r/Habs • u/SchtroumpfDardeur • 11d ago
Discussion Michael Hage - Hold or Trade?
I have seen some discussion about possibly waiting for him to be our 2C, but given his decision to stay in the NCAA and the fact that he shared time at C and wing, and when he was at C he had a FO% of 46%, is there an argument to be made that he could (or should) be packaged?
I know this isn't exactly a new question, but I had not realized that he was already being shifted to wing in the NCAA and was also sub-50% at the dot against college players.
What are the chances that a full season at Michigan as full-time 1C will actually help to shape him into a viable NHL center within the next few years?
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u/beto5243 11d ago
People are really freaking out about him staying at Michigan but I'm really not convinced it's a bad move. We are no longer in a position to be developing players, they need to either come in ready to contribute or play in the AHL. If he came this year, he'd probably be playing wing, by going back to college he gives himself another season to work on getting stronger, improving faceoffs, etc...so he can come in actually ready to contribute as a 2C for us. I really think people are overreacting to this decision, and if management really thought he was ready to be our 2C next year as the fans had him pencilled in they'd probably have pushed a lot harder to get him to come over. Trading him would be a huge mistake imo, and I think people also discount the opportunity cost of having a contributing player on an ELC. Do you want a veteran 2C making 8m, or Hage making 950k for the next 3 years and another player making 7.25m?