CH Summer 2025: It’s going to be hot in Montreal

The big question for Hughes and Gorton over the next few weeks would then be this: with their team having qualified for the playoffs against all odds, and slightly ahead of schedule in their rebuilding plan, will the use value of these mid-first-round picks exceed their trade value?

In other words, will they want to use these picks to improve their team next fall?

Could the “window” actually open as early as 2025-2026?

On average, such picks, if they reach the NHL, have no significant impact on the line-up for 3-4 years.

The current core members should all still be in place by then, and there’s a lot to be said for always having good prospects in the “pipeline”, to use a buzzword.

Among other things, you always end up saving money by doing so, and you also ensure that the organizational culture is well transmitted.

So, provided you’re patient, choose the right players (Radim Mrtka? Kashawn Aitcheson? Carter Bear? Justin Carbonneau?) and develop them well, the value in using two mid-first-round picks to become solid impact players a la Kaiden Guhle is far from nil.

Young impact players aged 21-22 don’t fall from the sky and are worth their weight in a salary-cap league.

But if we keep these selections and let them macerate for all that time, will we have needlessly “lost” 3-4 good years of Suzuki and Caufield?

Although Demidov probably won’t reach his peak during this period, players with “elite” talent are generally productive very early in their careers. We can also already see that the Russian will quickly need help around him to continue his development in the best possible conditions.

As for the rest, Slafkovsky will already be in his fourth season, as will Guhle.

Then, if Reinbacher’s knee holds up, at 22 years of age, everything points to him being an important player for the CH as early as next fall – he could even be in the playoffs right now, if you ask me – as he’ll already have a few years of pro experience under his belt.

But if doubts persist about his health, we may have to be open to trading him…

The Tricolore’s “window of opportunity” could open as early as 2025-2026, if the team is prepared to trade its mid-first-round picks, or at least one of them, in return for at least one established impact player.

We already know that several “prospects” as well as second-round picks could also be part of such important transactions.

Mailloux, Struble and Xhekaj on the market?

These are names we’re likely to hear a lot about in the coming weeks.

To these three defensemen, you can also add all the Rocket players not named Florian Xhekaj and Jacob Fowler, as well as several other prospects. Maybe even Michael Hage, who knows..

But let’s focus on our three boys for now.

Don’t count me in the camp of those who believe the Tricolore has given up on Arber Xhekaj. But don’t count me among those who believe and shouted on the open lines that his withdrawal from the line-up for the first two games of the series against the Capitals was an aberration!

Xhekaj didn’t play because Jayden Struble was simply superior to him in the final stretch of the season. He had contributed more to the team’s success, mainly by getting his team into trouble less often, by being more reliable and predictable in his performances, and by being able to punish opponents with his checking.

Struble was an excellent replacement for Kaiden Guhle on Hutson’s left for around 15 games..

That said, the intangibles he brings to the table and Xhekaj’s long-term NHL potential remain of great interest to the CH as much as to any NHL team.

The same could almost be said of Struble, barely older than his imposing teammate and, as we said, just as capable of a good dose of toughness.

In both cases, we’re talking about rather “nasty” young third-pair defensemen with some potential yet to be discovered. So, it all depends on the offers Hughes might get for one or the other, but we’d be very surprised if these two left-handers were back in Montreal next October.

Xhekaj will have one year remaining on his contract ($1.3 million), while Struble will become an RFA on July 1. Both will therefore still have good value on the market, but also good use value in Montreal.

It’s a win-win for Hughes, if you ask me, even if I’d still be very reluctant to trade Xhekaj considering what a unique player he remains…

As for the right-handed Mailloux, despite his fine natural skills, since Gorton, Hughes and St-Louis have been in charge, we’ve never felt much love for this very “scattered” defenseman on the ice.

Regardless of what Renaud Lavoie said several months later, persistent rumours from several sources circulated for a long time to the effect that, had the last draft gone differently for the Tricolore, Hughes would have sent Mailloux to Anaheim with a^2nd-round pick in return for, among others, Trevor Zegras.

Besides, no one has noticed much progress in his game this season, and before this ^31st overall pick in 2021 loses even more value, a trade is certainly still an option in his case.

As with Xhekaj and Struble, and even if his offensive talent is superior, most experts now agree that Mailloux’s overall potential is also at the level of a third pair in the NHL.

In other words, the difference in value between the three probably varies from one GM to the next. But , then again, many would probably have a soft spot for the big Arber…

Dach and Newhook..

Nor do we rule out the possibility of Newhook and Dach leaving Montreal for other climes.

It all depends, of course, on the offer. Teams that decide to enter the rebuilding process by selling off major assets (Penguins? Islanders? Bruins?) could be interested in them as “transition” players.

But it’s also doubtful that Hughes, a smart negotiator and good talent evaluator, would be inclined to deal either of these players at any price when their value is suspect at best.

They’re still on good contracts, will still be under the CH’s control at the end of them, and if no offer pleases Hughes, it will be tempting to give them the chance to relaunch themselves in roles better suited to them, further down the lineup.

The “Laine case”.

Right now, even if at least half the city would be willing to send him to the Moukmouk Islands (in other words, Abitibi, hehe!), we’d still be inclined to give him a good summer’s training before making a decision in his case in the fall.

At worst, the CH could always free itself of several million dollars and trade him for a utility player, in exactly the same way it was able to acquire him in return for Jordan Harris last summer.

Hands full..

Be that as it may, with two^{mid-1st-round} picks and a bunch of assets, the Habs will be in a superb position to “make some noise” on the market this summer, a summer that promises to be even more interesting than the last few months of the season and this rather unexpected playoff run.

Kent Hughes has already openly spoken of the summer of 2025 as a key moment in the Tricolore’s relaunch.

It’s clear that he’ll be able to put his words into action: few teams will have so many attractive assets to offer the Islanders, Penguins and Bruins of this world..

Food for thought for at least one more article!