Rumor: 2022-2023 Trade Rumors and Free Agency (Mod Warning in OP)

[dahrougem2]

Just for YOUR information, that's still not the player's fault. This cap was instituted for "cost certainty." The league sacrificed an entire season (and parts of others) to get it. And then they went out of their way to try and find ways to circumvent it. Every CBA is nothing more than an exercise in teams saving themselves from their own dumb decisions.

Top-end players effectively saw their earnings capped. Peter Forsberg was making around $11 million in 2002 IIRC. It's the middle-tier guys who saw their earnings skyrocket. And only NOW are teams (and the union) finally admitting that if you want star player salaries to go up, then that means those other salaries have to level off or go down.

If you and some others on here are just gonna waste time getting on Nathan MacKinnon's case because he's finally asking to get paid market value, go right ahead. I ain't with you. It's up to Avs management to figure it out, not him. They've done some really great things building a Cup winner, they've also made some gigantic mistakes in drafting and development that IMO they still have not properly addressed. I don't see why MacKinnon or anyone else has to leave money on the table because of that.

And BTW if you say you would take a "discount" if you were in his shoes, I'm calling bullshit on you and everyone else who says that. You're still just looking at it from the perspective of a fan, not him.

I get both sides of the argument.

He's been underpaid for years based on what he's given this organization and it's his right to get paid as much as possible, especially to make up for what was lost the last 6 seasons.

On the other hand, he's no dummy. He knows there's a cap in place, he knows what taking more money means for the rest of the roster.

For me personally, I can sit behind my computer and claim "yeah I'd easily sign for 9M per on an 8 year deal" but human nature is human nature. No human being is going to "easily" give the organization a 24 million dollar discount over 8 years. 9M is PLENTY of money for me (hell I'd lavishly live off of 750K lol) but some guys want their market value, salary cap be damned. I don't blame them for it.

That player just has to realize winning will be a lot tougher once they sign on the dotted line.

 

[nammerus]

Even more reason to go balls out this year. Every 1st rounder for the next 3-4 years/Newhook/OO should be thrown into the ether to give ourselves the best chance this season.

 

[SaltySkywalker]

Interesting that Kessel, who is 8 games away from passing Yandle for the all-time consecutive games streak and 18 games against from hitting 1000 consecutive games, chose to sign with the franchise that's most known for boning over their players. Would be the most Vegas thing in the world to make him a healthy scratch on game 988 or something.

That's probably also why he didn't sign with us. Doesn't want to get hurt!

 

[shadow1]

Considering that no team with a 10M+ player has ever won a cup in the cap era, I'd say the chances to win a cup with a 13M player and two 9M players on the same team are pretty damn low regardless of management.

Speak for yourself please.

So far every management failed to build around a 10+ million player because it's so damn hard to do in a hard and flat-ish cap world. Just for your information.

I see this "no team has won with a $10M player" line thrown out a lot, but it doesn't mean much.

The NHL didn't even have a $10M player until 2015-2016, and they both played for Chicago. It wasn't until 2018-2019 that the NHL had more than (3) players making $10M. The sample size is insanely small.

Meanwhile, several teams have won cups while paying superstars top dollar. All the way back in 2007-2008, Nic Lidstrom's $7.6M salary took up 15.1% of the cap ($50.3M).

I keep seeing comments about Colorado's depth being ruined, yet the only player they're actually losing to extend MacKinnon is a very old Erik Johnson. Meanwhile numerous star (MacKinnon*, Makar, Rantanen) and marquee (Girard, Landeskog, Lehkonen, Manson, Nichushkin) level players are locked up for 3+ years.

Only on this message board, aka Earth-2, is Colorado somehow in bad shape.

 

[Balthazar]

After the Kessel signing, Friedman "wonders" if the Flames are now zeroing in on Evan Rodrigues.

How much depth do they need? Damn.

If the Flames do sign Rodrigues they'll be very deep upfront, on defense and have a good goalie.

 

[chet1926]

Sign 29 at 13Mx8 and move the f*** on. He's earned it.

And guess what by the time Matthews and McDavid etc need contacts it pushes Nate down the list to about 5th highest paid player and that's about where he should be.

We can make 13M work, we have plenty players signed for extended time. It might mean losing guys like Compher and Girard. But thats the cost of having one of the best in the world.

This narrative of 10M+ plus players don't win the Cup is stupid. The sample size is extremely low. The Avs certainly have the core to win.

 

[Pokecheque]

I get both sides of the argument.

He's been underpaid for years based on what he's given this organization and it's his right to get paid as much as possible, especially to make up for what was lost the last 6 seasons.

On the other hand, he's no dummy. He knows there's a cap in place, he knows what taking more money means for the rest of the roster.

For me personally, I can sit behind my computer and claim "yeah I'd easily sign for 9M per on an 8 year deal" but human nature is human nature. No human being is going to "easily" give the organization a 24 million dollar discount over 8 years. 9M is PLENTY of money for me (hell I'd lavishly live off of 750K lol) but some guys want their market value, salary cap be damned. I don't blame them for it.

That player just has to realize winning will be a lot tougher once they sign on the dotted line.

And I'm fine with people wishing MacKinnon would take less for cap considerations, but using it as a measure of his character is a bridge too far.

But people on here have never dedicated themselves to the pursuit of a pro sports career, or anything else to the level that these guys have. I'm pretty sure if I had made a homemade net growing up in Halifax and dedicated everything toward the pursuit of the NHL, and I not only made it but became one of the best to ever play, AND won a Stanley Cup, f*** yeah I'm gonna ask for the moon, especially if I took a massive discount beforehand.

It's not his problem that the Avs swung and missed on Tyson Jost. It's not his problem the Avs continue to struggle to find anyone outside of the "lottery zone" to draft and develop into an impact player. And it sure as hell aint' his problem that they flat-out admitted they were half-assing efforts to develop a goalie in-house.

 

[nammerus]

After the Kessel signing, Friedman "wonders" if the Flames are now zeroing in on Evan Rodrigues.

How much depth do they need? Damn.

If the Flames do sign Rodrigues they'll be very deep upfront, on defense and have a good goalie.

Pretty crazy to be going into the season with 3-3.5 million in cap space, especially with a pretty big hole in the top 9 forwards.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Do people here think that if Makar signed for 10mil last summer we still wouldn’t have won the cup?

 

[Pokecheque]

Do people here think that if Makar signed for 10mil last summer we still wouldn’t have won the cup?

Apparently so.

 

[Miri]

Vegas went from intimidating to just sad so f***ing fast.

All those bullshit management decision finally caught up with them and it was a beauty to behold. Eichel's playoff hopes are so f***ing lucky Vegas is in the worst division in the NHL. Flames and Edmonton will take 1 & 2 seeds, Vegas will just need to beat out who... Seattle? Maybe Vancouver? Then they'll earn the right to get curb stomped by the #1 seed, probably Colorado (boy that will be fun).

Myself, I can not wait for Pietro to get hit by father time. That contract is going to turn into a boat anchor over night any day now.

Lets not write them off too quickly.
They might look like clowns nowadays, but you never know how stars will align - they may very well turn out to be powerhouse once again - against all expectations. Or they may suck on average, but still have our number and f*** us up (only to lose to some shit team right afterwards).

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Vegas went from intimidating to just sad so f***ing fast.

All those bullshit management decision finally caught up with them and it was a beauty to behold. Eichel's playoff hopes are so f***ing lucky Vegas is in the worst division in the NHL. Flames and Edmonton will take 1 & 2 seeds, Vegas will just need to beat out who... Seattle? Maybe Vancouver? Then they'll earn the right to get curb stomped by the #1 seed, probably Colorado (boy that will be fun).

Myself, I can not wait for Pietro to get hit by father time. That contract is going to turn into a boat anchor over night any day now.

As does pretty much any contender in the league after a few years. A cautionary tale of what's likely to come for the Avs here soon enough.

 

[Balthazar]

The interview with Draisaitl on 32 thoughts podcast is good and there's a lot of Avs talk.

Never been the biggest Drai fan but he's a pretty cool guy.

 

[redacted]

The issue you get with paying your core guys their value is when you overpay for depth and you can't draft well to bring in ELCs. I know the meme is rampant, but the 250-500k overpays add up and simply have to stop. The picks have to start coming in and being role players, maybe even getting a bargain for a year or two as an impact level player. If the Avs can't do that next season, the pain will build and start to hurt. This happens with all successful teams over time.

It is weird, but the Avs have been feeling cap pain for a while now. Problem is, it only gets more difficult from here. Not only do we have MacK this upcoming season, but Byram... who at minimum gets a bridge in the 5.5+m range. Long term, he's gonna be over 7. Any success with Newhook or Meyers is going to lead to more cap issues. Plus a lot of depth is UFA Then the following summer, you have Toews. The summer after that you have Rantanen, LOC and George. Tough decisions will have to be made each summer for the next four summers.... after two summers of losing Dong, Graves, Saad, Burkie, and Kadri.

 

[Mighty Makar]

The interview with Draisaitl on 32 thoughts podcast is good and there's a lot of Avs talk.

Never been the biggest Drai fan but he's a pretty cool guy.

What was said?

 

[Avs_19]

Maybe he'll take $12.529M/yr or some weird **** like that.

Or $13M/yr.

Whatever. Just get it done already.

 

[Ararana]

What was said?

He basically admits the Avs were the much better team. He said the each line on the Avs came at you wave after wave and there was no room to breathe and catch up.

He played on a high ankle sprain, which we all knew.

 

[Mighty Makar]

He basically admits the Avs were the much better team. He said the each line on the Avs came at you wave after wave and there was no room to breathe and get catch up.

He played on a high ankle sprain, which we all knew.

Thanks!

 

[Balthazar]

The issue you get with paying your core guys their value is when you overpay for depth and you can't draft well to bring in ELCs. I know the meme is rampant, but the 250-500k overpays add up and simply have to stop. The picks have to start coming in and being role players, maybe even getting a bargain for a year or two as an impact level player. If the Avs can't do that next season, the pain will build and start to hurt. This happens with all successful teams over time.

It is weird, but the Avs have been feeling cap pain for a while now. Problem is, it only gets more difficult from here. Not only do we have MacK this upcoming season, but Byram... who at minimum gets a bridge in the 5.5+m range. Long term, he's gonna be over 7. Any success with Newhook or Meyers is going to lead to more cap issues. Plus a lot of depth is UFA Then the following summer, you have Toews. The summer after that you have Rantanen, LOC and George. Tough decisions will have to be made each summer for the next four summers.... after two summers of losing Dong, Graves, Saad, Burkie, and Kadri.

The defense is too expensive. In the next two years we'll lose EJ and then 2 of Toews, Girard and Manson.

I think we end up keeping Byram, Makar and Girard long term.

 

[Ararana]

As does pretty much any contender in the league after a few years. A cautionary tale of what's likely to come for the Avs here soon enough.

The circle of hockey life. I guess I'm different from some other fans here, it helps that they won the damn thing, but I fully expect the Avs to take a decent step back sooner than later and honestly I'm not losing sleep over it.

My generation's Avs managed to win a cup, any success they have after this is all gravy to me. Now I'm just going to enjoy any successes they manage to have and following individuals guys like Makar/Byram/Newhook. Can a Newhook become a 2C eventually? Can Byram stay healthy and replace Toews? Those are fun questions to watch unfold.

Don't get me wrong I'm not exactly throwing in the towel. Assuming they address 2C with a real 2C, I think they can repeat. And I don't think MacKinnon's contract necessarily prevents them from staying cup competitive after this upcoming season. IDK I guess if they didn't win the cup my thoughts would be different, but they did and that sets the pressure back to zero for me.

We could have been San Jose or Nashville, to come extremely close and never make it. But that will never be this Avs core now. Though there is a real conversation to be had of is one cup enough for a core this good.

 

[redacted]

The defense is too expensive. In the next two years we'll lose EJ and then 2 of Toews, Girard and Manson.

I think we end up keeping Byram, Makar and Girard long term.

Yeah the team is too expensive on defense AND on wing. Which would be 100% fine if goaltending and centers were locked down... but when they aren't, teams get unbalanced.

I'm glad EJ got his Cup and for all that he's gone through, he earned it. He really shouldn't be on this team today.

 

[ABasin]

The issue you get with paying your core guys their value is when you overpay for depth and you can't draft well to bring in ELCs. I know the meme is rampant, but the 250-500k overpays add up and simply have to stop. The picks have to start coming in and being role players, maybe even getting a bargain for a year or two as an impact level player. If the Avs can't do that next season, the pain will build and start to hurt. This happens with all successful teams over time.

It is weird, but the Avs have been feeling cap pain for a while now. Problem is, it only gets more difficult from here. Not only do we have MacK this upcoming season, but Byram... who at minimum gets a bridge in the 5.5+m range. Long term, he's gonna be over 7. Any success with Newhook or Meyers is going to lead to more cap issues. Plus a lot of depth is UFA Then the following summer, you have Toews. The summer after that you have Rantanen, LOC and George. Tough decisions will have to be made each summer for the next four summers.... after two summers of losing Dong, Graves, Saad, Burkie, and Kadri.

…and two starting goaltenders.

 

[Avaholic29]

Another day, another avs are in cap hell pity party. Avs > flames. Avs > Oilers. Someone getting dealt for a C.

 

[Gumballhead]

He played on a high ankle sprain, which we all knew

Funny, that was never mentioned during the broadcasts.

 

[The Merchant]