Quoting: SCGLisme2
It all depends on the pick you get for Thompson, MTL gave up a 4th in 2019 for Thompson and a 5th in 2019, so a 4th or 5th would be as low as I would go. He can still help the younger guys and teach them about faceoffs at the very least.
Scandella for a hometown discount is better that Kulak who can be traded was my point, they will need experience at LD and if Kulak is gone then they have Chiarot, Mete and Romanov.
If you get back your 4th you spent then so be it.
Cousin only played on the top 2 lines due to the injuries the Habs had and he was fine, not great but fine. He should be a 4th liner at best and again his only trade was including an AHL'er and a 5th going back. If you can get a 5th then do it. Play Poehling for sure but more than 7 min and don't rush Caulfield.
At least Cousins knows the system and can keep up, who knows what you get in the offseason.
Every player has a price but these guys are not 6th or 7th round picks, MB must do better or keep them.
I disagree with the bulk of this.
The Habs are not a contending team, in fact they are probably not making the playoffs at all so keeping pending UFA's makes no sense if there is an asset to be gained from trading them. Remember, players can be resigned in the offseason. Thompson isn't a July 1st UFA type of player anyway...... If Habs really want him they could easily let him know they plan on resigning him in the offseason. Gaining more picks in this draft is just business and Thompson would be fully aware of that. As for the pick itself, who cares what pick it is? Its a pick and that is all that matters. Habs paid the equivalent of a 6th for him. They moved down in the draft from 119th to 138th essentially so we're not talking about a huge cost here. Even if the pick is a 7th, its one more chance to land a Fredrick Andersen or a Ondrej Palat. All for what? Not trading a 4th line type player that are very available in free agency if ever we need one? That is not how asset management works...... Once again, only if you get something of value for him. If you don't, then I agree just keep him....
As for Scandella, i know he is better than Kulak but that doesn't help the fact that you are paying X dollars on a guy you are actively going to play as a 7th dman. Chiarot is going to play. Romanov isn't coming to NA to be a 7th dman. Mete is the future of the team, can't play him 7th dman. So knowing that, why are you even resigning Scandella? But heck even if you wanted to sign him, would Scandella want to? He is taking a hometown discount to be a 7th dman?? There is no space for him next year and if you wanted him as depth and he was willing to sign to be depth, than not trading him would still be asinine. If you can get an asset for the player now and he is willing to come back next year, at a hometown discount to boot what is the problem?
Cousins doesn't
need to be traded because he is an RFA but based on where this team is going, if he can return an asset at the TDL, go for it. Habs paid nothing to get this guy. They turned a player whose very replaceable into an asset for literally just playing him on their team. Once again, this is how teams get good. Through the draft and turning free commodities into assets. You get more picks in the draft, you increase your odds of getting good players for free and cheap contracts. Cousins is a fine cheap bottom line player but he is small piece of the puzzle only and in the grand scheme of things, very replaceable. If you can get something for him, its found money as they say.
Agree 100% on Caulfield but you must keep the option open if he shows he's NHL ready right away. Like many college players, they tend to only want to sign if they know they'll play with the big club and judging by his production as a freshman, he looks very close to being ready anyway.