I suggested the Kaliyev for Xhekaj swap a few weeks ago and was swiftly chased off the site by Habs fans.

Xhekaj is way overrated. Decent at punching, has a great shot, but that is about it. Turning an undrafted player into Khaliyev would be a massive win, even if Khaliyev has been underwhelming lately.

I'd do it. Kaliyev is "extra" on the Kings right now, and Xhekaj would be an upgrade to Englund in almost every capacity.

Barron is expendable because of Mailloux and Reinbacher.
Xhekaj is expendable because of Hutson and Struble.
Harris is expendable because he is a lesser Brett Kulak.
Gallagher, Armia, Anderson and Dvorak are all dead weight and dead cap.

Honestly, I'd save the buyouts until after 2024-25 - even if you hypothetically kept all 4 of those guys you should still have space for everyone here - Gallagher's $6.5M + Anderson's $5.5M + Dvorak's $4.45M + Armia's $3.4M = $19.85M. You've got $19.846M available and if you keep those 4 guys you'd have to send down/not sign 4 of the 23 you currently have on the roster here. Personally, I'd pass on Marchessault (he feels like Vegas for life at this point anyway) and find new homes for Pezzetta, RHP, and Ylonen - whether trading them off the roster or stashing them in Laval. This team would be better but still not a full-throated Cup contender, IMO, so let two of those four deals die off, buy out Anderson & Gallagher in summer 2025, and use the cap space on upgrading the top 6 and extending guys like Guhle, Dach, & Slaf.

Lol. You have 19m in cap space. No need to trade Barron has he is currently our best young Rd. I’m not a fan of Xhekaj, but he is better than Kaliev.

I swear, some fans are obsessed with unnecessary cap dumps lol

Yeah, doubtful Marchessault and Stamkos would sign here. But I would love to see Suzuki, Caufield and Slafkovsky surrounded with better veteran players to help their development. Still not thinking we can look at cup contention until 2026-2027-ish.

Waiting another year for the buyouts makes sense too, I agree. But I feel like MTL ownership are going to want to put a decent product on the ice sooner than later. Lots of empty seats in the building, TV ratings and general enthusiasm around the team is at an all time low. Goaltending situation will have to be adressed eventually too. Montambeault and Primeau can help finish the rebuild, but we will need a solid tendy eventually.

Will need the cap space the following year when buyouts cap hit is 7 or 8m, Guhle and Slaf contracts, etc. No need to have 12 NHL ds, only 6, with Struble and Kovasevic as a scratches and in case of injuries.

So buy them out the year after… It will save tons of money, especially since Dvorak and Armia will be off the books.
Anyway, Guhle and Slaf will get respectively 6m and 8m, that’s 14m and with the cap augmentation we will be more than fine. Buyouts will hurt us more in the long run, when we will have to resign Dach, Newhook, Hutson, Reinbacher and hopefully Celebrini

Haven’t you learned from Minnesota?

I can see buying out Andy and Gally but its pointless to buyout Armia and Dvorak with only a year left, honestly if they can stay healthy and have decent seasons you could probably get a pick for each of them at the TDL.

It's clear you haven't watched him at all