Quoting: Billy739
pass , to much to give up to a guy we can just get as a UFA
he doesnt have to move and gets on a playoff team .
plus he gets out of the OTT nonesense moving forward.
OTT maybe could match but he's committing to playing the rest of his NHL career to a losing team if he signs there as these days wingers like Stone are out of the NHL by age 33-34 these days and that number shrinks each season. like Brassard he just wants a chance to be in a cup situation
He's at over a ppg this season on a team that's dead last in the league. Players this good don't hit the trading block often, and he may not hit the UFA market at all if he signs with the team he's traded to, which is why I believe a sign and trade is the best approach to make the team even more competitive this year and for the next 10 years.
The truth is Hudon and Fleury will never make it on our team, because we already have Juulsen and Brook who are better and will be battling for that RD spot next year, and with Lehkonen, Byron, Drouin, Tatar on the LW there is just no place for Hudon on this team. Add to that the fact that Poehling will look to make the team next year, and now you've got even less place for Hudon on this roster. Therefore I don't mind using these two players as overpayment to make sure we land a highly coveted PPG goalscorer. S
haw is also expendable in this situation, because believe me when you see Mark Stone snipe that puck top titty with a laser quick wrist shot on a beautiful feed from Drouin during his first game in MTL, you'll be saying "Andrew who?" like everyone else. Suzuki is probably our best prospect, considering that Kotkaniemi no longer is a prospect and is now an NHLer, however it is wishful thinking to believe he will become half as good as Stone is. Everyone thought the Strome brothers would rip the NHL apart, look at them today.
Our prospect pool is so deep that I'm not really worried about giving away this year's 1st or next year's 2nd, especially considering that we will probably be outside the top 15 picks this year, which is where most good picks happen, and that we have 2 2nd round picks this year. If we don't find that there is a player we really want in this year's draft, we can trade one of our 2019 2nd to a team who wants one particular player for like a 3rd 2019 and a 2nd 2020 during the draft day. I believe that having Stone on our team immediately puts us in a cup situation this year, and having him signed means we will be contenders for the next 4-5 years, especially with the development of Mete, Kotkaniemi, Juulsen, Poehling, and one or more of Romanov, Brook and Harris.
This trade isn't a robbery in any way, but even if it is an overpayment, it ensures Habs excellence for years to come, while it would be fun the sign him as a UFA and lose nothing, it is a risk because there is no guarantee he signs with us, whereas this sign and trade makes him ours and enables us to make a serious run for it every year starting now. Also, if we wanna trade with Ottawa we need to give them an incentive to do so, because teams don't like trading their top players within the division.
athrin liked this.
Reply
CapFriendly
CapFriendly