Rumor: 2022-2022 Trade Rumors and Free Agency Part 14: Sakic goes back to bed

[Foppa2118]

Man I hope not. I speculated that Helleson might not want to sign here for the same reasons he chose not to but these guys have to see that EJ is almost gone. We probably can’t re-sign Toews when he is up and Girard and Byram’s futures are uncertain at this point. The only certainty on D is that the Avs will do anything to try and keep Cale Makar here long term.

If Behrens left (not saying he will) I think it would be for his own reasons. That's why I mentioned the possibility of him going back to Chicago, as they'll probably be rebuilding by the time he turns pro.

But his situation is different than Helleson's. Helleson saw the Avs stacked D core and Barron playing in the AHL. Behrens is younger and possibly further away from turning pro, and the Avs don't have Helleson and Barron in his way anymore.

As you mention, they could also lose one of Girard or Toews by the time he turns pro too.

 

[Richard88]

I’m curious what happens with Malkin? He has one year left on his deal and he is 35 years old. Will The Penguins re-sign him or finally move on and rebuild? Will he try for a big multi year deal or play year to year and try to win somewhere else? Doubt we could afford him but I’m curious where he goes if he becomes a free agent. Doubt he would go to a bottom feeder team just to finish off his career. Maybe he goes to Russia?

We could probably squeeze Malkin in even at $8m, but there would need to be concessions elsewhere (eg. JTC and/or EJ out), and it would ideally need to be a one year deal to not collide with MacKinnon, Byram, and Newhook's contracts in 2023. He'll probably re-sign in Pittsburgh though.

 

[Spleenless Wonder21]

We could probably squeeze Malkin in even at $8m, but there would need to be concessions elsewhere (eg. HTC and/or EJ out), and it would ideally need to be a one year deal to not collide with MacKinnon, Byram, and Newhook's contracts in 2023. He'll probably re-sign in Pittsburgh though.

I like Malkin chasing 1 more Cup with the Avs. I’m not sure I $8 million like it, though.

 

[Foppa2118]

If Kuemper walks my guess would be a trade for Driedger. Quite a risky one given his small sample size in Florida and poor season with Seattle, but he did at least show that he can play well enough behind a good team in Florida, and his $3.5m x 2 year contract is right in Sakic's sweet spot for a starting goalie (Grubauer $3.33m X 3 and Kuemper $3.5m x1).

Varly is a possibility too. They were connected to him in rumors, and we've seen before that deadline rumors with the Avs, sometimes lead to off season trades/additions.

He'll probably be cheaper than Kuemper too with one year left at $5M. Especially if the Avs win the Cup.

Lou might want to do right by him too so he might not be as expensive as Kuemper. He'll be 34 next season though.

 

[dahrougem2]

If Behrens left (not saying he will) I think it would be for his own reasons. That's why I mentioned the possibility of him going back to Chicago, as they'll probably be rebuilding by the time he turns pro.

But his situation is different than Helleson's. Helleson saw the Avs stacked D core and Barron playing in the AHL. Behrens is younger and possibly further away from turning pro, and the Avs don't have Helleson and Barron in his way anymore.

As you mention, they could also lose one of Girard or Toews by the time he turns pro too.

It's obviously a ways away, but if for whatever reason Behrens wanted to walk away from the Avs and not sign like Helleson did, I'd guess the NCAA would be very, very low on the list of leagues Sakic and Co. would be looking to draft from moving forward.

 

[Richard88]

I kept seeing posts about Avs not trading the 2023 1st round pick around the TDL because it's a deep draft. No, Sakic physically could not trade it because the 2022 first is top ten protected towards the Coyotes, which would have turned into the 2023 first if Avs sucked to the point of finishing in the top ten.

Any sensible GM would have understood that there's next to no chance that Arizona would get the 2023 1st, so it would have been easy to work around that condition by just putting a condition on the 2023 1st that it transfers to a 2024 1st if Arizona were to get the 2023 1st instead of the 2022 1st.

 

[Foppa2118]

At the deadline probably not but this summer he will be. Also he has to agree, he has a full NMC.

Getting rid of EJ and getting no contract back is a real tough task.

It's not a full move. It's a NMC so he can't be waived or sent to the minors without his consent, but with a M-NTC that he lists 19 teams he can be traded to.

CapFriendly

If the Avs win the Cup, I think Joe will try to package an asset to move him at full salary. Or maybe at 50% with a very small or no asset, then he gets replaced by a $1-2M player.

If they don't win the Cup I'm not sure Joe will move him though. He might, but he also might not. Hopefully they win the Cup with EJ and it sorts itself out. I've always predicted him being traded to Anaheim as he has a house in Orange County.

 

[Hasbro]

Varly is a possibility too. They were connected to him in rumors, and we've seen before that deadline rumors with the Avs, sometimes lead to off season trades/additions.

He'll probably be cheaper than Kuemper too with one year left at $5M. Especially if the Avs win the Cup.

Lou might want to do right by him too so he might not be as expensive as Kuemper. He'll be 34 next season though.

Isles are real tight to the cap and Lou’s made a few salary dump trades the past couple years already.

 

[Richard88]

Isles are real tight to the cap and Lou’s made a few salary dump trades the past couple years already.

Varlamov having a 16 team NTC would hopefully play into Sakic's hands as well if he decides to go that route.

 

[Richard88]

There's a nice interview with Manson at the start of the video below. The way he speaks about the opportunity to play on such a good team makes me inclined to think that he'll be keen to re-sign this off-season. Ditto for Sturm who also says that his style of play suits the team well.

 

[PAZ]

There's a nice interview with Manson at the start of the video below. The way he speaks about the opportunity to play on such a good team makes me inclined to think that he'll be keen to re-sign this off-season. Ditto for Sturm who also says that his style of play suits the team well.

Really depends on if Manson earns Bednar’s trust. Doesn’t matter how much he likes it here if he’s only going to get 14-16 minutes a game.

Sturm I’d all but guarantee he gets re-signed

 

[Balthazar]

The fact that Manson isn't on the PK1 unit bothers me.

 

[myperbixhurts]

I can't wait to see Lehkonen on this team next year

 

[AvsFanInMichigan]

Although I hope he comes back to WMU for another season. Brandon Bussi would be a great get for our prospect pool. Big goalie very athletic. One of the main reasons WMU had the best season in school history.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

Although I hope he comes back to WMU for another season. Brandon Bussi would be a great get for our prospect pool. Big goalie very athletic. One of the main reasons WMU had the best season in school history.

I hope the Avs just go aggressive with Undrafted FAs. Get Meyers and Livingstone as well from the NCAA pool, go get Kuzmenko. They are going to need cheap depth that can possibly play right away, these guys are a bit older, and bit more developed and may be able to step in sooner.

 

[Perratrooper]

So without MacK do we bump Rantanen back to center? If not our lines might look like:

Nuke-Kadri-Rantanen
Lehkonen-Newhook-Bura
Helm-Sturm-Cogliano
NAK-JTC-LOC

…. That is pretty bad…

 

[Avaholic29]

So without MacK do we bump Rantanen back to center? If not our lines might look like:

Nuke-Kadri-Rantanen
Lehkonen-Newhook-Bura
Helm-Sturm-Cogliano
NAK-JTC-LOC

…. That is pretty bad…

Should’ve just went for the rental in copp instead of Saving 23 first. Teams in trouble, especially considering Mack will likely miss more than 4 weeks and playoffs start in just under 5 weeks.

 

[missionAvs]

So without MacK do we bump Rantanen back to center? If not our lines might look like:

Nuke-Kadri-Rantanen
Lehkonen-Newhook-Bura
Helm-Sturm-Cogliano
NAK-JTC-LOC

…. That is pretty bad…

Yeah gotta have Rants as 1C now. We're gonna get clapped tonight regardless so get Rants in there so he can get acclimated to the role. He'll be running C for a good bit I think until MacK's ready to go.

 

[Cake Malar]

Yeah gotta have Rants as 1C now. We're gonna get clapped tonight regardless so get Rants in there so he can get acclimated to the role. He'll be running C for a good bit I think until MacK's ready to go.

Silver lining for next season... lots of evidence this year that Rants can play C. The next 16 games can serve as a test run for next year.

 

[Pokecheque]

I don't think the team is as crazy about Rants at C as the rest of y'all.

 

[Avaholic29]

Gotta call up maltsev for sure.


Nichushkin - Kadri - Rantanen
Lehkonen - Newhook - Burakovsky
Maltsev - Sturm - O’Connor
Helm - Compher - Cogliano

 

[Hasbro]

I don't think the team is as crazy about Rants at C as the rest of y'all.

Gotta fix what ain’t broke.

 

[niwotsblessing]

I don't think the team is as crazy about Rants at C as the rest of y'all.

Bednar's inflexibility will be his undoing.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

So the salary cap is officially going up 1M next year to 82.5M.


It's not much, but its something that gives the Avs a tiny bit more wiggle room next summer. If they can avoid any bonus penalties, that would also free up another 1.8M giving the As 2.8M in extra space they didn't have this year to work with.

 

[teoberto]

Wrong topic