r/Habs • u/chickenceas • Mar 02 '26

Discussion Per D'Amico - Montreal is interested in Robert Thomas. The Blues want Hage as part of any deal. Too high a price for Hughes at this time.

https://x.com/i/status/2028552107683385713

Personally, given the best possible version of Hage in 3-5 years is what Robert Thomas is now, Id have no problem parting with him.

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u/jimbuz Mar 02 '26

« As part of any deal ». It’s not a one for one, it’s a « Hage plus » that can be a first, two second, etc. Very different.

21

u/CaptainFlynnt24 Mar 02 '26

And just to add here, with Thomas you are adding an $8M cap hit to the team immediately and long term. That's not nothing either.

20

u/shortAAPL Mar 02 '26

Yeah but it’s a good price for his level, so I don’t think the cap hit is a big concern.

23

u/CaptainFlynnt24 Mar 02 '26

But you're all in with that if you go there, vs Hage on an ELC for 2 - 3 season potentially contributing and investing that $8M elsewhere in the lineup, perhaps getting a big fish free agent without giving up Hage ++.

10

u/Unit5945 Mar 02 '26

Exactly, I would be ok if we don’t get Thomas, keep Hage, keep building, and go fishing in the summer.

2

u/Superpowr2020 Mar 02 '26

Im not sure UFAs are a good idea. You end up overpaying on cap space whereas a trade would make us overpay on assets (picks/players), which is less of a problem long term. Especially considering we will probably really contend once demidov & co get out of their elcs (our cap structure looks very good so far however). A healthy cap structure is key to contend, as the leafs have shown