Rumor: 2022-2023 Trade Rumors and Free Agency: Let’s Run it Back!

[Avsboy]

I love Frankie a lot but he’s not a 1B.

At this stage of his career I am not so sure Allen is either. He is still likely a high-end backup but in no way is he a legit starter.

I like MAF. He wants to win and is proven.

 

[Richard88]

I get that. I'm not totally opposed to moving Toews, but if you're moving Newhook+++ as well as Toews, I'd hope those would be to fill two different holes long-term, not the same hole in back-to-back years.

I agree with that. Ideally you make a trade that solves 2C long-term right off the bat with Newhook+futures rather than re-visiting it a year later with Toews.

That begs the question, what 2C's could we get with Newhook+futures that have more term than JT Miller? Sam Bennett $4.425m X3 comes to mind.

 

[Richard Doll]

I was just looking at cap friendly and had forgotten all about Ben Myers. Lots of hype when he was signed, what is his role going forward? Third center?

 

[MarkT]

I like MAF. He wants to win and was proven.

fixed it for you

I agree with that. Ideally you make a trade that solves 2C long-term right off the bat with Newhook+futures rather than re-visiting it a year later with Toews.

That begs the question, what 2C's could we get with Newhook+futures that have more term than JT Miller? Sam Bennett $4.425m X3 comes to mind.

I've been looking at I don't see a ton of options honestly. Dubois obviously. Schmaltz?

 

[Pokecheque]

I define a 1B as someone who is ideally a backup, but can get hot for long enough stretches that they can be your starter for parts of the season without hurting you. To me, that describes both Allen and Frankie.

That’s not the bar for a 1B for me. That’s just a good backup. In many ways that’s bare minimum for a backup. Who wants a #2 goalie who can’t fill in capably if the starter gets injured?

A 1B is a goalie who more or less splits the starts. I don’t think Frankie is on that level. He did everything that was asked of him this postseason so I’m really not trying to sell him short but he isn’t on the level of a Matt Murray in Pittsburgh or Allen was backing up an injury prone Price in Montreal.

 

[Avsboy]

I was just looking at cap friendly and had forgotten all about Ben Myers. Lots of hype when he was signed, what is his role going forward? Third center?

I imagine the centers will be Mack, Newhook, Meyers, Maltsev.

9296
Lehk/X-Newhook-Nichushkin
X/Lehk-Meyers-Compher
LOC-Maltsev-NAK

There's potential here and it allows Avs to keep the D core together. The D is the key.

 

[MarkT]

That’s not the bar for a 1B for me. That’s just a good backup. In many ways that’s bare minimum for a backup. Who wants a #2 goalie who can’t fill in capably if the starter gets injured?

A 1B is a goalie who more or less splits the starts. I don’t think Frankie is on that level. He did everything that was asked of him this postseason so I’m really not trying to sell him short but he isn’t on the level of a Matt Murray in Pittsburgh or Allen was backing up an injury prone Price in Montreal.

Ok fair enough. If we're going by your definition then they're both high end backups.

 

[Pokecheque]

I was just looking at cap friendly and had forgotten all about Ben Myers. Lots of hype when he was signed, what is his role going forward? Third center?

I think they very much want him to take that 3C spot and run with it. They’ll probably hedge their bets a little (I’m fairly positive JTC will be back, and I’m fine with that) but it’s likely what they got him for.

 

[JH21]

Retire:

EJ
Cogliano
Helm
JJ

Resign:

Nichushkin 6 years, 36m
Lehkonen 5 years, 26.25m
Kuemper 3 years, 15m

Lose:

Kadri
Burakovsky
Manson
Sturm

Trade 2023 1st and Mikhail Maltsev for Adam Henrique. (2 years @ $5.825m)

Sign:
D- Michael Stone 1 year, 1.5m
D- Danny Dekeyser 1 year, 2.0m

Landeskog- Mackinnon- Rantanen
Lehkonen- Henrique- Rantanen
Newhook- Meyers- Compher
Aube Kubel- Sedlak- O'Connor
MacDermid

Byram - Makar
Toews - Girard
Dekeyser - Stone

Kuemper
Francouz

Still have around 4 mil in cap space.

 

[Pokecheque]

Ok fair enough. If we're going by your definition then they're both high end backups.

Sure, I’d still put Allen a tier above Frankie, though I believe he has regressed a bit.

I’m saying this without being a goalie expert in the slightest.

Bottom line, the Avs cannot settle for a goalie tandem IMO. They need a clear-cut starter. Whether it’s Darcy again or someone else. That’s what makes me reluctant on Fleury. Gonna be 38 soon and he wasn’t really that good this year. And even when he was, he had to be part of a tandem.

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

On both The Jeff Marek Show and 32 Thoughts Podcast, both Jeff and Elliotte speculate about Sakic staying as GM. Both agree that not letting McFarland interview for other GM jobs says that, "...this an organization that is taking care of someone."

These are my thoughts. Does Joe become Governor/President of Hockey Operations and move McFarland to GM? I doubt it happens so soon with the draft in a week and free agency happening in 2 weeks, but could it happen later this summer?

 

[Avsboy]

On both The Jeff Marek Show and 32 Thoughts Podcast, both Jeff and Elliotte speculate about Sakic staying as GM. Both agree that not letting McFarland interview for other GM jobs says that, "...this an organization that is taking care of someone."

These are my thoughts. Does Joe become Governor/President of Hockey Operations and move McFarland to GM? I doubt it happens so soon with the draft in a week and free agency happening in 2 weeks, but could it happen later this summer?

That's definitely happening

 

[shadow1]

On both The Jeff Marek Show and 32 Thoughts Podcast, both Jeff and Elliotte speculate about Sakic staying as GM. Both agree that not letting McFarland interview for other GM jobs says that, "...this an organization that is taking care of someone."

These are my thoughts. Does Joe become Governor/President of Hockey Operations and move McFarland to GM? I doubt it happens so soon with the draft in a week and free agency happening in 2 weeks, but could it happen later this summer?

I honestly thought about that too. We'll see what happens.

Would be a shame because Joe is clearly one of the best in the business.

 

[Obi Wan Jacobyi]

Gut feeling on what happens in the next few weeks. I hope I’m wrong but I think we lose Nuke. Russian players aren’t known for giving discounts and I think there will be a couple teams throwing stupid money at him in free agency. Same goes for Manson. 4-5 mil is too rich for a 5th defenseman on the Avs.

Sign Mac to whatever he wants. I trust he won’t put the Avs in a tough spot.

I think Sakic finds a way to bring Kadri back. So many reasons that are mutually beneficial.

Bura re-signs on a similar deal to his last.

Lekhonen hopefully inks a semi long term contract.

Bring back Cogs and Helm on cheap veteran deals if they want to come back.


This leaves very little money for Kuemper and he really didn’t play well enough to deserve a raise, so I think he’s gone unless he is willing to take a relatively cheap 1 or 2 year deal. Might have to move JTC or Girard to make room for a future goalie.

Whoever we end up losing will hurt depth but hopefully Newhook can turn a corner and step up next year. There aren’t many guys coming up in the prospect pool that we can count on anymore. In Sakic we trust. He will find a way to make it work!

 

[PowerMac]

Just keep everybody and repeat obviously.

But seriously the avs were able to win with Kuemper doing his best Marty Jones impression. I think you let that one go, the avs proved they can play tight defense to compensate for an adventurous goalie. Sure Kuemper could rebound next season like Kadri did but the avs have shown they can be a force even with average goaltending. Just get MAF for 3 mil or something.

I think it's time to sell high on Compher right now, we could use the cap space and his value is probably never going to be higher. Both sides can leave off on a good note.

Another guy I think we should consider selling high on is Toews. Chychrun is out there right now and if we put Toews on the table, I don't see how other teams can beat that. If we met against Mcdavid in the playoffs again, I think Chychrun would do a really good job on him based on how he played against Mackinnon.

Keep Manson obviously, he's a physical quality top 4 playoff D with a surprisingly accurate shot and even adequate puck handling. Why would you let that go.

Let's say that 11 mil is enough is to keep both Lehkonen and Nichushkin on the team, that leaves the avs with 14.5 mil of cap space still in which they can clear another 8.5 mil by dumping Girard and Compher somewhere which would give them around 23 mil in cap space to fill out the roster with 7 players (Who the f*** is Lukas Sedlalk former Colum- oh nvm). They could even pull out the ol' Tampa trick and put EJ on LTIR til the playoffs to free up an additional 6 mil for a total of 29 mil in cap space. Either way 1 serviceable goalie + 2 bottom pair defensemen + 4 bottom 7 players altogether shouldn't cost more than 12 mil unless you're the Oilers or something. So they'll still have 11 mil to go after a big prized UFA (17 with LTIR EJ) so I would really like Sakic to finally hit on a big UFA acquisition while Mackinnon is still on his current salary. I think it's really important that the avs keep their forward talent stacked. I would not hesitate to give out 8.5+ mil to Forsberg, the cap is probably going to jump soon anyways.

The avs third line was also kind of lacking this season and they couldn't roll out the waves and waves of attacking forward talent like back when they still had Saad. I don't know who they can get to fix that but maybe call up Kaut and give him a chance finally. Meyers - Newhook - Kaut?

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

Retire: (I can see these 3 retiring)

EJ
Cogliano
Helm
JJ (I think he'll play at least 1 more year)

Resign:

Nichushkin 6 years, 36m (Yes. Maybe try to get him for $5 - $5.5M?)
Lehkonen 5 years, 26.25m (Yes. Maybe try and get him for under $5M?)
Kuemper 3 years, 15m (IDK. I have a hard time with this one. If he shits the bed how do you trade that contract? I think you offer him 2 years and if he balks you make a move for MAF or Varly, or try and get John Gibson)

Lose:

Kadri (I can't see any way they can afford him)
Burakovsky (yes)
Manson (I really want to keep him. If EJ retires you probably can keep him)
Sturm (yes)

Trade 2023 1st and Mikhail Maltsev for Adam Henrique. (2 years @ $5.825m) (No. Dude is ALWAYS hurt. There are better options. Maybe cheaper too)

Sign:
D- Michael Stone 1 year, 1.5m (Not bad. I think they try and keep JMFJ and/or Murray first, or better yet, use that $4M surplus you mention for Manson)
D- Danny Dekeyser 1 year, 2.0m (Barf. No way. Dude is done like dinner.)

Landeskog- Mackinnon- Rantanen
Lehkonen- Henrique- Rantanen
Newhook- Meyers- Compher
Aube Kubel- Sedlak- O'Connor
MacDermid

Byram - Makar
Toews - Girard
Dekeyser - Stone

Kuemper
Francouz

Still have around 4 mil in cap space.

 

[Vaslof]

They will probably give Kaut a chance at NHL next season. Seems to have had his best AHL season, with 19 goals in 46 games. No idea if he'll succeed.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

- Re-sign Nuke at 6x5.5M.... Coleman contract as the comparable but a little more since Nuke's numbers are a little better.

- Re-sign Lehky at 2x3.5M.... I think Joe will try and get him on longer term, but I think a 4-5 year deal will cost the Avs $5M honestly. At that point I think they ultimately settle on a 2 year deal that saves the Avs $1.5M in cap for the next couple of years of cup runs. It doesn't sound like a lot, but having an extra $1.5M in space here enables Joe to spend up to $6-6.5M for a 2C instead of only $5M right now.

- Re-sign Cogliano and/or Helm to 1x1M deals if either of them want to play another year. If not, go to free agency with the same mindset of adding good skating, veteran grinders for that 4th line on those sort of deals.

- Re-sign Jack Johnson 1x800k for the #7 Dman role again. Thought he played his role as well as you could ask in the playoffs, outside of that 1 game against St. Louis.



At that point we've got a roster that looks like this, IMO:


Landy - Mack - Nuke
???? - ???? - Mikko
Lehky - JTC - Newhook
LOC - Meyers - Helm/Cogliano
Sedlak



Toews - Makar
Byram - Girard
???? - EJ
Johnson/MacDermid


????
Francouz



And by rough estimates, we should have ~$13M in space to fill out the roster.

 

[Kaizer]

Trading Girard for 2C is super risky, considering Byram’s injury history - he is one cheap shot away in a meaningless regular season game from retiring from hockey. Maybe EJ could step up but he’s also not an iron man and also about to retire. I think we have to keep Girard until Byram plays 1-2 season(s) without injuries or if we get a promising cheap defenseman back in our trade for 2C.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Trading Girard for 2C is super risky, considering Byram’s injury history - he is one cheap shot in a pointless game away from retiring from hockey. Maybe EJ could step up but he’s also not an iron man and also about to retire. I think we have to keep Girard until Byram plays 1-2 season(s) without injuries or if we get a promising cheap defenseman back in our trade for 2C.

I dont think that's really the case anymore honestly. It was a legitimate concern a few months ago, but he just went through the gauntlet of an entire playoff run, played a bunch of minutes especially after Girard went down.... He took a few big hits and got back up and kept going after every one of them.

I think that concern just isn't big anymore.

Mind you I still think, unless we are somehow getting a Barzal, or Pettersson sort of 2C in return, I think you keep Girard for at least 1 more season. Either that or you're getting some insane futures package, like a Top 10 1st + A tier prospect sort of offer.

I dont think either of those packages will be available for Girard, so IMO you keep him. We do know he can play the right side, just pair him with Bo or Toews. That Top 4 will be elite again next year.

Its probably something that has to be revisited in summer 2023 though when Bo needs his new deal, and Toews is 1 year away from Free agency. That's probably the summer where a definite decision needs to be made.

 

[Foppberg]

Re-sign:
Nuke @ 6 x 5.55M
Lehkonen 3 x 3.5M
Manson 3 x 3.5M
Cogliano 1 x 1M
Helm 1 x 1M
= 14.55M

Gone:
Kadri
Burakovsky
Kuemper
Sturm
JJ
Murray

Trade:
Conditional 2023 1st + Annunen For John Gibson @ 20% retained AAV 5.12M

Sign:
Mark Pysyk 2 x 1.1M

Landeskog- Mackinnon- Rantanen
Lehkonen- xxx- Nuke
Newhook- Meyers- JTC
Cogliano- Helm- LOC
MacDermid/Maltsev

Toews - Makar
Byram - Manson
Girard - EJ
Pysyk

Gibson
Francouz

Then make some kind of trade for a #2C, have ~5.1M in cap space. I don't think we'll sign Trocheck or any of the other top available centers, gut feeling says Sakic wants someone shorter term that lines up better with future contracts/extensions.

 

[flyfysher]

I dont think that's really the case anymore honestly. It was a legitimate concern a few months ago, but he just went through the gauntlet of an entire playoff run, played a bunch of minutes especially after Girard went down.... He took a few big hits and got back up and kept going after every one of them.

I think that concern just isn't big anymore.

Mind you I still think, unless we are somehow getting a Barzal, or Pettersson sort of 2C in return, I think you keep Girard for at least 1 more season. Either that or you're getting some insane futures package, like a Top 10 1st + A tier prospect sort of offer.

I dont think either of those packages will be available for Girard, so IMO you keep him. We do know he can play the right side, just pair him with Bo or Toews. That Top 4 will be elite again next year.

Its probably something that has to be revisited in summer 2023 though when Bo needs his new deal, and Toews is 1 year away from Free agency. That's probably the summer where a definite decision needs to be made.

Kinda nice having flexibility with the team's options going forward. Yeah, I think Byram has answered any injury concerns with his play this last season and POs.

 

[Richard Doll]

I am just thinking, if Byram is ready for being a full-time 2nd pair, and I think he is, then Girard's value may never be higher with his young age and nice contract, this may be the best time to move him for a center.

His age and contract is also really valuable to us, and I would be fine keeping him for the elite 2 pairs, but we really need a center if Newhook isn't the guy, and I am not sure Newhook is yet, Newhook may just be a hopefully good winger.

 

[Go19]

Who from the Eagles gets a look vs going shopping around the league. The talk about how they do it right and know what to do when they get the call up - is it real? Is it better than shopping in a bargain bin? The Eagles made a decent run for the Calder Cup

I think MacDonald deserves a real look at D - who else?

Megna, Sherwood, Maltsev - and does Ollusson get a real look - he had a decent year in Juniors

 

[Avsboy]

I think Newhook can elevate next year. On a line with puck hounds Nichushkin and Lehkonen I see good things.