They should trade harris

Harris, Xhekaj both need to go at some point. Hutson is coming soon and they have Struble

Xhekaj going down proved they cant
Mailloux went from #5 in minutes in Laval on his way to the ECHL
To AHL All Star with 16 points in 17 games beside Arber
Twin Terrors at 6'4 215-242lbs creates all the space Huston needs going forward
He relies on similar play from Weber and the McCarthy Brothers
They Grind down players allowing Hutson to walk all over them at will

If you're gonna build on a player like Hutson
You have to do it with players like Guhle, Barron,Xhekaj,Mailloux and Reinbacher
Guys like Harris , Struble and Kovacevic are GREAT but we have more of them in the system
Plus we got Kony Captaining his KHL team way ahead of projections as a top KHL guy.
We got Engstrom who's Lehkonen on Defense basically as the kids ALL Energy, Never Stops and can play Any role needed.
We also got Kostenko tearing up Russian Junior as an overage Dman similar to how Xhekaj did his last year.
Kostenko's the biggest surprise as Defensively he was rough but really become a reliable defensive stalwart while playing bigger then he is at 6'1 187lbs

This draft MTL is likely to land a Defensman again if we finish 5-10th OA as there's 3 good options
We got Dmen coming out our Wazoo

Harris has the most value outside Matheson and Guhle (untouchable) in the NHL.
Xhekaj's great but we wont get the value we need to justify it
Same as Barron and Struble really

Struble is odd man out though if Hutson jumps direct to the NHL and Mailloux makes a debut before this time next year.

I really like these 2 pair

Hutson - Reinbacher
Xhekaj - Mailloux

Like they are build to play togheter

I'm guessing Stephens was to get him to clear waivers before they call someone else up.
Remember we just grabbed Cederqvist to reinforce Laval's manpower as they are dealing with injuries, so we may simply be limiting ourselves to 1-for-1 swaps so we aren't leaving them short.
We could see someone recalled in time for tonight's game. They didn't need to wait to swap Xhekaj because Barron is exempt.

Trading Xhekaj is awful idea.

The team is unwatchable without him a lot of nights and frustrating to say the least. Cant deny the social media reaction to his call-up and his popularity in the fan base. You dont see too many Harris jerseys out in the public but I see as many Xhekaj jerseys out there as almost anyone.
Guhle being able to play the right, for me, makes Barron the odd man out. Harris can go as well if the offer is right. Use picks, a young D to go after a cap crunch team like the Knights/Panthers.

Struble is roughly on par with Harris so far and looks to be the smarter defensive puck mover and uses his body more.
Harris might have the edge outside the defensive zone, but that's less of what we need with the expected changes coming to the blue line.
So while Harris may be more valuable now, Struble may well end up as the better player.
Harris may be a relatively average #4 at his best (Kulak-ish), while Struble has the potential to be on the higher end of shutdown defenders (a younger, better version of Savard).
If we trade Harris and Struble doesn't reach that level, it's easier to find another option. LHD with low offensive acumen are the most common type of defender.

Hutson, Barron, and Mailloux further marginalize Harris' value to our defense core.
We will need strong defenders with size and/or strength and physicality to insulate some of them. Harris is not a good fit for those roles, while Guhle, Struble, Xhekaj, and Reinbacher are.
You could include Kovacevic in that group as well if we do keep him around.

Worst case scenario none of those players meet projections and we end up needing more offensive defenders at some point.
If we get to that, we will be looking for higher impact targets than Harris. Defenders who can provide high value to the power play primarily.
So again, Harris' value to this team in the future is questionable.

The best place for him now, and in the future, is on a team short of young puck moving defenders who are willing/able to give him high minutes and prime PP time to develop his game at all costs.
It's sink or swim to determine the next stage of his development. He needs to be thrown into the deep end soon and with Guhle/Matheson here, he isn't going to get that opportunity.