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

[Balthazar]

What are we thinking about Lekhonen’s next contract?

I think $3.5M is the low end of what it will cost, but wouldn’t be surprised if it costs $4M to get it done.

I’d be happy with a $3.8M X 5 contract. Even though I’m not a huge fine of longer term deals with role players, I think it makes sense to lock him up for several years with the lack of picks/prospects in the system.

IMO the expectations should be the Compher contract (3.5M X 4). I don't think he can ask for much more than that.

I just hope it won't be a 2 year contract that walks him to UFA like Sakic did with Nuke and Bura.

If I'm Sakic I'm pushing for at least 4 years, ideally 5. He's young enough and has many good years left in tank. He's the kind of "tough to play against" guy that the Avs always need.

 

[Ararana]

Anyone hoping they keep Kadri

He’s playing behind them because he’s 20 and has 42 nhl games of experience. To say he’s capped out offensively at 20 and 42 games played is just mind blowing to me. Miro heiskanen still isn’t on Dallas pp1 and effects the game the most on that dcore.

I really must not have made myself clear in that post lol. See my subsequent posts in this thread, I'm not saying Bo is capping right now. I'm saying it's coming at some point.

 

[SirLoinOfCloth]

"most likely"

Right? This is more wishful thinking than reality. I think the two scenarios are more likely:

1. The Avs win the cup and EJ retires
2. The Avs don't win the cup and EJ sees out his contract.

 

[Avs_19]

Burakovsky is a good player and the Avs will likely miss him in the short-term but he's low on my list of priorities. Nichushkin, Kuemper, and Kadri would all be above him. Lehkonen is a RFA but signing him to a multi-year deal is more important to me than Burakovsky as well. I'll also add potentially bringing in a bigger RHD to replace Manson as more of a priority.

Avs got great value from Burakovsky and the initial cost to acquire him. He also flourished with his bigger role and will be able to cash in as a result and hopefully with another ring. Win-win.

 

[Balthazar]

Right? This is more wishful thinking than reality. I think the two scenarios are more likely:

1. The Avs win the cup and EJ retires
2. The Avs don't win the cup and EJ sees out his contract.

He's not retiring and leaving 6M on the table even if we win the cup. The realistic way out is LTIR but he's been surprisingly healthy this year so even that is getting less and less likely.

 

[Hasbro]

In the spirit of the Ben Meyers signing I wonder if there are any KHLers worth bringing over.

 

[JH21]

I knew you were bad at math but I didn't realize you were this bad at it


EDIT: I didn't even see the Sturm contract. So you think after turning down a 4x2.75M extension with the Wild, Sturm is going to turn around and sign for almost half as much, for half the length with us.


That roster is so bad.

Why do you even cheer for this team?

 

[Balthazar]

Why do you even cheer for this team?

He's strictly here to make personal attacks at other fans.

 

[67 others]

He’s playing behind them because he’s 20 and has 42 nhl games of experience. To say he’s capped out offensively at 20 and 42 games played is just mind blowing to me. Miro heiskanen still isn’t on Dallas pp1 and effects the game the most on that dcore.

Heiskanen was on pp1 all season until.he.got.hurt. which is why klingberg wasn't happy he wasn't even in contract talks lol

 

[67 others]

82.5 million salary cap

Johnson is most likely being bought out. 4 million cap savings

Compher should be dealt. 3.5 mil cap savings.

That leaves us with $33.1 mil in cap savings.

Priority resignings:

Darcy Kuemper - 5 x 6.5m
Val Nichushkin - 6 x 5.75m

Others:

Josh Manson - 3 x 4.5m
Arturri Lehkonen - 3 x 3.9m
Nico Sturm - 2 x 1.75m
Nicolas Aube Kubel - 1 x 2.0m
Jack Johnson - 1 x 1.5m
Mikhail Maltsev - 1 x 950k

That leaves us with 6.3 mil in cap space with the following roster:

Landeskog- Mackinnon- Rantanen
Lehkonen- Newhook- Nichushkin
Meyers - Sturm - Aube Kubel
MacDermid - Maltsev - O'Connor

Toews - Makar
Byram - Manson
Girard - JJ

Kuemper
Francouz

Then in 2023/24 we have $20 million to pay Mackinnon, Byram, Newhook, Meyers and a few 4th line forwards.

That is absolutely a cup contending team. We could always flip Girard for a 2C improving our forward depth as well.

You expect Kuemper to take 5x6.5?

This is Kuemper's last chance at a fat contract after 10 years in the league in his 30s. And he's having one of the best years of any goalie. I'd think he wants 7+ at least, and 6 years.

The goalies who signed contracts like that did it under different circumstances.

 

[The Abusement Park]

You expect Kuemper to take 5x6.5?

This is Kuemper's last chance at a fat contract after 10 years in the league in his 30s. And he's having one of the best years of any goalie. I'd think he wants 7+ at least, and 6 years.

The goalies who signed contracts like that did it under different circumstances.

I mean 6.5 is probably the most Kuemper could get.

 

[Avs_19]

You expect Kuemper to take 5x6.5?

This is Kuemper's last chance at a fat contract after 10 years in the league in his 30s. And he's having one of the best years of any goalie. I'd think he wants 7+ at least, and 6 years.

The goalies who signed contracts like that did it under different circumstances.

Free agency is a crazy place and all it takes is one Ken Holland but I'd be shocked if anyone gave a 32 year old goalie with an injury history a 7 year deal. I also believe he'd take that 5x6.5 offer in an instant. However, I have my doubts about the Avs going to that amount if that's where his market is at.

 

[Hasbro]

Free agency is a crazy place and all it takes is one Ken Holland but I'd be shocked if anyone gave a 32 year old goalie with an injury history a 7 year deal. I also believe he'd take that 5x6.5 offer in an instant. However, I have my doubts about the Avs going to that amount if that's where his market is at.

Then trade for Varlamov.

 

[NOTENOUGHJTCGOALS]

If EJ is bought out I'll punch myself in the dick until I bleed from the ears.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

If EJ is bought out I'll punch myself in the dick until I bleed from the ears.

That just doesn’t seem necessary, and also not something that you would recover from

 

[Balthazar]

Then trade for Varlamov.

That's exactly what's going to happen if we can't keep Kuemper.

 

[Balthazar]

Speaking of Kuemper, he is currently:

- 2nd in the NHL for save % w/ .924 (Shesterkin 1st)
- 2nd in the NHL for wins w/ 35 (Soros 1st)
- 3rd in the NHL for shutouts w/ 5 (Markstrom 1st)
- 7th in the NHL for GAA (2.38) (Andersen 1st)

Considering that there's no one that dominates every category, IMO Kuemper has been easily a top 5 goalie in the league so far this year.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Then trade for Varlamov.

That's exactly what's going to happen if we can't keep Kuemper.

Speaking of Kuemper, he is currently:

- 2nd in the NHL for save % w/ .924 (Shesterkin 1st)
- 2nd in the NHL for wins w/ 35 (Soros 1st)
- 3rd in the NHL for shutouts w/ 5 (Markstrom 1st)
- 7th in the NHL for GAA (2.38) (Andersen 1st)

Considering that there's no one that dominates every category, IMO Kuemper has been easily a top 5 goalie in the league so far this year.

Neither of you are exactly making me happy about our goalie situation next season. I'd rather keep DK, but damn...he's gotta be reasonable.

Dom's model say's his market value is 6.9M. What' would y'all do? I think I would offer 4 years 6.75M (I'd structure it 7.75 x 6.5 x 6.5 x 6.25 but would remain hard against an NTC.) I'm thinking DK's agent is telling him to explore other options? Or is this in the ballpark of what get's it done?

 

[AvStock]

That's exactly what's going to happen if we can't keep Kuemper.

I understand if he refuses to sign here but why trade for a goalie again after spending a 1st and Timmuns? Plus Varly is not the answer for cup runs…

 

[Eltuna]

I could see Puljujarvi being a target this summer if he doesn’t want to sign in Edmonton. Having him replace Burakovsky would make sense to me and seems like a move this management team would make. Lehkonen, Nuke, Landeskog, & Puljujarvi all in the top 6/9 as forechecking wingers would be awesome.

Edmonton lacks cap but I could see Bura fitting in pretty well there as well.

 

[The Abusement Park]

I understand if he refuses to sign here but why trade for a goalie again after spending a 1st and Timmuns? Plus Varly is not the answer for cup runs…

I mean what if Kuemper isn’t the answer in the playoffs? The goalie situation going into this off-season is real complex.

 

[PAZ]

Speaking of Kuemper, he is currently:

- 2nd in the NHL for save % w/ .924 (Shesterkin 1st)
- 2nd in the NHL for wins w/ 35 (Soros 1st)
- 3rd in the NHL for shutouts w/ 5 (Markstrom 1st)
- 7th in the NHL for GAA (2.38) (Andersen 1st)

Considering that there's no one that dominates every category, IMO Kuemper has been easily a top 5 goalie in the league so far this year.

The one thing the Avs have going for them is Gru shitting the bed after signing a fat contract. Kuemper had a very average season last year, and I have no doubt some GMs have these questions in the back of their mind about how much of Kuemper’s stats are due to playing on the Avs.

 

[Balthazar]

The one thing the Avs have going for them is Gru shitting the bed after signing a fat contract. Kuemper had a very average season last year, and I have no doubt some GMs have these questions in the back of their mind about how much of Kuemper’s stats are due to playing on the Avs.

Too many teams desperate for a starter and GM's trying to save their butt.

 

[Freaky Styley]

If we don't retain Kuemps, instead of re-hashing the Varlamov experience I'd rather target a different G through trade. Someone under the radar would be Dreidger, who has put up good numbers in the past and has been playing better this last month than Gru. Comes cheap, doesn't cost a lot, and has shown to be able to put up good numbers in this league. If a Dreidger/Francouz (/Annunen?) tandem doesn't get it done, we can always look at adding a different G around the deadline. Blackwood might be another experiment.

Fact of the matter is we are hitting a low point in NHL quality goaltending. Seems like there was an entire generational void of talent between guys like Lundqvist, Luongo, Price etc and Shesterkin, Sorokin, etc. those guys in the middle are all average, dime a dozen starters for the most part. I think we see young guys like Wallstedt and other studs given the starters role a lot sooner than they might have otherwise, and scoring will be up over the next few seasons.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

I think Kuemper will have plenty of suitors.

Since he became a full-time starter four years ago, he’s really only had one bad year and it wasn’t that bad for playing on a horrible team. He has a career .919 Sv% and he just now started playing for a strong team.

It probably comes down to whether, or not Kuemper wants max money, or wants to keep playing in Colorado.