What we have and what needs to go

I don’t think Oliver Kapanen will sign his ELC this offseason
Florian Xhekaj could but his contract will slide. I think they will wait, no rush signing him
Lane Hutson & Luke Tuch will be 2 years, not 3.
Harris & Armia (half retained) could be moved, but can’t see MTL dealing David Savard
Reinbacher & Mailloux are likely to start the 2024-2025 season with the Laval Rocket. MTL already have : Mike Matheson (1), Kaiden Guhle (2), David Savard (3), Jayden Struble (4), Arber Xhekaj (5), Jordan Harris (6), Justin Barron (7) & Jonathan Kovacevic (8). That’s 8 NHL defenseman with only Jayden Struble & Arber Xhekaj being waivers exempt.

That list of dman is why I think mtl would consider moving savard, need to create space and could fetch a decent return. I also think Mailloux will jump Kovacevic and Barron and possibly Harris also this offseason. Reinbacher probably takes a year in Laval before making the jump but that completely depends on how his game is looking, we saw it with Struble, management will reward these young dman for their play, if someone is exceling they will see ice time.

Reinbacher’s play once over here from Kloten will show us if he’s ready or not. Guehle and Xhekaj came straight to the NHL without getting seasoning for a year in Laval.

I think the chemistry Xhekaj and Mailloux developed in Laval for a month could entice management to give that pairing a try as a third pairing. They’re big enough to handle the physicality of other teams 3rd/4th liners, and skilled enough to take advantage of them and get points.