Lane Hutson and Arber Xhekaj: the logical names to go to Laval before Game 1

If there’s one thing to take away from this Habs training camp, it’s that Lane Hutson is an NHL-caliber guy. The defenseman played some great hockey during the camp, and he deserves to start the year in the Bettman circuit.

Seeing him form a pair with David Savard makes sense, we agree.

Barring a surprise, then, we expect to see him in the lineup next Wednesday… but that doesn’t mean he won’t be traded to Laval between now and then.

Because with Carey Price’s contract, the Habs have to deal with the LTIR and paper transactions… and that’s where the defenseman comes in.

In a piece published this evening, PuckPedia discussed the Habs’ case in relation to the LTIR… and according to them, Hutson is the most logical name for a paper move before the start of the season.

In such a scenario, Price and Patrik Laine wouldn’t be on the LTIR on Day 1… but Rafaël Harvey-Pinard would be.

News

Our annual LTIR primer & opening roster predictions are now live! Read them before it’s old news!
Read why:

*#VegasBorn might trade for an injured player

*#ALLCAPS could waive/send down a large cap hit

*#GoHabsGo might send down a key guyhttps://t.co/rBc2sRoBLX pic.twitter.com/NEDxe8HWjN

– PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) October 2, 2024

Basically, the site explains that the Habs are currently over the salary cap by $2.02 million. Remember that under the RTIA, a team must try to get as close as possible to the cap (without exceeding it, of course) to optimize its use.

Thus, in the case of the Habs, placing Price ($10.5M) and Laine ($8.7M) on the LTIR on Day 1 doesn’t make sense. On the other hand, placing RHP ($1.1 M) on the LTIR is much easier… and with a paper transaction, the club could really maximize its use.

By sending Hutson and his $950,000 salary down, the Habs would be very close to the limit. That said, there’s another scenario that’s not crazy either: the one in which Arber Xhekaj is the one sent back down.

There’s a world in which the Habs send him down because he didn’t make the team, but for the sake of the exercise, let’s look at it as a paper transaction.

At $1.3 million, Xhekaj earns more than his young teammate, so the Habs would move away from the cap. That said, recalling Hutson would mean the Habs adding $750,000 to their payroll in connection with the kid‘s performance bonuses.

In Xhekaj’s case, that $750,000 in the event of a recall doesn’t exist, as he has no performance bonuses attached to his contract.

I disagre with your maximization. Last season, Montreal swapped Xhekaj and Armia to save 321k, even if Price’s LTI pool is huge.

It would be better to send down Xhekaj instead of Hutson. You lose 200k with your ACSL but you don’t need to add 750k to Hutson’s cap hit.

– Jean-Francois C. (@MtlfanSakic) October 2, 2024

We’ll see how the Habs navigate the next week in terms of paper transactions, but the names of Hutson and Xhekaj are the two to keep an eye on.

Hutson will almost certainly be in uniform for the first game of the season… but for a brief moment, he could (on paper) be traded to the Rocket.