Quoting: F50marco
Yep I get the logic. It the only reason anyone should want Mantha. but thats the same reason Washington doesn't want Armia. So the Habs have to pay a premium for Wash to consider it.
All the Speculation is just that MTL spoke to WSH
We assume its about Mantha and Armia but im not conviced.
If it was , wouldnt it be done already?
I think we're going to see a Kuznetsov Trade
He's confirmed he asked for a trade request with his "rumors dont just come out of no where" comment to a reporter asking him if he did make the request.
I think we'll see this because Kuznetsov's M-NTC not exclude MTL as he'll be given the chance at 1st or 2nd Center or top line Wing opposite Caufield and Suzuki.
He'll also get coaching from MSL that could help him back to his 70-80 point seasons again without Ovechkin and based on him driving the play.
In WSH he was always 2nd fiddle but in MTL he has the chance to be a fan favorite like Domi, Kovalchuk, Monahan ,Toffoli or Pearson among others who came here to nothing but love.
Why does MTL do it given his contract ends as we're rebuilding after next season ?
With Dach losing a year at least the timing is actually kinda perfect actually
Either we're competing and Kuz stays as a rental basically that final year or we sell him in the final year at the TDL
He still has his M-NTC we got to work with but i dont see why all sides cant be happy.
Question becomes , The Cost?
I think similar to Pacioretty or Petry that he's kinda diminished his value and his plays not been at the same effort as years past.
I dont doubt the talent but a guy who gets bummed out and drags ass is high maintenance.
Petry Trade still found MTL great value
Pacioretty trade still found MTL great value (similar to trading MTL long time Veteran Leader Rivet for Pacioretty basically, we traded Veteran Leader Patches for Suzuki our next Captain)
Similar package would be Riley Kidney ,Jordan Harris , 2nd round pick in 2024 and 2nd round pick in 2026 (Conditional if Kuz makes ECF before 2026 draft this pick becomes a 2027 1st round pick)
WSH gets a B+ or A- Center prospect who is see more as a Vermette type 3rd line Center , Jordan Harris handled 22+ minutes last year like a champ but log jams and Matheson eating up 25+ a game see's him getting lost in the fold here but in WSH there's no LD capable of standing in his way for top pair with Carlsson. Two 2nd round picks with conditions on 1/2 is about as much as anyone at a TDL this year would pay without WSH RS on Kuz
He's overpaid sure but we can handle that for 2 years cap wise as we're setting up to trade some pending UFA's this TDL anyways include 2/3 top scores on the team.
Plenty of room for Kuz