This raises some SERIOUS questions for the Habs…

This raises some SERIOUS questions for the Habs…

This raises some serious questions for the Montreal Canadians as Jaden Strupel gets officially signed to a two-year extension. There’s a lot of talk about how the Habs 7 defenseman will shape up this season with questions coming about Arbor Jackkeye, David Rybacher, even guys like Adam Angstrom. But more than that, even Lane Hudson’s extension as being the next top priority contract to get done because Stroo was almost headed to arbitration. And we got to dive into Strugel’s contract, what it means, and how it could implicate Lane Hudson’s future as well as they’ve been one of our best D pairings since they’ve been paired together. But we also have some more talk about Mason McTavish’s multiple websites are talking about Montreal being linked to the Anaheim Star. And we have a lot more great stuff, including some LJ Mooney stuff. Awesome stuff coming up on this episode of Habs Digest. Jesse Monday live stream. We got a ton of fans in here already. We got Joseph, we got Jack, we got Bouquius. Dear is in here, Steve. Bish boy Steve as well. Oh boy. I got myself there. Great group of people here. I’m excited to get into it, Jesse. On on Jaden Strugal signing day. Absolutely. So nice to get him locked up and of course be here with the community, right? To it’s so nice not only to go through the news, but you know to have that interaction. Of course, we’re here for the questions and of course, you know, just some amazing hype with the prospects is again the gift that just keeps on giving that good draft and that that Montreal Canadians have done. Of course, they’re just light up. They’re doing some very exciting stuff right now. As we know, hockey never sleeps. So, you know, really excited to get into all it here today. Oh, you never expect something to break at the end of July either. And like we’re seeing these prospect of the development camp. We have Ottovu there. Not talking about today. So, stay tuned this week. That’s going to be a bit of fun. We got LJ Mooney there. We got a bunch of other guys. Hi, Tim. Hi, Joseph. And I saw Joseph say earlier. Oh, Simone was in here too. Finally alive. I can catch Simone. Great to see you. Awesome to have everyone in here. And you know what? You know what we should start with here? We should start with our boy LJ Mooney, Little John, because you know what? He’s become a fan favorite so fast. And you can see here, this is from Daily Face Off, but it’s the Sweden under 20 versus USA under 20. And yeah, really interesting. LJ Mooney starting there on the top line for Team USA alongside Trevor Connelly up there as well, who is a pretty highly regarded prospect. But it’s really interesting. Um, there’s some players kind of all over the place here. We know Atos Quu was playing first trio as well. It’s not a guarantee that these guys are going to be first trio, whatever. But regardless, Jesse LJ Mooney put on a bit of a show. Look at this assist first of all. Almost a no look. Perfect pass across the ice. And watch this snipe. It gets stuck in the corner. LJ Mooney putting on a clinic versus Sweden already. And for a guy that has been so underestimated, I think for a lot of his career so far, even him saying, I hear the doubters all the time. That’s all I heard last year was being too small. I don’t think it matters at all. I’m just looking to prove people wrong. And hey, the ABS, Jesse, we know a lot about that. I’m loving everything I’m seeing from LJ Mooney. Every time he steps on the ice, I feel like we have a highlight on our hands for sure. And we’re seeing so much news from him recently, Josh. Like I am crossing my fingers that he makes the team here for obviously for Team USA going into the World Juniors. Like this guy is just such a special young player. So really incredible uh to see what he’s doing right now. And obviously the way that he’s starting off, it’s it started off well. It’s looking really well. Like he can make a way and again prove the doubters wrong. Like this is what he’s having to do. Like even with Team USA, right? like he knows that even though the size that he said like doesn’t matter for him at all like that’s unreal confidence where he’s just saying like size let’s just like exit out of the equation like whatever he’s saying like what I’m going to do on the ice it just completely speaks for himself and again like so early on like great to see him in that top line we know nothing’s kind of set in stone yet but if he keeps playing this way that’s exactly where we’re going to look to find him coming here around Christmas time coming up so again yeah such an amazing shot right you know it’s this amazing like again like So kind of typical from him from what his personality right where you’re just hanging it up there in the post and like the common thing Josh we’re seeing from all these highlights I’m sure you’re noticing it too look how the defense is like completely focusing on him every time he has the puck and that’s what’s allowing him to set up some other players kind of Allan Nick Suzuki where everybody’s fixing on the shot and then he’s kind of opting for the pass there. So he’s just showing a little bit of everything. He’s showing the playmaking but obviously the sniping ability. We know that the size is there. Just kidding. We know that the skating is there and this, you know, obviously the stick handling to go along with it. So, just amazing to see like he’s he’s talking some smack. Like, let’s be real here with Little John, but you know, he he’s backing it up right now and that’s what really matters. Yeah, I completely agree. And the chat is in love with LJ Mooney as well. We got Oh, we got Muffin Mouse in the house as well. We got Tim Mun saying, “I’m so stoked for the season. LJ Mooney is a beast. I’m surprised about Strubal Hudson will get his payday.” Oh, we’re going to get to that for sure. I think he’s going to be a beast. LJ Emoji needed. Yeah, maybe we need to, right? Hi Tony. Love your show guys. Thank you so much Tony. But yeah, everyone here in chat and like the joka Jesse said exactly what you said. The LJ Mooney pass. Doesn’t this just feel like a Suzuki pass? Not just not just exploiting the defense for focusing on him, but the way he fired it across. This feels like Suzuki at a coughfield. Yeah, he’s firing it over to a lefth hand shot. So maybe not exactly, but like there are shades of a lot of different players here. And again, like the size is a limiting factor. Or should I say it can be a limiting factor. And we’ll have to see what he can do. Again, at this level of competition, it’s really hard to project how he will adapt to, you know, college next year and then eventually when he makes that jump to the pros because a lot of the time that can be a bit unpredictable, right? A guy like Sean Frell dominated for so long at 5’9 until like Laval, he started struggling, but now he’s starting to find his footing. Will he have an NHL future? Maybe. Remember, he played a handful of games for us. But, uh, yeah, really, really interested in LJ Mooney and I think a lot of fans are below. But, uh, you know, Jesse, I’m actually excited to talk about Ottos tomorrow, too. And a lot of our other halves, guys. I feel like we’re just getting so much respect now. I feel like everyone’s talking about our Habs prospects whether LJ Mooney or otherwise. It’s it’s kind of it’s kind of fun. Even though a lot of our best ones are already like lining up to make the NHL, you know, and sometimes like seeing is believing cuz like without Judy, we say like, “Oh, he’s small and he can’t do it, right?” But like look at even just from like Americans like other young small players that succeeded and really left their mark in the NHL and new age like Johnny Gdro. You have to feel somebody that LJ Mooney’s looked a lot at Cole Caulfield. Now you have Lane Hudson. Like again LJ Mooney, especially with the USA in particular, some smaller players that are just completely shining. Canada maybe has Monopoly. We’re doing a shout out to Theo Flurry back in the day. We know that size isn’t always what really matters there. But again, like what gives me a little bit of hope like it’s a fair comparison wish for absolutely winning the Hobie Baker highly touted. You know, even here on the channel, we were excited about him. We were kind of tempering some expectations again because of the size. But like with LJ Mooney, it’s a little bit different when he’s bringing like that compete and that that play because that’s something like that competitiveness isn’t something like you can’t get that out of LJ Mooney if you try at this point that his career like that’s just so ingrained in him, you know, and I think that that’s something that Martin St. we like he can coach on other parts of the game. But first off, he just wants you like engaged in all three areas of the ice and we can work on some details and some positioning and leverage techniques, you know, kind of like Hudson to make your effective at your size. Again, another great guy that can help you help work with the size being a little bit of a disadvantage here. Um, so you just have to feel like, you know, LJ Mooney, again, it’s that kind of that X factor, like he has the skill, but again, when you see that compete, that’s always the biggest thing I think for that kind of like, you know, for being able to make that translation to the NHL. And I think that that’s something that he just has in space. Yeah, absolutely. And I’m excited to see how we can, you know, evolve with that. And I see someone here saying, hey, maybe he could grow a few inches, says wrong. Hey, I mean, the Lane Hudson, you know, going to the bone zone there, you know, he he grew a little bit. You never really know what’s going to happen. I don’t know if he’s going to grow at this point, but hey, if he does, great. If he doesn’t, we’ve seen we’ve seen people who are his size make the league. So really excited about him. But you know, Jesse, let’s move on. You know, we do have to talk about Lane Hudson, Jaden Strugo, but I think, you know, someone maybe we could talk about a bit first is a trade candidate. And I want to say again, hi, look, look at all the people in the chat. So many amazing things here. Like the joke discourse surrounding the Habs has never been this positive following a first round exit. I completely agree. And Tim saying people talk about small players. Look at our coach. They said he wouldn’t make it. He’s too small. He’s a Hall of Famer. I’ve watched St. Louis since college. He played in my hometown, UVM. Like this is the thing, Jesse. Like before we move on to to McTavish just briefly because I wanted to bring up a couple articles that had him again. Doesn’t it feel great to just be so positive about this team? Not just like, oh, the future looks good. We’ll see. It’s like, no, we know the team is good and it looks even better. Like again, not just Mooney, but even these trade talks, right? All of a sudden we go to C time and now it’s like everything is just like sunshine and rainbows for now. Like and and it feels like it’s never going to stop. Well, exactly. And just it’s been so well played just the entire framework. It’s like we haven’t even seen like how good the Habs are going to be yet. Like that’s the whole beauty of this. Like we’ve just seen the tip of the iceberg so far again. Like I really do feel like Demodov is is great. Not to disrespect on any of our current players, but I just believe Demodov like at his prime will just be head and shoulders above the competition which is really just going to be all the difference maker again like of all that good framework and we got these great players but sometimes you just need like that superstar to kind of take you over the edge and that’s what just makes me so excited about like a guy like Hudson where it’s kind of like found money when you know you’re kind of destined for glory when you start finding players like that out of the woodwork besides all the amazing prospects and and drafting obviously that we’ve done to get here. So, I think that that’s what is just so exciting because we got to see a little bit of last year, but that’s nothing in comparison of what we’re going to see next year. And then you have to feel like the year after that’s going to be so much better as Demodov improves. This this young decor as well continues to get better as well. It’s just going to make a huge difference going forward. Kind of a couple, you know, pieces away. But again, that that framework and that foundation is really in place. And again, it’s just, you know, such a pleasure just to to cover a team that’s really just been so, you know, thoughtful and also methodical in their approach. And obviously, we’re already starting to see the fruit of it. But again, like that’s just the beginning. And that’s what’s exciting about all of this. Yeah. And like we can we can look towards everything in the future. We don’t know what the ceiling is. And I think that’s the fun thing. Some teams, they see their ceiling, they see what it is. It’s just about whether they can get there. I still don’t even know how high it goes. So yeah, it’s just awesome to talk about it. And you know what? hitting that ceiling. It’s going to be a bit easier if we can land that 2C, right? Or land at least a nice another young player, young star level player. And that’s where we come back to Mason McTavish. I mean, this comes from heavy.com where they proposed a certain trade for McTavish. It it was not a trade that really made sense. So, we’re not going to dive into it. But look, you can see this again. Canadians add secondline center in unique trade pitch, but this is not the only place that’s talking about Mason McTavish. If we go to the fourth period’s list of top the summer trade board here, Mason McDavage is number 14 on the summer trade board. Why? Even Jeff Merrick recently has said he’s the most available that he’s ever been. Now, does that mean he’s readily available? Not necessarily. Like, it’s not like the Ducks are actively looking to send him out, but there’s a lot of teams calling and they can see with the veteran additions the Ducks have made. Some question how McTavish will be deployed this coming season under Joel Quenville. There are teams curious about his future in Anaheim. You ask Ducks fans, they’re probably going to say like, if you get him, it’s going to cost a ton. But that’s what we heard about Noah Dobson, too. You can see Montreal is one of the teams here reportedly linked with all this coming out recently about McTavis. Jesse, I know we we keep talking about this, right? Nothing has actually moved on this front recently, but like where there’s smoke, there’s fire. And we’ve we’ve often said that, including when I’ve messed it up multiple times on this channel, like I feel like him being on the trade board, Montreal being one of these teams reportedly linked, mock trades coming out from Anaheim sources, from Montreal sources, from general NHL pages talking about McTavish to Montreal. Yeah, he’s linked to other teams. Other teams are talking to him, but like doesn’t it just feel like if this move could ever be done, it would it would be Montreal. It just it almost feels too perfect with everything going on. Like I feel like if I see McASH is traded, I’d almost be surprised if it wasn’t Montreal at this point. Absolutely. Because this is Kent Hughes’s number one option. You have to feel that. And the reason that maybe this 2C situation is taking a little bit longer is because he’s waiting to see how this shakes out. like this is his first option and he doesn’t want to potentially make another move until he knows that a Mason McDavish deal can’t happen at all to the Canadians because I don’t think K Hughes is wrong and maybe feeling like why is this situation taking a little bit long like we wouldn’t do this in Montreal we got young players we like to get well ahead of the game getting signed up to deals that they feel comfortable with going forward but there’s kind of a situation that’s taking a little bit longer um there’s the additions of Granlin as well as Krider I don’t want to say there’s maybe issues isues with issues like with the head coach in there, but there has been some talk in the past, maybe some possible shade thrown at McTavish where he said like, oh, he’s kind of more of like a third line type of guy. And I don’t know if that’s maybe what’s creating just a little bit of bad blood. We know with Pat Verbique, that can always be a little bit of an interesting person to to negotiate as well here. So again, like Kent Hughes is going to keep looking until, you know, he feels like this situation is completely at rest because again, like this is his number one option for on Haps Digest. Our fans, we voted who’s like ideally, you know, that kind of makes sense. Who would you be going for? That’s their number one option. So I feel like this situation like whether he signs, you know, moves elsewhere, we’ll probably see Kent take a move kind of in turn very shortly there afterwards. But I feel like he’s he’s gunned for this one. Of course, we’re not going to see him overpay, but I think with the prospects and some of the valuable players that we have that probably because of just the amazing evolution of the team are the best spots. We’re going to get into that a little bit more on the defensive core. Like Josh, I I feel like we have like a something of value really to offer in terms of active players, in terms of picks, and then prospects. And I’m okay. I don’t know about you. I don’t know about our fans. I’d love to cure like I’m okay with a combination of all three of those to get Mason McTavish. Yeah. I mean, it depends what they’re asking for, of course, but like I am always open to some kind of combo like that. And again, with just the amount of like pure skill we’ve added to this team like that we know are NHL level players, it’s like again we talk about how often that like that affects our prospect pool. Now, can we just ship off like a bunch of our second tier prospects for their like top young guy? Maybe, maybe not. But like you never really know. Again, if there’s something behind the scenes going on, it could make it very possible. And and that’s why like I’m down for it too. Like this is the kind of move Jesse we’ve been talking about. Like we thought when we heard damn we might trade for Noah Dobson. All right. This is the trade where we give up a lot. Yeah. It turns out it was Heinman in two first like yeah we we dipped into it but not as much as I thought. Got Zack Buluke. Yeah we traded Logan Mayu who’s a fantastic prospect but you know still didn’t dip into it. We still have so much left. So it’s really interesting especially seeing how much those guys went for how much he could cost but want to thank Simone Deja for reuppening his membership to 11 months. Simone been around for so long. Such a huge supporter of the channel. Thank you, Simone. It’s always great to chat with you in our group chat as well. McTav and Crosby are wet dreams for sure. Well, you know what? Yeah, couldn’t have said it better myself. It absolutely is true. Like these kind of guys like can you imagine getting Sydney Crosby on a discount after this this year? I mean, who knows, right? But McDavish, too. I mean, thank you, Simone. But like, yeah, absolutely, Jesse. I mean, Crosby, McDavage, different ends of the age spectrum, different ends of like how long their contracts would be, but both I think would provide a similar level of impact whether short-term or long-term to Montreal. And again, like the craziest thing is like this is not just us. Maybe it’s some hopeium, but a lot of it is like genuinely, yeah, I mean, we can offer them that and now we are truly a destination. Just look at what was going on at Nick Suzuki’s wedding. I mean, everyone seemed to be having an absolutely amazing time. So, like we are we are here and we’re fighting for every single name in the NHL, Jesse, and I think they want to play for us. It would honestly it would be such a tremendous fit and I would feel comfortable if like we were to add Mason McTavish then at that point I would feel comfortable saying like the rebuild is over and for sure that’s a whole new set of expectations like and now this is a team knowing like they have to make the playoffs next year. I think Kent is okay with that. He’s okay with the implications of like adding a player to this team and what that would really mean. But again having that one two punch just down the center for years to go. player, you know, with McTavic, who I feel is kind of like a playoff type of guy as well. I think is the somebody that you want to win with. That being said, like the Ducks, they do still, you know, need a little bit more offense. They added a couple guys in, you know, as we mentioned earlier in the offseason, but they still they still need a player like this. For me, that’s just why it’s like just so interesting why he’s taken so long to get signed. Josh, more than anything else, it’s just a like kind of a reminder of why I’m so appreciative of the culture of the Halves. And as a result, like what amazing fans we have just because this situation wouldn’t really I just don’t see it going down into the dog days of summer like this and leaving one of your stars just kind of like we don’t in limbo, not quite knowing what’s going on. It just doesn’t feel like has that best effect on the rest of the team. It just really goes to show again a young team coming up, a lot of great prospects. here’s what Montreal is still doing right and here’s what some other teams like the Ducks are potentially doing in my opinion you know just the optics of the situation for me that gives me even greater hope in the future of what the Montreal Canadians are building and that it’s truly special. Yeah. And again, like we see all these guys like not only from a management perspective, but how much these guys care for each other, right? We saw the stuff from Suzuki’s wedding. I’ll just keep bringing up this picture of Line A because it’s just so fantastic. It’s absolutely Hold on. We can move it around, too. Look, there we go. There he is. But yeah, Patrick L doing that. And even the the buyers were here in St. John’s yesterday. A bunch of them. Alex New Hook, Jaden Stubble, Arab Jackie, Michael Bazetta, Jakob Dovish, I think was I didn’t see him. I was I think I saw you on that boat, John. Wasn’t on that boat? I was hiding. Yeah, they asked me not to be in the picture. They were like, you know, it’s just them. But no, a few a few of the few of the sailors down there in Kitty Vitty, but like I’m down in Kitty Viddy all the time. I should have gone to see them. But uh I I didn’t know they were here until a bit too late. That would have been pretty cool. But uh but yeah, unbelievable stuff. And hey, Joseph Donovan says, “Let’s go smash that like for Jesse and Josh.” Thank you so much, Joseph. Really, really appreciate that. Hey, why not? We got 200 people in here. Let’s try and get that those likes up. We love to hit 100 likes. That’s what we love. Henry Wong YT. Henry, longtime viewer, always shouting out the YYT St. John’s, baby. That’s right. I just drove out to the airport today. I had to drop someone off. But there you go. Oh, good old YT. But you know what, Jesse, this is the big part of the stream here. We’re looking towards the future. And we did lock someone up in Jaden Stubel. And we will get to that in a bit. But again, there’s a lot of serious questions that are now raised with Montreal. We talk about how much these guys really like each other. They’re doing stuff for each other. How management is doing great. And there’s just one guy that that just keeps coming to the forefront of everyone’s minds, and that’s Lane Hudson. Because especially now that the lane train I mean we know how good he is and we know how much money he could get. There’s a lot of projections here like you can see Scosia stat has him at eight years about 11 million. I think that sounds about right but now with like the Noah Dobson at 9.5 Strup’s contract coming in at less than we expected with all these other guys making maybe a little less than we expected. Excuse me. Like Lane Hudson is the next big piece of business to get done. either that or a two seed trade, but it’s hard to say which is going to come first because Hudson could extend this off seasonason and just be like, “Yeah, why not?” Like, “Let’s just get it done, get it out of the way, just like some people do.” Or he could say, “Look, I was a Norris caliber defenseman last year. Let me prove it again this year and get a bigger paycheck.” Um, Jesse, do you see the Jaden Strubal contract having much of an effect on Hudson? I don’t necessarily think it does, but I just want to remind people again how good they were together. I think we’ll revisit this in a bit, but like Hudson’s Drug by far, not even close, by far the best expected goals percentage of any Habsd pairing this year. Like when I say not close, not close. There was one other pairing above 50% and that was Gouly carry at 50.6. Hudson Strugle 60.7. Hudson’s other partners, Mat and Gouie, not nearly there. So anyway, when we talk about Lane Hudson, I don’t think Strugel is going to have a strangle hold on Hudson’s contract cuz he’s just so good. But you got to think, Jesse, something’s coming with this. And I just wonder how high Montreal is going to end up going. Yeah, definitely. No, no disrespect to Strugle. It might be a little more factoring that he tied the record for most assists by a defenseman rookie in the NHLC. The Calder, you know, that’s probably factoring like all this just lead to like Lane Hudson getting paid. So, in my like, you know, if you’re, you know, in the Habs brats right now, like you want to be in Kuw’s ear, like sign this guy up as soon as possible, hopefully sub 10 and as and as long as possible really here going forward. Um, again, given the ages here, um, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was trying to get a little bit more than Dobson, uh, given where he projects. That being said, it’s like I think just that younger age, there there’s very much a world where we can get him around that 9.5 mark here going forward. Um, you know, again, you know, it’s like he’s really a guy for me that I really see coming into his own. And, you know, like Doan, it’s like Dobson rather, I see like that 9.5 million really make a lot of sense. I just hope we don’t go into the Dalin type numbers at 11 million uh really going forward here at this point. But, uh, no, I just think doing like, you know, seeing how he’s played on the ice, you definitely want to lock this guy up as soon as possible. Yeah, for sure. Like that was 13% of the cap when he signed. And look, I do think Dalin is like on any given I think if he wasn’t in Buffalo, people would see him as a better player than you know than they do now. But like still it’s like you know that 11.5% of the cap like that’s actually that would be closer to 12 million. If we’re talking Dene percentage, we’re talking near 13, which I think you’re right like I don’t want to get to that cap percentage as much as Lane Hudson might have that kind of impact. And again like you know it’s not just that I think too it’s not just the the assist numbers that run in Lane Hudson’s favor. And I know I mentioned Strugel here, but Strugle has a very specific style of play, right? And so I think what this shows me is like we now know what kind of Hudson’s ideal, at least based off this small sample. I got to keep saying this is a small sample. It’s 322 minutes. Like this is not a multi-year sample or anything. It’s just one year of Hudson Strug. But a defenseman that plays a similar calm, safer game like Jaden Strug, it works very well with Lane Hudson. And you can see, right? So it’s not Strugel himself necessarily, it’s like someone like him. And I think that just goes to show how good of an impact not only offensively could he have but even he could be on a good defensive pairing because I want to remind you that again Hudson Stubble this is hard to see. I apologize but if you look at expected goals against they gave up the fewest of any deep pairing on Montreal that played at least 150 minutes. They also gave up the fewest expected goals against per 60. Lane Hudson was on the best defensive pairing and best offensive pairing of the season. So again there’s that defensive upside with him too. But right now, I’m going to run a poll in chat and because I’m really curious where people think he’s going to come in because again, we’re seeing these team friendly deals, not just in Montreal. We’re seeing some around the league. Like the Jackson Blake one in Carolina. I don’t know if you could consider that team friendly. It’s a bit risky by Carolina, but also, you know, he could have gotten more if he just waited like a year, maybe even six months. So, it’s like there’s some really interesting stuff going on. Let’s just see what this is going to come in at. How much will Lane Hudson’s next contract be? And you know what? I’m not even going to put like assume eight years whatever because like you know it could be a bridge deal. I think we just assume long term and Jesse maybe I’ll throw it to you like again I think we want him sub 10. I think we’re going to come in somewhere between 10 and 11. I think 10.5 fits well him and Dobson 20 mil combined. I think that’s where we settle. It’s less than the projection. It’s like closer in line with someone like a Marinsky Fox and less than that Dalene percentage. I I think I’m I’m okay with that. If we start pushing 11.512, I start to worry, but I think if he gets that much, he will have shown that he is maybe somehow even better this year before Montreal’s willing to to shell that out, you know. Yeah, I’d love somewhere between a 9.5 to a 10. I’m still kind of holding out hope for that. I just feel like Lane Hudson is a, you know, kind of a uh team first type of guy. I know sometimes that sometimes parents can actually play a little bit of a factor in all this. We know he comes from a big hockey family. He’s kind of one of the earliest of that generation from him there. So really determined to see how that kind of factors out. But again getting to the point of like who’s the ideal defenseman like to go along with Hudson like I just feel the fact that like he is going to get paid at that 9.5 you know to maybe 10.5 type of range fairly quite easily is that like for me guys like Matson now like those type of contracts now we need to be much more efficient with that. Like if we’re giving Hudson a contract as soon as the summer, you know, obviously that’s not kicking in right away, but we really need to be efficient with those third pairing going forward just cuz the cap’s going up, you know, K can Hughes isn’t going to be a position to just kind of be throwing money around uh to willy-nilly because we see that like Strugle, a guy that plays a really simple, straightforward, effective game is really the best type of guy to go with a Lane Hudson who is on like your first pairing. Like Lane Hudson is the first pairing defenseman for the Montreal Canadians. For me, I have him pegged in with Kerier um on that first pairing. I think that for me that makes the most sense given Hudson’s style of play and given who we have. And then I have Ghoulie at Dobson like in my as I have it right now like Matson is a third pairing. Um and then we’re going to get into this even more in just a second. Then battle like Struga and that’s just again tip of the iceberg on on all that kind of going forward here. So again, I just don’t feel like if we’re giving out Hudson like he absolutely deserves it, but again that’s going to be a lot to play. Matson on on a third pair and giving who we know probably would work best with Hudson on that first pair. Yeah, I you know what I think that’s actually a really good really good guess. Like a carrier makes sense with Hudson because I think we’ve all kind of just assumed Julie Dobson makes so much sense it almost hurts. It’s like like I just I cannot wait to see that, right? Like two mobile guys, one a little more offensive oriented, one a little more defensive oriented, but both can show flashes at both ends. Like it just makes sense to be that minute eating pair while Lane Hudson mans your PP1 and can also just go out there and dominate the game every single time he’s out there. Like it just makes sense. The guy like Carrie who’s a bit of a safer guy who’s also mobile who controls the game very well and very rarely makes mistakes is the perfect compliment. Is it a bit of a smaller pairing? Sure. But you also have a massive pairing right behind them with like 63 64 Gulie and Dobson. So it’s like really interesting. And I know we’ll get into the third pairing in just a second because look, if if Strual worked well with Hudson, I think he could work well with a Mat type player as well, but we’re going to end the poll right here because put up a poll. Are we saying so I don’t think anyone would vote for less than 9.5 though. 26% actually voted less than 9.5 million. Uh unless that was interpreted as greater than 9.5, but it anyway it is less than 9.5. 26% 26% of people think that he’s going to make less than no adoption. That’s kind of crazy. But the 66% Jesse, the the overwhelming majority here said between 9.5 and 10.5. And I think that’s that’s about right. And no one said greater than 11.5. Sorry, I put less than 11.5 million. That one was my fault. I botched it. I messed up the the 11.5 mil. The first one, the 9.5 was right. The 11.5 wasn’t. Regardless, the overwhelming majority between 9.5 and 10.5. And I think I’d be happy with that. And I want to take a look through the chat here about people talking about this because no, we got lane train emojis. That’s right. To joker, come on guys, hit like. This is the best abs. Well, thank you so much. Hey, we’re getting close to 100 likes. Thank you guys for tuning in. Um, let’s if if Hugo can sign him under 10 million or even like Dobson, you take that and run. Absolutely. And Mark or saying Ryan Bucker plays great D and is a better skater than Stubel. Even if it is not this season, he is Hudson’s long-term partner. Sly Rider saying totally agree. And the joke is saying Hudson deserves over 10. Will probably get just under that. Wishful. He signs a team friendly deal at 8.5. A guy can dream. Hey, you never know. But I tend to agree also with Mark Jesse that like Ryan Bucker is kind of that guy that seems to project as the longer term fit for Lane Hudson, but things aren’t certain. You we still don’t really know what Ryan Bucker is going to look like at the next level because the guy has only played a total of 34 games in North America including the playoffs since coming over at the end of the 23 24 season. So I tend to agree there. But right now in the short term, I mean, you know, Strugel or even a Carry, like we didn’t really see much of Hudson Kerier. I the thing is we’re spoiled with choices for Hudson. I think he can work with almost any of them. That’s really the next wave though. And look at what an amazing top four that is. And I think like whether Hudson could end up pairing with Rybuck or even potentially Dobson, I’d say like optically right off the bat because Ryan Bucker leans a little bit more to being a more all-around guy than Dobson. I’d say yes. Like Hobson, you know, Hudson, Ryan Bacher, absolutely. and then Ghoulie Dobson like that is a beautiful top four to really build around your team. I think a lot of the forwards on the Montreal Canadians will be really happy and that might be a really great way of attracting again some some great free agent targets um in terms of forwards there because they know they’re going to be getting some first great you know first passes from this decor going forward and really setting them up in pace. Um, so yeah, it’s amazing how this is is really kind of shaking up and again like Ryan Bucker’s going to start making some waves. like there’s a world where he comes in, there’s an injury and again even with like the stack decor as it is like we’re talking about Strugel you know signing but again he he’s in the gym putting his work because he knows how precarious this whole situation is cuz I mean there’s a way that Ryan Bacher gets in the lineup this year and he just and they get to the playoffs and he just doesn’t give it up and Ry Bunker is just in our starting lineup going into the playoffs. Even part of me Josh like I hate to say like I would I I would potentially really like that and again we don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves with Ron Bacher. We want to develop at the right time but if like he’s showing and he’s ready even that spot that Stubble just kind of signed for that that could be up in the air very soon as well. Yeah it’s really interesting because yeah we got to get into this triple stuff now because I mean this is the biggest question. This is the the serious question that we’re referring to when we’re looking at this this stream here. It’s like what do you do uh in the decor? Well, it’s not about what Montreal does. They’ve already taken care of that thankfully. It’s about what do these guys do, right? We’ve signed the guys. Now, it’s up to them to figure out where to play. And again, like the contracts of Jackie and Strubal are both and Rhybacker, I guess, are all small enough that you can bury them in the AHL if you need to. And when I say bury, it’s not like negative connot. Well, maybe some of it, but it’s not to bury them in the system. It’s more just like if you send them down to the AHL, their contract would get eaten up by the AHL and not count against Montreal’s cap. At least most of it. And I think almost all of both of their contracts and you can go up to like 1.2 or something million that can you can bury. But regardless and there’s waiverss too. I think they’re both still waiver exempt, but I’m actually not totally sure. That’s something probably should check. But regardless, like we’re talking Ryan Bucker, right? And there’s no doubt that this guy is a long-term fit for Montreal. We drafted him fifth overall. We got to see a full season of development, but all signs are pointing to this guy being an unbelievable two-way puck moving defenseman that is at least going to be a nice second pairing guy. Is he going to be that long-term first pairing anchor right-handed? Maybe. But even if he’s not, we have no adoption. So like there there’s less pressure almost now on on Rybacher at least for the next eight years to to be that guy. But to be that solid presence is exactly what we want out of him. But Jesse, when it comes down to this training camp, like I love this deal. I still wonder how it went to arbitration. You know, we were talking probably term like maybe Montreal’s camp wanted one year and Strug’s camp wanted two or three and then they eventually settled at two years and basically Jack eyes contract which is good again for the advanced metrics is good but it just like I wonder how do you weigh the impact that Strubal had in the minutes that he played cuz really the only defenseman that he played over 150 minutes with was Hudson last year. He didn’t have like he hardly had any kind of sample size with other partners which we don’t really know how he’s going to work as well with those other partners and like his point production’s fine similar to Arbor Jackkeye. How do you value then the the advanced analytics that paint Strug as a really really solid guy in the physical play versus Arbor Jack I guess not really even really intangibles but the physicality and that turning point he brought to that playoff series because it’s really going to come down to those two things. They’re similar roles but not the same. They play better with different styles. like Strubal would be a better partner for Mat in my mind than Jackey, but I have a hard time saying Jack Eye should be out of the lineup. And then we still don’t even know what Ry Bucker is going to be doing. I feel like I’m doing loops in my head, man. Like it’s it’s it’s a crazy situation right now. Yeah. Again, there’s lots of things to like in both Jackie and Stubble’s game. Again, for me, that again like necessitates a Matson trade here. Not because he’s not a good defenseman, but just because of the fit here. Because Matson, even though I’m not his biggest fan, I don’t think he’s a third pairing defenseman. like I think he could be very well served as a second pairing defenseman somewhere in the national hockey. It’s better for him. It’s better for the team that he’s on and for the value again and the the money going out going forward because as I’m looking at it right now on like that third pair like I see four guys battling for one job. I see obviously strug guy but again there’s also Rybacher is going to be ready to go soon too and like Angstrom as well like we need to talk about this guy. It’s a two-way guy. He’s got a lot of value. other teams around the league are going to see it. We’re going to need to start getting giving him his reps like he deserves. So again, like a Matson trade really frees up those maybe third pairing type. We’re like, okay, Jack and Stubble can kind of hold it down. There’s an injury. Makes it a little bit more manageable with kind of, you know, Ryan Bcker andor kind of an anking coming up for me at that point. But again, it’s just too much of a bottleneck at that really that specific position. again would be amazing if we can again package Matson as part of this 2C combination. But for me, it just frees up so many things going forward. There’s lots of things I like from Strugle and Jackie um you know both in the here, but as it’s looking for me, they’re going to have to be battling it out when really these are two players that deserve to really be in the NHL, let alone you know, a David Rybacker who’s going to come knocking, you know, sooner than later. Yeah, absolutely. Like and I and I tend to agree with you because again like it’s not just if Mat was signed for like 5 years I think this would be a lot more complicated but like he’s an expiring deal. Like part of me still wonders like for all that we hear about how Montreal like really really likes him. The guy’s a minute eater. Jeff Gorton was nothing but complimentary about Mike Mat like there there might still be nights where maybe Mat plays more than Ghoulie or something right? Like I don’t think that’s crazy. That happened a lot this past year. I would I like to see it. I mean look I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see how the season shakes out. Odds are no, I wouldn’t want to see that. And I think you’re absolutely right. Like, yeah, Gou’ be better suited for a third pairing, but come on, he’s not a third pairing defenseman. Like, we know he’s not. He hasn’t been since the day he stepped foot in the NHL. The guy barely makes mistakes and he has great offensive upside. Fantastic skater. So, it’s like we have five defenseman that all on on a lot of teams could play first pairing style minutes, could play 22 minutes a night. Like Lane Hudson has played 22 minutes a night. He played almost 23 this past year. Noah Dobson is a minute eater as well. Kaden Goulie has played over 20 minutes, especially when there’s an injury. The guy is a workhorse. He can be out there for 25 if you need him. Mike Mat, he’s done it almost every night this past year. Alex Kerier, when he was paired with Mat on certain nights, he was out there logging over 20 minutes. He was playing some PK. And so then it’s like, you know, you have all of these guys who were so versatile, you only have so many minutes to go around. And I think you’re absolutely right in the sense, Jesse, like you you can’t just you can’t just have all these guys like you start to, you know, try and play maybe Mat 17 18 minutes a night, but then he’s not as effective because like he’s not going to get many great opportunities. Then again, maybe a Mat that’s going up out against third pairing defenseman on the other team is just going to stick handle around them like he did in that Devils game like which goes end to end like something crazy. But I feel like it’s just it’s not the best role for him. And again, like Strupal Jackkey are those more prototypical third pairing guys. And Strupal Jackkey is a pair I would hate to go up against in the playoffs. If I’m another team, I would hate that more than maybe the offensive threat of a Mike Mat on a fourth pairing because again or third pairing because then he’d be out there probably not with your first line. So there’s question marks around that. But before we continue on this because there’s a lot of chats about this, I wanted to say shout out to Ifman for becoming a channel member. There’s so much conversation we’re having. Almost let it slip, but ifman, thank you so much for becoming a channel member. Love the support. Joseph saying, “Welcome. What’s up?” says DeJoka. Eric saying, “More excited about Adam Angstrom these days.” And Mark saying he completely agrees. He’ll be stealing a spot at camp in my book. The Joker replying Angstrom is kind of a dark horse. He could be a camp surprise, but it’ probably force you to move players. And Infman saying, “Hit the like button.” Oh, thank you so much, Infman. 250 people. We’re 20 likes away from 100. Thank you so much for being here. Let’s hit that like button. You know how much we love it. It’s one click and it helps us more than you can know. Seriously, one click actually helps us a lot. So, thank you so much for watching. And you know, there’s a lot more comments. I wish I could get into all of these, but uh you know, when we get into Adam Angstrom, Jesse, I don’t have any fun graphics for Adam Angstrom. So, instead, we’re just going to watch Kent Hughes and Jaden Strubal highlights. Uh and then maybe some LJ Mooney. But again, I think like this just sheds light on the defense situation. Angstrom looked so good. He was Laval’s best defenseman in a couple of those playoff games, especially versus Rochester. He’s more of an offensive guy, but has good defensive upside, smooth skater, and I think forcing management into decisions is maybe the best thing we could have at this point, Jesse. This rebuild is almost at the end. Like, you have assets that you could move. We’re still at a point where we don’t really know how they will fit long term. Another year of development is very important. As this year starts to progress, I think those answers will start to become a lot more evident, whether in training camp or a month or two into the season as to, okay, I feel comfortable moving on from this guy because this guy’s doing better. This guy on our team is is actually doing better than we thought already, like Kirby Doc or something. So maybe we don’t need to do X. And I think right now over the next, I would say like into September, into October, we’re going to start to see a lot of answers that I think will facilitate a lot and necessitate a lot of movement on this team. Yeah. Speaking of necessitation, like really it just shows like the logic and the genius behind the Mayu trade. It’s again like we already have like we have a log at D without the Mayu trade right now, especially with Angstrom coming up like and you have to feel like this is going to need to be dealt with shortly. Like it’s great that Stubble signed. I’m happy he plays simple two-way effective game and you can kind of play especially when you got a lot of offensive guys around. It’s amazing to have a guy like Strugle because you know what he’s going to do and it’s nice having that predictability on the ice to kind of counterbalance that unpredictability that of course you’d get from a Hudson from Adoptson etc. uh here going forward. So I think it is great but there is guys like um Angstrom like we’re right to talk about him in this situation like we’re not getting too ahead of ourselves like we’ve seen him you’ve seen him as well like this guy is looking like a pro already like not the skating there which we know in today’s modern you know NHL especially for defenseman is so important but like he he looks like a pro. He’s got so much poise out there just his decision making uh with the puck is just tremendous. He’s also creative, right? I think he’s not only a guy that could really make the NHL, but again, you know, probably surprise some guys again. Again, another offensive guy adding to already our stable, a very offensive-minded defenseman. Again, I don’t want to kick a dead horse. It’s probably necessity even further what we need to do of kind of moves to kind of make room, I think, for that those next wave because like Angstrom is a guy that I’m really excited about here going forward and I think that a lot of Haps fans have a reason to be excited about him as well. Yeah, I I completely agree. And like, you know, I love that because first of all, it shows how well educated as always our fans are and Habs fans in general are to know that like our AHL defenseman that has not played one second in the NHL is a legit dark horse to make the team. Like that’s incredible that we’re talking about this anyway. But again, his performance for Laval this year, I mean, we highlighted him a lot, too, because like we don’t even need to highlight him. Like that that preseason last year, like him and like Tyler Thorp, like some of these guys were like, “Wow.” Like there there’s something really interesting here. I’m still interested in Tyler Thorp. I don’t think he’s an NHL guy this year. But he’ll get a full year in Laval, which is which is nice. They do 6’5 unicorn. That’s what they call him because he has a good shot and he’s big. Whatever. Can’t have too many of them. But yeah, really, really interesting stuff there. Um, so put both on the left and right wing with real checking line. Mark Or saying, “We need Arbor to be our new David Seart. A calming solid Dman who blocks shots and only fights from when Rick Why you’re I don’t remember the last time David Seart fought. I mean, he gets in scrums. I don’t know. I I don’t remember the last time you dropped the mitts, but I mean, what do you think of that take, Jesse, when we’re talking about Arbor? Because again, I think like it’s about carving out that niche for yourself because, you know, that solid, steady, big, physical guy that can drop the mits is never going to go by the wayside, especially if you can hold your own in terms of like not making that many mistakes on the ice. Like Arbor did a lot better job this year. It’s hard to take him out of the lineup because of just, you know, that that extra factor he has. But you also need to have these guys who are, you know, solid players like Jaden Strub who again doesn’t really make that many mistakes. He’s a bit smaller but maybe a bit more offensive upside. I think it’s about these guys almost carving out the roles, right? Because like not everyone can be a star. It’s about fit on that bottom pairing. What do you think about Jackey maybe focusing on a more defensive role? You think that’s something he could do? Because I am never putting anything past a Jackeye brother to to do and evolve. You know, nobody has yet fully claimed that spot here going forward and that’s going to be something interesting. Again, there’s kind of a prototype and archetype that David Seavard filled out and that is important and I’ve mentioned it in the past. I felt like Jackie again, you know, has a good chance to fill in that role because Strub’s like he play he lays them big fits, but he doesn’t get in the scrums too much. In my opinion, you need a guy that’s actually okay in the scrums and actually protecting front of your net. Like the teams that do the best in the NHL, in the playoffs, think of Florida, like their gamesmanship is through the roof. They’re trying to get in the other goalie’s kitchen. and they’re trying to get in front of the net and you need guys that can handle that and again it seems like it’s one of the most underrated part of the games in term of chemistry and just kind of asserting yourself on the ice and again like that’s why Jack eye is with the Montreal Canadians with all the competition we have if he didn’t have that element there he would not be here so he absolutely needs to lean into that going forward he’s done such a better job of knowing again to be that enforcer and that’s a much needed role but not going over the top in terms of taking too any penalties. Um, that being said, I think that the Habs will have some different options, but like ideally when the Habs are getting in the playoffs, Jack Eye is on that pairing and he’s now secured that spot, but we know the tons of competition again that are going to be there. And that’s what’s going to be interesting to follow this year is if he can do that. But I think he could really help the Habs in that way because you need that physical guy that’s willing to drop the gouves. And I think, you know, kind of that intimidation factor with with the other team, I think is huge. I don’t see another player for me on the Habs like Caven Ghoulie as well has that element. He’s got a little bit of dog to his game as well, but again, not to that extent as Jacka. That’s why I want to see him succeed because I think that’s a much needed role and I would just love to see him take ownership of that spot. Yeah. Like it’s it’s a needed thing sometimes to know like your teammate gets hit big, Arbor Jacka is coming for you. Like it matters. like and there’s a difference between someone who like like you know like a Ryan Reeves and I don’t mean to like crap on Ryan Reeves like he’s obviously he’s a pro hockey player but like a lot of the time when he was on the ice it was a bit of a negative for his team not always but a lot of the time whereas Arbor Jack guy like it’s not really at this point or is his Vance metrics that great or is his production that great? No, but he’s he’s not like a huge negative asset. So having that guy that can do that is very important. Like you said have that dog in you. Like Stubble can do it a bit. Goully can do it a bit. our forward core. Like I’m hoping Buluke can do it a bit because there’s like there’s not that many guys like Josh Anderson I know can do it. Gallagher can get into it. He’s probably not gonna punch you in the face too too many times, but like having that jackeye factor just matters so much. So anyway, it’s a very good point. Um but yeah, and Joseph Donovan saying teams already wanted Arbor and Kent said no. I remember that. Remember teams were reportedly offering a first form and Kent said no. So it’s very very interesting. But like look, Jesse, regardless, there’s a lot of serious questions here for the Habs Decor and I’m excited to cover it all. like this is just one of the steps and people are talking about LA in chat. I kind of want to bring him back. Um, you know what? Any quick thoughts on that before we close out the stream? Just any quick thoughts on on bringing L back? I’m seeing some people say, “Hey, little fouryear, $5 million deal.” I think I don’t know. I I think I I I don’t want to sign him anything until we see it this season. But it really seems like he loves being here at the very least. And he seems like a fun guy. His teammates like him. He likes his teammates. Again, I’m definitely not opposed to it at this point. I’m not part of the group that’s saying trade him. I think a lot of people are maybe a bit harsh on a bit of an injury riddled season, but I I I think look, if he shows that he’s even capable of putting up like 2530 goals still this year, we’ve been star for goal scoring for so long, I’m absolutely open to bringing him back. What do you think? Yeah, he’s going to have to prove it this year, but if he proves it, then we’ll definitely go from there. All right. Well, I think that’s going to do it, everyone. Thank you so much for tuning in. We’re two likes away from 100, by the way. So if you want to be the 100th light, you got to click like right now if you want to have that awesome honor. But thank you so much everyone. I’m going to read through one last final thing to joke a puck dangly skill or oh I was talking about the past Slavovsky thing. I’m hoping it was just some slowback check banter and nothing more than that. But uh regardless Slavovski always talked about how he needed to be better and yeah Pastasternack one time stole Slavsky stick going to the bench and didn’t let his team take it back. So anyway, that is what it is. Over aundred likes. Thank you guys so much. Jesse, any final words on this Monday Jaden Strubal signing day? Thank you so much for the support. Obviously, we’re kind of the clock’s ticking close to August. We’re getting that much closer to training camps open. Like, it’s getting here before you know it. And obviously, it’s so much fun just having you there with us every step of the ride. There’s just so much to be excited about in Montreal. So, we appreciate you guys getting, you know, showing that support for this team early on. We know there’s going to be a lot of begging, you know, a lot of people jumping on the bandwagon in the future. We’re always going to remember those real ones right there from the beginning. Really supporting this team when they need it the most. So really appreciate your support. Really appreciate everyone. Thanks Josh and Jesse says the joke. You guys are the best. No, you’re the best. You guys are the best for making this possible. Also our Rocket Rashard tier channel members. Don’t forget our Zoom call this Thursday 6:15 p.m. Eastern as well. So it’s going to be a fun one. But that’ll do it for this live episode of Habs Digest. Thank you. Thank you for being here, Mark. Keep the show. Keep the faith and go Habs go AI generated message. Ah, that’s all right. It doesn’t matter. Keep the faith. I like it. If you enjoyed, leave a like on the stream, but more importantly, subscribe to the channel. We’re pushing for that 25K mark. It’s a bit far away, but you guys are helping us get closer every single day, and we really, really appreciate you. I’m Josh Gos, my cohost Jesse Pier. Catch youall in the next one.

Canadiens Add New 2nd-Line Center in Unique Trade Pitch

https://www.thefourthperiod.com/summer-trade-watch-list-2025

0:00 Montreal Canadiens News

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Enjoy July 28 edition of Montreal Canadiens News or Habs News today!

Josh Gosse and Jesse Poirier go LIVE to chat about the Habs moves coming as we have some talk on LJ Mooney, Lane Hutson, Mason McTavish, and Jayden Struble.

Josh Gosse and Jesse Poirier break down the latest Montreal Canadiens news involving Arber Xhekaj, Kaiden Guhle, Sean Monahan, Edmonton Oilers, Juraj Slafkovsky, Josh Anderson, Alex Burrows, Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, Kirby Dach, Joel Edmundson, David Savard, Habs Defencemen, Kent Hughes, Martin St Louis, Jake Allen, Sam Montembeault, Cayden Primeau, Kaiden Guhle, Arber Xhekaj, Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, Owen Beck, Filip Mesar, Jayden Struble, Adam Engstrom, Luke Tuch, Sean Farrell, and Lane Hutson,Timo Meier trade,gurianov trade.

Josh Gosse et Jesse Poirier analysent les dernières nouvelles des Canadiens de Montreal concernant Shane Wright, Jesse Puljujarvi, Eeli Tolvanen, Arber Xhekaj, Kaiden Guhle, Sean Monahan, Edmonton Oilers, Juraj Slafkovsky, Josh Anderson, Alex Burrows, Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, Kirby Dach, Joel Edmundson, David Savard, Habs Defencemen, Kent Hughes, Martin St Louis, Jake Allen, Sam Montembeault, Cayden Primeau, Kaiden Guhle, Arber Xhekaj, Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, Owen Beck, Filip Mesar, Jayden Struble, Adam Engstrom, Luke Tuch, Sean Farrell, et Lane Hutson,dadonov trade,dadonov gurianov,gurianov trade.Join the Digest Media Discord!: https://discord.gg/MeVay9egPx#nhldraft #nhl