As a Habs fan I like the Mantha trade, but how will Washington fans feel?

We all know that Bedard and Fantilli are 1-2

Chicago doesn`t want Michkov and is high on Will Smith, Sharks would then pick Leo Carlsson

That means HABS pick Michkov at 5

I believe Gabe will be picked in the 10-14 range

The thought process for the trade is I think both teams are interested in moving on from these respective players.

Hoffman had a better season than Mantha did last year and he has a better cap hit, so that's the motive for WSH if they want to be competitive while they still have Ovechkin.

MTL has a ton of cap space so they have nothing to lose giving the younger home province player a chance at a fresh start.

I'm also interested to see what caps fans have to say, I feel like they would be doing Mantha a solid by moving on but there could be a desire to hope he bounces back and has a good year to salvage the trade they made for him.

Michkov would be amazing at 5 but we just have to hope we don't drop after the lottery. Would Michkov still be there at 6th? 7th?

It's possible. Wouldn't be the first time a player of small stature drops. Also, teams might not be patient enough to wait his 3 KHL seasons.

Will Smith would be great value at 5. There are so many players that still profile as good that are going to fall in that 10-20 range. I wouldnt get caught up on taking someone just for the sake of chemistry

Agreed, but he will be picked up by Chicago and they made it clear.

That would most likely leave Michkov or Carlsson for Montreal depends on what the Sharks do.

Michkov the next Ovechkin and Carlsson the next Mats Sundin. I would hope the HABS would select Michkov given the chance.

They would have a line in 3 years Caufield, Suzuki Michkov. PLD would be in Montreal by then so the 2nd line is

Slafkovsky, PLD and Dach

HABS would terrorize the league. They only need a goaltender. They need to Draft Hrabal with the pick no. 37

That would be quite the force. I think after what I saw of Dach with us (still sad but Nazar is pretty cool) keeping him on the wing is the right move for his offensive potential.

Just out of curiosity, what/where have you seen that the Hawks are for sure going Smith at 3? I can't seem to find anything linking them to him atm.

Yeah the smith to hawks is kinda weird and i didnt see anything of the sort either, might wanna share a link when saying stuff ig.

Am I crazy for thinking that Armia would be a much better fit in WSH than Hoffman though ? An extra year to his contract, but at a lower AAV.

Caps don’t want Hoffman.

We also don’t want Armia.

Maybe I'm not assessing Mantha's situation in Washington correctly then. I was under the impression that moving Mantha was a cost cutting move...in which case, it's not so much a matter of "who you want", but finding a way to cut your loses. But I might be reading the situation wrong.

Mantha for Armia saves what, 2.3M in cap? But then the following season we still have to pay him the 3.4M? For a bottom 6 winger? That’s a terrible move for the caps. If we’re trying to save cap space, someone will want to take a flyer on mantha for a year without dumping an awful contract our way.

Fair enough. I thought the "cap crunch" in Washington was just for this year, and had more flexibility for 2024-25. And considering they seem to have the Top-6 forwards they need already, I thought Armia (who's a pretty good PKer) would be a much better fit overall than Hoffman, given the open spots on the roster.

What happened to Norlinder? I thought he was a top prospect??

For all his talent he has done nothing, very mediocre AHL season and the habs have lots of other D prospects.

I think it would be best for both sides to move on.

Premise of trading Mantha is cap dump. Hoffman represents an upgrade (based off last season) at a cheaper cap hit for Washington with the same term.

Armia doesn't work because you are pushing the problem to another year.

Finally an intelligent post on Montreal future without Dubois being there. !!! Let's take the time to rebuild.

I heard it on the SICK Podcast with Tony Marinaro. Tony was talking with Arpon Basu and according to their sources HAWKS will pass on Michkov and targeting Smith.

Still high ceiling but very slow progression. Might be the kind of player to bloom in his mid-20s only. Will probably be traded by then given all the guys that have a better evaluation now.
Also, he's from the Bergevin era, no ties to Hughes.