.
Imagine what MTL's farm team can do if they dont make half their roster ineligible for play again this year?
That's the secondary motivation here as giving Primeau the Run Support he needs helps us bottom line.
Given Price's situation they announced its no more important then ever he's ready after the 2023 Draft to play big games for us.

Durzi is my target for only 1 reason over Jordan Spence who i've watched live years and know him better
That said Durzi's the guy with established Chemistry with Suzuki on ice and off as they're best friends as per Suzuki on draft day.
Not saying its my only motivation to acquire either is based solely on the above.

Durzi is a strong PP performer and would compliment Matheson's style hopefully helping raise his value.
Longterm the motivation here if for Durzi & Barron to be in a similar position as Petry with Weber as our 1-2 punch on RD.
The Vision ultimately for the D core in 2024-25 we want this:

Harris-Durzi
Ghule-Barron
Xhekaj-Mailloux
Struble

Why bother overpaying for a RD prospect now when we're tanking ?
Better to break in the new guys in Durzi and Barron this year allowing for growing pains to
Happen during a year where it can help you get a high pick a draft where 7/10 projected are Centers

By doing this they address a big hole especially on their PP where 15/27 points came from his rookie year.
He's heavy into special teams and MTL doesnt have that type of depth in that department .


Again Spence would work just as well but has little to no PP upside that said is great on the PK.
Its the difference between acquiring a Petry type and a Matheson basically same level but 1/2 is a PP QB

With 5 UFA's this year and another 5 UFA's next year Hughes will land a great deal of picks.
What we're giving up is a drop in the bucket compared to what we'll be getting from them.
We'll have a youth core come out with 2-5 years experience hopefully playing as a unit while shedding UFA's


With Slavkovsky(IMO) ,Kidney ,Heineman ,Ghule,Xhekaj,Norlinder, and Myak at the AHL level this year as MTL's top prospects.
This gives them a depth on top of the ECF game 7 team they already had making them a real threat.
This is without including Roy,Mesar, Beck,Hutson,Struble,Tuch,Trudeau,Kappanen ,Simmoneau or Mailloux who are 1-2 years away from joining Laval or MTL

The depth is getting insane as prospect continue to over achieve
Even undrafted pick ups like Xhekaj was dominant this past year taking out Ghule in the Memorial Cup Semi Final.

What we need to do is keep building and selling here
Keep a few core pieces who carry a role that cant be filled yet
Once it can trade them too

Only players who should remain who are over 25 today are Gallagher and Anderson.
While trading Anderson might make us a profit its a big hole and he plays well with the youth.
Gally i expect a rebound year but even if he does and scores 30 goals the odds of moving him are round.
Its simply too much term even if you could get around the cap , so why bother moving him?
He's a good leader and like Dustin Brown in LAK can have a positive impact going forward.

Everyone else with UFA status though goes, if you're not an RFA still in the next 2 years , you're gone .



The remaining holes left were for next years NHL draft where 7/10 top picks are projected Centers.
We got 2 picks in a deep draft with 5 UFA's this year and 5 next year to proit off of.
The rest can be handled with AHL call ups of which we'll have nearly a dozen players join Laval over next 2 years
As time goes on talent will Cycle in and Veterans will leave and we'll profit each time.
So why not spend a little of it on a RD we know can work here while his team is in the mood to part with him?


I personally think alone Durzi is a good Power Play Player
But reuinted with Suzuki he'll become a Great Power Play Player.

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