Why would Dallas trade one of their top prospects for a 2nd? That makes no sense

And a young two way RHD...

Ok, I think I get it now. These are just three possible trades for him. My bad, way I read it was this was some crazy four team trade with Montreal making out like bandits.

I think the Stars trade is a pretty good one then. Helps fill each teams needs for sure.

Thanks! Yeah these kinda posts are tricky. Bourque would be my #1 of the 3 options here

The Marcel Aubut school of trading -- trade the same player to multiple places.

Kent Hughes traded Jeff Petry twice!

But not at the same time to two different teams like Marcel.

Separately, I doubt the Jets would trade Lambert though I do like the Barron brothers reunion storyline. They need good forwards on ELCs, as there are some big extensions kicking in during 24-25.

Why is there an obsession lately with trading Barron?

Barron isn't part of the Habs long term future, may as well trade him now before he gets pushed down the lineup

Winnipeg declines

People have no patience and don't understand that time in the AHL can actually help a player develop.

Matheson had 17 points in his first 84 games and was averaging over 20 minutes a game.
Barron has 29 points in his first 87 games and is averaging over 17 minutes a game.

We have the opportunity to develop an improved version of Matheson/Petry and get him to peak earlier in his career.
We just need to keep working with him so he continues progressing.

I'd say brad lambert is an untouchable at this point. Just the fact that he's right shot with the speed and skill he has is just a non starter for 95% of trades. He likely has a shot to make the roster next year or year after and I don't think the jets would trade him without having a similar player to Lamberts skill in the system. He is a rare find for the jets in the system and they aren’t going to trade him before they know what they have at the nhl level.

I don't understand MTL's usage of Barron. Actually I don't understand their usage of their entire D-core really. I've been watching some questionable defensive efforts for some time now, so I wanted to dig into the numbers using natural stat trick and see what could be learned.

MTL D pairings GF% + xGF% @ 5v5 (>150 min)
1. Guhle - Kovacevic, 58.82 + 54.69 = 113.51%
2. Struble - Kovacevic, 60 + 49.66 = 109.66%
3. Xhekaj - *** , 55.56 + 48.59 = 104.59
4. Matheson - Barron, 58.33 + 43.75 = 102.08%
5. Guhle - Barron, 50 + 48.92 = 98.92%
6. Harris - *** , 47.22 + 50.23 = 97.45
7. Matheson - Savard, 50 + 47.32 = 97.32%
8. Matheson - Guhle*, 50 + 44.18 = 94.18%

*Playing on off side.
***Individual numbers, hasn't played >150 min on one pair.

Of course this doesn't take into consideration things like matchups, usage, etc. however MTL in general is a negative goal differential team so I consider > 100% to be good no matter what your role is. That said, I have a few observations.

1. Guhle - Kovacevic / Struble - Kovacevic / Xhekaj - Kovacevic have been MTL's best defensive pairs. Kovacevic is very underrated by fans and management.

2. What is St. Louis' beef with Xhekaj this year? He barely gets used but he's done just fine other than some bad penalties (which other vets have been more guilty of).

3. Matheson's best D partner is Barron, who isn't even playing in the NHL. Guhle - Barron also put up respectable results and is the most common pairing this season so they did this in the largest sample size. Why is Barron in Laval? What is management's plan for him exactly? Mailloux and Reinbacher are coming shouldn't we be getting a really good look at him in the NHL?

4. Savard puts up some decent results with Matheson (no better than Barron) playing some tough matchups no doubt, however he is abysmal with anyone else on the team. I'd be trading him if he holds any value.

5. Matheson - Guhle is not it, why are we forcing Guhle to play on his offside when there are RHD options that work just fine?

Anyways all this to say based on these results, my healthy lineup without any trades next year would be:

Guhle - Barron
Matheson - Savard
Xhekaj - Kovacevic
Harris

Struble - Mailloux
Hutson - Reinbacher
Trudeau - Tourigny
Norlinder

How is he not? There are 3 RD positions to fill... Reinbacher, Mailloux, Barron. We trade him now, we get to start the search for his replacement. Or we keep him and work on filling the other gaps in the roster.

I think rather highly of him tbh. Reinbacher, Mailloux, Barron on the right side for the next 5-10 looks great to me. In fact, our D core is basically set for the next 5-10 on both sides. A splashy & flashy top 6 offensive forward addition (Zegras-type for example), with the current depth of middle-bottom 6 prospects, and this team is looking wonderful imo.

It's a fair point, but you have a few good young forwards like Barlow coming up, so... maybe? The average age of the jets seems to be like 29-30, so I would expect they can more easily attract some free agents for the bottom 5. Top 7 forwards seems pretty set.

I'm not obsessed. I just think we need some forwards with top 6 potential more than we need defenders, and if I'm honest I want them to call Mailloux up, more than I want Barron to get another shot.

I'm not 100% there, but I AM getting there. I don't like how he's responded since being sent down. He should be hungrier than this.

OK.

Like I said in another exchange, I am not opposed to keeping him, I am just trying to balance the fact that:

1) I see the Habs calling up Mailloux over Barron if Guhle is out
2) I see Reinbacher coming over after the TDL
3) I see the Habs seriously considering drafting a D at the draft if that's the BPA, and trading one of your prospect defenders for a forward like Bourque, makes that more palatable

Be honest. Would you call up Mailloux or Barron if Guhle is out?

OK. To be fair I don't know that much about him, except that he slipped a whole lot in the draft. Glad to hear he put it back on the rails. I see him as a lower value prospect than Bourque, but that may be my own lack of info and bias. I am trying to trade for a 2nd line forward, if I am asking for a clear 1st line superstar, I apologize!

Levshunov & Parekh look pretty good and at least one should be available... just saying.

If I'm giving MSL the benefit of the doubt, I see the deployment as a form of stress test. Increase usage and responsibility slowly until a player breaks, then address what was revealed during that time.
If I'm looking at it in a less positive light, MSL (and staff) have a propensity to make decisions based on visible errors, in some kind of a "3 strikes and you're out" methodology.

Barron saw increased usage this year and actually had a long leash. He was showing improvement. Miscues did pile up (as should be expected), but was he pulled to address them or punish them?
Same with Xhekaj, only he seemed to have a shorter leash, but that may simply be because there were less expectations for him beyond controlling his aggression.

Kovacevic is indeed underrated. With only 125 games of experience and improved performance despite less favorable deployment, I'd like to see him rewarded with more playing time. I feel like he's being dismissed too easily as a potential mainstay after Savard's departure.
It's a numbers game with his age and our depth coming up, but he deserves more opportunity.

Struble is in a similar position. He's excelling but the numbers don't necessarily support it. He's passing the eye test with flying colors though. The St Louis game might have been his first real noticeable blunder of the season, and he'll learn from that.

Harris on the other hand has slipped this year. Injuries have been a factor but he's getting less usage and better deployment and still producing worse results.

We need to clear room on our blue line to give these players more time to develop. Savard out. One of Struble, Harris, Xhekaj out. More minutes and less rotation for everyone else.

Barron should be brought up, but I wouldn't be opposed to Mailloux. The only reason for that however, is that I don't want there to be a media circus if Mailloux makes the team next season. Get it out of the way this year.

Matheson - Kovacevic
Xhekaj - Savard
Struble - Barron

Let Kovacevic play more either to evaluate him or showcase him for a trade.
Savard babysits Xhekaj.
Struble can be a reliable partner for Barron that does the heavy defensive work.