The Habs may have a future Norris Trophy winner in its bank of prospects
Jean-Charles Lajoie made a rather bold statement today on his Twitter account. This one was about the strengths of quality left-handed defensemen in the Habs hierarchy.
In his book, the young backs rank in this exact order:
Jordan Harris
Kaiden Guhle
Mattias Norlinder
Alexander Romanov
Jayden Struble
The context of this tweet inevitably includes Jack Eichel. According to him, it would be a shame to give up Mattias Norlinder in a possible deal that would bring Jack Eichel to Montreal, as the young Swedish defenseman's potential is very high, according to his evaluation. Moreover, he points out that losing Norlinder would be extremely painful for the Montreal organization, if Jordan Harris decides not to sign with the Tricolore next year, as he could become an unrestricted free agent.
Obviously, "JiC" holds Harris and Norlinder in high regard, considering his evaluation. Some of Lajoie's followers on Twitter responded to this tweet by saying that it would not matter if the Habs traded Harris or Norlinder to the Sabres for Jack Eichel, since they would never be considered for the Norris Trophy, which is awarded to the best defenseman in the NHL.
However, he believes Jordan Harris, the Habs' former third-round pick in 2018, could win the trophy one day.
Still according to him, if Harris had come to an agreement with the Habs at the end of last season, just like Cole Caufield, he would have been in the Canadiens' playoff lineup. He unequivocally hopes that Marc Bergevin will succeed in signing the young man, because it would be a big loss for the Montreal organization otherwise.
Harris, a highly mobile left-handed defenseman, will be playing his fourth season with Northeastern University and will be the team's captain. As Lajoie mentioned above, he would be a great asset to the Habs team as he is extremely good in transition and is ambidextrous at his position. The American scored no less than 19 points in as many games in 2020-2021.
Do you agree with Lajoie's comments?
