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

[Balthazar]

Well yeah, but like I said, on the Avs he's the 6th best forward, and overall he's probably the 8th best player if we count d-men Makar and Toews.

Girard and Byram are better hocker players as well

 

[myperbixhurts]

Any team that has Bura among their top 5 players sucks. One dimentional 2nd line scorer playing in the best possible situation for him.

As long as he stops making soft plays and turnovers in the d-zone, his offensive production is just fine as that 6th forward on the 2nd line

 

[myperbixhurts]

Girard and Byram are better hocker players as well

I wouldn’t disagree

 

[Pokecheque]

Any team that has Bura among their top 5 players sucks. One dimentional 2nd line scorer playing in the best possible situation for him.

Lots of good teams have one-dimensional players in their lineups. You can’t name me a single team that has a top six where every player is a perfect fit for their respective role. And you before you say “Tampa,” no, not even them.

 

[JoeSakic13]

Girard and Byram are better hocker players as well

Not as good as potato salad tho….

 

[milehigh11]

The Avs should jump at the chance at Dryden McKay (G) who just won the Hobey Baker award.

He went 38-4-0 in the season lost to Denver in the Finale. 2nd in the nation with a 1.27 GGA and 3rd with a .935 save percentage and had 10 Shutouts in 42 games.

He just costs an ELC. is older at 24 and could split time in the AHL with Justus Annunen who just played his first season in North America. As we need some goalie depth in the organization (we actually need depth everywhere with the recent trades)

 

[Richard88]

The Avs should jump at the chance at Dryden McKay (G) who just won the Hobey Baker award.

He went 38-4-0 in the season lost to Denver in the Finale. 2nd in the nation with a 1.27 GGA and 3rd with a .935 save percentage and had 10 Shutouts in 42 games.

He just costs an ELC. is older at 24 and could split time in the AHL with Justus Annunen who just played his first season in North America. As we need some goalie depth in the organization (we actually need depth everywhere with the recent trades)

Francouz is locked in as our backup for the next 2 years which might be an obstacle too many for him if he has his sights set on an NHL job sooner rather than later.

 

[PAZ]

Francouz is locked in as our backup for the next 2 years which might be an obstacle too many for him if he has his sights set on an NHL job sooner rather than later.

Eh, the Avs could offer him a few NHL games this year and promise him he'd be called up in case of injury (provided he's playing well).

I personally wouldn't sign with the Avs though, our track record is horrible for developing goalies. Best option would be to sign with the Canucks, Islanders, Ducks etc. that have a proven record of developing goalies.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

As long as he stops making soft plays and turnovers in the d-zone, his offensive production is just fine as that 6th forward on the 2nd line

Bura is what he is. He will never stop the low effort perimeter hockey. He is just fine as the weakest link on the 2nd line. However, his salary should reflect that but it won't because of the offensive numbers.

 

[Bender]

Kind of surprised what I keep reading some think the plan is going forward. I'll be floored if it's not this :

Landeskog-MacKinnon-Rantanen
Nichushkin-Newhook-Lekhonen

...and try to find some good deals for the middle-6 in free agency on day 2 and beyond.

Regardless if you think Newhook is ready for that #2C spot or not, I think the Avs will give him that shot and reassess afterwards. There are 2 guys on both sides of him that will goal long way towards insulating him and give Bednar options as well. The kid is outscoring S.O.B. in mostly a bottom-6 role as basically the 10th most used forward. I think he will do fine in year 2.

Burakovsky is walking for sure. Nice complimentary player but you HAVE to play him in the top-6 AND someone is giving him $6M+ for 5-6 years... Not gonna happen with the Avs.

Kadri is walking. I doubt he entertains a 4 year contract and you know some team is giving him too much money for too many years. He's here for our run and then gone.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Kind of surprised what I keep reading some think the plan is going forward. I'll be floored if it's not this :

Landeskog-MacKinnon-Rantanen
Nichushkin-Newhook-Lekhonen

...and try to find some good deals for the middle-6 in free agency on day 2 and beyond.

Regardless if you think Newhook is ready for that #2C spot or not, I think the Avs will give him that shot and reassess afterwards. There are 2 guys on both sides of him that will goal long way towards insulating him and give Bednar options as well. The kid is outscoring S.O.B. in mostly a bottom-6 role as basically the 10th most used forward. I think he will do fine in year 2.

Burakovsky is walking for sure. Nice complimentary player but you HAVE to play him in the top-6 AND someone is giving him $6M+ for 5-6 years... Not gonna happen with the Avs.

Kadri is walking. I doubt he entertains a 4 year contract and you know some team is giving him too much money for too many years. He's here for our run and then gone.

What a potentially rough 2nd line. I would be not thrilled at all to see that next year. I really really hope Nuke can stay a 50-60pt guy but I certainly have my reservations.

 

[Andrew Wiggin]

What a potentially rough 2nd line. I would be not thrilled at all to see that next year. I really really hope Nuke can stay a 50-60pt guy but I certainly have my reservations.

I think Nuke could do 60 on the top line and on full time PP1 lol. Other than that it would depend on who is on a line with him if he is on the second line. He would still have to be on PP1 to get close to that imo.

 

[Richard88]

What a potentially rough 2nd line. I would be not thrilled at all to see that next year. I really really hope Nuke can stay a 50-60pt guy but I certainly have my reservations.

As long as the Avs manage to retain both Nichuskin and Lehkonen the middle 6 should be fine going forwards.

The front office have proved themselves capable in acquiring affordable (albeit not flawless) middle 6 wingers who can score at a 50+ point rate in Bednar's system. Donskoi and Burakovsky are two prime examples of that, and finding similar one-dimensional complimentary forwards via trade or free agency shouldn't be too difficult.

The Avs also have several forward prospects with offensive skill-sets who are much easier to plug into a middle 6 scoring role if one of Lehkonen or Nichuskin are on their line (i.e. Olausson, Ranta, Kaut, Foudy, etc), so long-term the Avs may even be able to fill a role like that internally.

 

[John Mandalorian]

As long as the Avs manage to retain both Nichuskin and Lehkonen the middle 6 should be fine going forwards.

The front office have proved themselves capable in acquiring affordable (albeit not flawless) middle 6 wingers who can score at a 50+ point rate in Bednar's system. Donskoi and Burakovsky are two prime examples of that, and finding similar one-dimensional complimentary forwards via trade or free agency shouldn't be too difficult.

The Avs also have several forward prospects with offensive skill-sets who are much easier to plug into a middle 6 scoring role if one of Lehkonen or Nichuskin are on their line (i.e. Olausson, Ranta, Kaut, Foudy, etc), so long-term the Avs may even be able to fill a role like that internally.

How would you foresee them addressing C?

 

[Richard88]

How would you foresee them addressing C?

I think they'll give Newhook a shot at 2C, first with Nichuskin and another winger. If he struggles they could flip Nichuskin and one of Landeskog or Rantanen to balance the lines.

3C should ideally be someone like Copp who can bump up to 2C if Newhook struggles, but I think Sakic will go cheap there in the off-season (as he's tended to do) and just re-signing Sturm to fill the role until the deadline.

Compher should be moved but I think the front office will talk themselves into keeping him on the basis that: it'll be one less thing for them to worry about; he'll be in a contract year; he can cover 3C (at least in Bednar's mind); and he's shown a bit better when playing with Lehkonen recently.

Landeskog - MacKinnon - Rantanen
Nichuskin ----- Newhook --- XXXX
Lehkonen ------- XXXX ------- Compher
XXXX ------------- Maltsev ----- O'Connor/NAK

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

Bura is what he is. He will never stop the low effort perimeter hockey. He is just fine as the weakest link on the 2nd line. However, his salary should reflect that but it won't because of the offensive numbers.

I don't think Bura is low effort, I think he just simply doesn't have the hockey sense to be a good defensive player. It's the same in the offensive zone, the amount of turnovers he has isn't because he's being lazy, he just can't make a good read and doesn't see opposing players blocking lanes.

He's a guy I think looks great as a complimentary piece you don't really need to rely on, or as a key top-6 player if you aren't in the playoff picture. He has too many flaws to really be relied upon as a key contributor on a cup contender, which is where he is in this weird grey area with the Avs. The Avs technically have enough talent up front that they can cover for him, but they also can't stay healthy enough for him to consistently be in the background.

 

[Andrew Wiggin]

I think they'll give Newhook a shot at 2C, first with Nichuskin and another winger. If he struggles they could flip Nichuskin and one of Landeskog or Rantanen to balance the lines.

3C should ideally be someone like Copp who can bump up to 2C if Newhook struggles, but I think Sakic will go cheap there in the off-season (as he's tended to do) and just re-signing Sturm to fill the role until the deadline.

Compher should be moved but I think the front office will talk themselves into keeping him on the basis that: it'll be one less thing for them to worry about; he'll be in a contract year; he can cover 3C (at least in Bednar's mind); and he's shown a bit better when playing with Lehkonen recently.

Landeskog - MacKinnon - Rantanen
Nichuskin ----- Newhook --- XXXX
Lehkonen ------- XXXX ------- Compher
XXXX ------------- Maltsev ----- O'Connor/NAK

Who would be your favorite candidates for each of the open spots? Who would we have cap space for and would it require potentially doing something with EJ or Compher?

Would some of the 2nd line RW that we could afford like Rackell or maybe someone like Neiderreiter be any better than Burakowsky for secondary scoring. I love the idea of Copp (if he makes it to FA) as center insurance in the middle six in case Newhook doesn't play up that far at center. I hope someone like Bowers is able to fill that 4th line LW I thought he looked decent in camp last year.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

I would go with this down the middle

Mack - Rants - Hook -Sturm

Sure if you can get a legit #2C then by all means have Bambi on ice next to MacKinnon. However, it's significantly cheaper and easier to get decent top-six wingers than centers. Asking Newhook to take over as the second-line center sounds way too optimistic.

 

[shadow1]

I don't have a lot of complaints about Burakovsky.

He's paced for 62, 68, and this season has 53 points in 70 games (62 point pace again) in 3 seasons with the Avs. Burakovsky has played a lot with MacKinnon and Rantanen this season, but in the past has often had sub-optimal line mates and ice time (~15 minutes a game/PP2 time).

Personally he's been a breath of fresh air for me as a fan. For what felt like a decade, Colorado couldn't find a second line winger to save their lives. It felt like a never ending string of the David Jones/Jamie McGinn/Colin Wilson types, and sometimes even worse than that (*cough* Rene Bourque).

He's not a physical player or a two-way player but sometimes you need a guy who can score a damn goal. Burakovsky will likely get overpaid so I'm fine with Colorado moving on, but I'm not looking forward to the replacement next year (probably Compher or some Donskoi-level UFA).

 

[Richard88]

Who would be your favorite candidates for each of the open spots? Who would we have cap space for and would it require potentially doing something with EJ or Compher?

Would some of the 2nd line RW that we could afford like Rackell or maybe someone like Neiderreiter be any better than Burakowsky for secondary scoring. I love the idea of Copp (if he makes it to FA) as center insurance in the middle six in case Newhook doesn't play up that far at center. I hope someone like Bowers is able to fill that 4th line LW I thought he looked decent in camp last year.

Ideally they can re-sign Burakovsky at a reasonable amount (eg. $5m) to avoid having to give up assets to fill the role, but realistically he's going to want too much money and term (and maybe also a NTC) to be feasible.

DeBrusk ($4m x2) and Kubalik (RFA coming off a down year) seem like the sort of team-/cost-controlled forwards that would appeal to the Avs front office if they go the trade route, as their limited term might keep the price down somewhat. I also wonder if Domi isn't a guy Sakic circles back to after being rumoured to be interested in him at the TDL last month.

For 3C Copp or Trocheck are clearly the best options.

I wouldn't count on Bowers for a depth role. The Avs like to have vets on the 4th line (eg. Nieto/Calvert/Bellemare/Helm/Cogliano), and already have MacDermid re-signed. Maltsev and NAK are RFA's too.

 

[shadow1]

I have some reservations about Newhook long term as a center (face-offs/two way play concerns), but I think the Avs will give him the opportunity.

Even with that brutal cold streak he was on in recent memory, he's still on pace for 37 points as a rookie. This is with low ice time (13:42) and his most common linemates being Compher and O'Connor.

Newhook's still so young. When he turned 21 in January, he already had 39 regular season games under his belt. By comparison, Makar only had 11 when he turned 21.

 

[myperbixhurts]

Bura is what he is. He will never stop the low effort perimeter hockey. He is just fine as the weakest link on the 2nd line. However, his salary should reflect that but it won't because of the offensive numbers.

If he wants too much money like 6 or 7 mill a year, don't think Avs will resign him

 

[TruePowerSlave]

If he wants too much money like 6 or 7 mill a year, don't think Avs will resign him

Avs shouldn't sign Bura anyway unless he comes cheap. 6-7M is ridiculous though, only a total fool would go for that.

 

[The Abusement Park]

I would go with this down the middle

Mack - Rants - Hook -Sturm

Sure if you can get a legit #2C then by all means have Bambi on ice next to MacKinnon. However, it's significantly cheaper and easier to get decent top-six wingers than centers. Asking Newhook to take over as the second-line center sounds way too optimistic.

Rants won’t be a C here. That shouldn’t cross peoples minds as an option honestly.

 

[dahrougem2]

Remember folks, just because players may walk doesn't mean they don't get replaced.

If Kadri and Burakovsky walk, that's 9.4M in cap space. If you assume Nichushkin and Lehkonen get 2M raises you've still got some room to make moves.

If you want to re-sign Josh Manson, too, he'll probably take the money that Ryan Murray is getting right now.

The two biggest obstacles IMO are Erik Johnson and J.T. Compher. The Avs have to find a starting goalie, and while I love Darcy Kuemper's play this season I want no part of a 6x6 contract when he's 32.