The Philly deal would work if the Habs were eating some of Max's salary and offering compensation if Max refuses to re-sign there.

The Hawks trade is HORRIBLE!!!! It just increases the amounts and the duration of bad contract decisions. Seabrook is an RD (Habs have Weber and Petry) pretty much finished now. Why would Habs want six more years of him?

Because they have the space for him long term and he'd be a quality veteran to help develop future prospects. But primarily its to get Artem Anisimov for free. The pieces the Habs give up in the deal are of no consequence to them. The salaries balance themselves out until 2021. After that, Seabrook's contract will have two years left of term. The salary cap will likely be in the mid-90m range by then, meaning his cap hit is even less impactful, making it much easier to trade at that point. The Habs need Cs. If they'd followed this method, they'd have many. They didn't do anything, now they have none. But they still have Pacioretty for some stupid ass reason.