Looks pretty good, I'd personally want Slaf in the AHL playing 20+min a night, top PP, and even PK if he wants to do it, unless he went crazy this summer and destroys camp

Wouldn’t necessarily be against Slafkovski starting in Laval on a top-line with Maillet and Mesar and going back up once Monahan or Dvorak is traded by TDL.

If Slafkovski somehow starts with the Rocket, my guess is that J. Roy takes his NHL spot.

Slaf on a top-line in laval makes total sense. Unfortunately for Filip/their friendship, with what is down there currently, mesar is at best a 3rd liner…

You sir. I like what you’re selling. I’d go even as far as saying Arber should be down there also playing top-pairing minutes whether on LD or RD

Very much agree, I much more conservative than that lol.
I'd have Xhekaj and Barron both playing the top pair in the AHL playing 25+min a night, why have guys playing 12-18 min a night when you could pay some decent old guys to do that and give young guys time to develop.
Mailloux still isn't cleared by Bettman yet, if I'm not mistaken so him playing 2nd pair in the AHL won't hurt him or the team, the media needs more time to cool down from his poor decision\action

Barron paired well with matheson last year don't you think? I'd have the laval lines as such;

Trudeau-Xhekaj
Beaudin-Mailloux
Struble/Norlinder-Keeper

I like those Laval pairings!
I agree he played well but, end of the year is 50% guys going hard for the playoffs and 50% guys mailing it in not to get injured.
I'm surprised they traded Edmundson for this very reason, I'd would've kept him at least till camp.
If Barron or someone else won the job then trade Edmundson to a team that needs him. (It might not have been the Habs idea, Edmundson might've asked to be traded now to help settle his family in before the season but, you never really know)

Even at the NHL level, I see no harm in giving them more minutes and responsibility.
With only Matheson and Savard as "minute munchers", you can give everyone around 20 minutes a night and roll 3 pairings.
Keeping the 7th D in the rotation gives them time to rest and absorb and not playing Matheson or Savard over 22 minutes helps them stay fresh too. They can even be on the lower end of minutes some nights when another pair is clicking, and have a game off here and there instead of playing through minor ailments.

Roll 3 forward lines as well, use the 4th for spot duty, keep the injury prone guys low in cumulative ice time there. If they are 100% and fresh for back-to-backs, you can bump them up for the 2nd game.
If anyone isn't 100%, drop them to the 4th line if you have to play them, otherwise scratch them and prioritize health. We need to be aggressive in reducing man-games lost and stemming the trend of recent seasons.