Transaction: Marc Antoine Godin would use Justin Barron as bait

The question of defensemen in Montreal is very interesting.

The potential of this blue line is very exciting, but there are a lot of defensemen in town. So it’s pertinent to ask which one(s) will leave and which one(s) will stay.

Marc Antoine Godin and Arpon Basu discussed this on their podcast The Basu & Godin notebook. Godin would personally try to use Justin Barron as trade bait since his value is good right now and could drop over the next few weeks of activity.

New episode of @BasuAndGodin is out talking about Struble’s performance in a bigger role (), Guhle’s performance on the right side () and what it can imply, Joshua Roy and Future Friday with Vinzenz Rohrer:

: https://t.co/fWA9p9ovXB
: https://t.co/77qHVtF4hQ

– Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) January 19, 2024

Why? Because the two journalists wondered if Kaiden Guhle could play on the right. We know Martin St-Louis doesn’t like to put left-handed defenders on the right and right-handed ones on the left, but maybe the coach will have to face the facts and try a few things.

After all, there are plenty of left-handers for the future, but also for the present. And from what I understand of the situation, Kent Hughes has no interest in parting with a young left-hander. Arber Xhekaj, even though he’s in Laval, isn’t going anywhere, Jayden Struble is playing well, Mike Matheson is our best offensive defenseman, Kaiden Guhle is the general and Lane Hutson is coming along soon.

Even if a guy like Jordan Harris is traded, for example, there are still too many people at Mass. So, is the solution to put Guhle on the right? If so (and he does well), Barron is more than tradeable.

And if the future assistant captain can play on the right, and David Reinbacher and Logan Mailloux become NHL players, I don’t see where the 52 fits in. Arpon Basu was surprised by his colleague’s proposal.

I’m talking about Barron, but I don’t see the importance of a guy like Jordan Harris in the medium term either.

My ideal top-6 would be this in the near future:

Matheson-Guhle

Hutson-Reinbacher

Xhekaj-Mailloux

Struble

In short, Godin’s proposal makes perfect sense, but in the best of all possible worlds, it would require Guhle to transition to the right side of the defense.