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

[CharlesPuck]

Lehkonen doesnt have nearly the finnish that Bura has but I will take less finish if it means less stupidity with the puck.

The dude is literally from Finland

 

[The Abusement Park]

Nuke and Lehk are certainly needed but there’s certainly some worry about offensive regression with them both. Even if they don’t regress there is a big lack of dynamism outside the big 3 with the loss of Bura and Kadri.

Obviously this is still a top team in the west but I’m curious to see how the holes in the roster figure themselves out.

 

[Avsfan1921]

I like kadri, his early days in Toronto were a blast, such a physical pest. And I admire his ability to transition into a more offensive role when he couldn’t walk the line with regards to suspensions.

Having said that, there is more risk in predicting he can regularly, or ever agaian for that matter, repeat what he accomplished last season. We didn’t lose a ppg player, we lost a player who had a career year. It sucks as he’s a very useful player but the issue is the hole that is left, not the player who left.

Give Rantanen a real shot at centre first thing and allow Newhook to find his offence at wing. If that doesn’t work, try Newhook at centre and if that doesn’t work, bite the bullet for a trade at the deadline when we’ve accrued cap space.

There is no panic, we could sleepwalk our way to a playoff spot. Let’s see if we can fix this thing internally while also readjusting our cap placement at wing. Rantanen is our best shot at finding a 2c, we have a plethora of wingers to fill the void, we spend too much at that position, and he has the talent to succeed in that role. He’s the logical choice and they should take a very large chunk of time to try and make it work.

 

[Vaslof]

No reason to shift Rants to C. You could just trade him for an actual C and end up stronger. But we have two potential 2Cs right now, it would be silly not to give them a chance.

 

[LOFIN]

No reason to shift Rants to C. You could just trade him for an actual C and end up stronger.

Like for who?

 

[AllAboutAvs]

Lehk is replacing Bura. He should be close to Bura's output offensively but also providing much better defense and front net presence.

Newy should also hopefully have an uptick in production this season. He certainly won't replace Kadri point-wise but let's give him a chance first and see what he's got. There is still up to the TDL to bring in somebody to replace Kadri. Lots of time. I'm not concerned.

 

[MacKaRtin]

Did we win the cup those seasons?

It’s gonna be hard to replace the player/year Kadri had. It’s gonna be a hit. Kadris play last year was a huge reason we won it all.

No, but we won the President's Trophy one of those seasons. And arguably if Sakic had opted to reinforce the team in 2020-2021 at the TDL as he did in 2021-2022, we would have had just as good of a chance that season. I actually think EJ and Byram and Manson versus Graves and Nemeth and Timmins is the biggest difference between the teams, more so than 2C or goaltending.

 

[The Abusement Park]

No reason to shift Rants to C. You could just trade him for an actual C and end up stronger. But we have two potential 2Cs right now, it would be silly not to give them a chance.

You’d lose that trade most likely. You aren’t getting an equal level C for Mikko. So you’d have to gamble on a C prospect or get a lesser player in return.

 

[LOFIN]

No, but we won the President's Trophy one of those seasons. And arguably if Sakic had opted to reinforce the team in 2020-2021 at the TDL as he did in 2021-2022, we would have had just as good of a chance that season. I actually think EJ and Byram and Manson versus Graves and Nemeth and Timmins is the biggest difference between the teams, more so than 2C or goaltending.

Kadri had an amazing season and I don't really want to downplay him (especially since he's now gone so it would just sound petty), but I don't think him having this career year made the difference for us. The difference was that he was actually available for the most of the playoffs (even if he was playing with one hand in the finals), and the other pieces Sakic acquired at the deadline. I don't think we need to replace him in 2022 form in order to repeat. We do need two high scoring lines though. Effectively means Rantanen should carry that 2nd line, be it from the wing or center.

 

[Vaslof]

Like for who?

Idk pick a team, pretty much anyone will trade a 2C for Rants

You’d lose that trade most likely. You aren’t getting an equal level C for Mikko. So you’d have to gamble on a C prospect or get a lesser player in return.

Equal level to Mikko at RW. But if you play him at 2C you don't get Mikko at RW anyway. You do get someone who actually plays center and will do that job better. Anyway I'm not advocating trading him, it's just that this madness about Mikko playing 2C makes absolutely no sense when that'd be the last resort.

 

[LOFIN]

Idk pick a team, pretty much anyone will trade a 2C for Rants

Not many teams have a 2C I would trade Rants for.

Equal level to Mikko at RW.

Rantanen is one of the best wingers in the game. You are not getting a center comparable of his caliber, because of the value of C position. At which point you would be making a downgrade. I know we all would love to have a real 2nd line C but not that desperately.

Anyway I'm not advocating trading him, it's just that this madness about Mikko playing 2C makes absolutely no sense when that'd be the last resort.

I think the last resort would be trading Girard or Newhook.

 

[Vaslof]

Not many teams have a 2C I would trade Rants for.

Rantanen is one of the best wingers in the game. You are not getting a center comparable of his caliber, because of the value of C position. At which point you would be making a downgrade. I know we all would love to have a real 2nd line C but not that desperately.

I think the last resort would be trading Girard or Newhook.

"Rantanen is one of the best wingers in the game." And that's why you play him on the freaking wing!!

 

[shadow1]

Just for fun, I looked up the last game in the playoffs where future departees Burakovsky and Kadri were injured:

LW	C	RW
Landeskog	MacKinnon	Nichushkin
Lehkonen	Compher	Rantanen
Newhook	Sturm	Aube-Kubel
Cogliano	Helm	O'Connor

LD	RD
Toews	Makar
Byram	Johnson
Johnson	Manson

G
Kuemper
Francouz

This was the line-up the Avs used in both Game 3 against Edmonton and Game 3 against Tampa Bay. It's arguably crappier than today's line-up, with Girard replacing Jack Johnson, Ben Meyers replacing Nico Sturm, and someone (Kaut? MacDermid? Megna? Sedlak?) replacing Aube-Kubel.

I'm still having nightmares about that third line - thank god for the awesome fourth line.

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

 

[Balthazar]

That's a good contract. All that waiting for a reasonable bridge contract at the end. Dallas wanted long term I guess.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

I dont think its going to work, but given the situation I dont see why you wouldn't try Rantanen at the 2C.

Either he solves a major long term issue with this roster, or he doesn't and he goes back on the Wing. I dont really see the downside in trying it. And I was somebody who before this summer was pretty adamantly against Mikko at 2C(Mostly because I just dont think it will work).

The thing is... If he can stick it out at 2C and play very well... We solve this teams single biggest issue holding us back from continuing to be a top tier contender moving forward. The only problem then becomes about cap space.

I would also feel 10x more comfortable offering Mikko an 8x13M contract extension in 2 years from now to be the 2C on this team then I would giving him that same money to be a winger. I dont care how good you are, Centers are so much more valuable then Wingers and no Winger in the league deservers to be making 12-13M a season truthfully.


All of a sudden a Top 6 forward group of:

Landy - Mack - Nuke
Lehky - Mikko - Newhook

Has all kinds of potential. That's a forward group you could keep together for 5-6 years or longer.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

Big difference between those two and a 60 point guy in Bura and an 70-85 point guy in Kadri. Huge. At this moment you are relying on Newhook and Lehkonen to carry that load. Also, relying on Nuke to continue giving you offense. If any one of those three fail to pick up the slack you better hope Bo and Girard can fill in the gap.

Only thing is Mack could play 80 games and replace kadri's scoring.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

You are implying that an 85 point 2C is a necessity for the Avs. It isn't, and such a replacement is impossible to facilitate.

What isn't impossible, is replacing the production of Kadri and Burakovsky via internal growth of Newhook, Nuke, and a full season of Lehkonen. It's highly optimistic, but such is life in the NHL salary cap world. Kadri had a career year and played like a top-10 C in the league. That's hard to replicate.

Along with a healthier Mack. Kadri isn't getting 85 pts last year if Mack was taking all that ice time.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

You are implying that an 85 point 2C is a necessity for the Avs. It isn't, and such a replacement is impossible to facilitate.

What isn't impossible, is replacing the production of Kadri and Burakovsky via internal growth of Newhook, Nuke, and a full season of Lehkonen. It's highly optimistic, but such is life in the NHL salary cap world. Kadri had a career year and played like a top-10 C in the league. That's hard to replicate.

How do you know that's not a necessity for us? Tell me how many Stanley Cups we won with this core before our 2nd line Center produced 85 points.

That said, we probably dont need a 2C that can be PPG+... But we definitely need a 2C that can chip in 60+ points and a strong two-way game. Still a hell of a big difference compared to a 3rd line winger that chipped in 40 points like Donskoi.


Its an absolutely massive hole in the lineup and one that makes us significantly weaker right now then we were last year, even if all else was roughly equal.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

Nuke and Lehk are certainly needed but there’s certainly some worry about offensive regression with them both. Even if they don’t regress there is a big lack of dynamism outside the big 3 with the loss of Bura and Kadri.

Obviously this is still a top team in the west but I’m curious to see how the holes in the roster figure themselves out.

I think this is a fair point.

I’m not worried about Nichushkin and Lehkonen, but after the losses in free agency have the Avs shifted just a little bit too much away from skill? Perhaps.

Someone mentioned a good point earlier in the thread that the Avs are a forward thinking organization in terms of valuing things beyond base production and I agree. Nichushkin and Lekhonen bring the kind of pressure that helps the Avs impose their will on their opponents.

Naz and Burkie brought a ton of skill though. Both guys really helped play to the teams’ strength of rushing the puck up the ice too. Meyers is a real good skater and I think he’ll help ease some of that, but there’s some drop off in shooting talent without those guys.

Colorado is sitting on cap space and will most certainly be active at the deadline though. We don’t have a finished product here and the defence will continue to drive the team.

 

[ANewHope]

How do you know that's not a necessity for us? Tell me how many Stanley Cups we won with this core before our 2nd line Center produced 85 points.

I mean the regular season has never been an issue since Makar showed up. Especially once you look how fragile this core has been and how many games guys tend to miss. Kadri in the playoffs put up 15 point in 16 games on the way to winning a cup. He certainly wasn't on pace for 85 points in the playoffs and even missed some games/was hurt.

I think we know we need a capable 2C to a win a cup but I don't think that guy needs to be elite atleast until were forced to break up the defense for cap reasons. We took Vegas to 6 without a 2C/Kadri. If some guys show up later on in that series and we get some stops from Gru that series was pretty winnable. I think we beat Montreal. Lose to Tampa most likely tho without a capable 2C.

 

[ANewHope]

Nuke and Lehk are certainly needed but there’s certainly some worry about offensive regression with them both. Even if they don’t regress there is a big lack of dynamism outside the big 3 with the loss of Bura and Kadri.

Obviously this is still a top team in the west but I’m curious to see how the holes in the roster figure themselves out.

I've never been as high on Nuke as some here but the last 30 games of the regular season/playoffs really changed my mind. He's always had elite tools. His size, skating, work rate. He finished 8th in Selke voting his first season here and was an elite 3rd liner his 2nd season. His shooting % in 120 games before this season was 10.9% and this year it was 13.9%.

When you break it down the only difference with Nuke's production this season was it was the first year he got into the top 6. The first year where he got big minutes, PP minutes, and a chance to play with elite talent for an extended period of time. I think as long as your playing Nuke 19-20 minutes a night, giving him some PP time, and playing him in the top 6 he's going to produce.

 

[myperbixhurts]

Need a 2C for sure. Avs don't win the cup without Kadri. Yeah they won couple of games without him when he was injured, but without Naz the entire playoffs, don't think Avs go far. You can argue that Avs didn't win it last year because they didn't have Kadri after the 1st round. I'm pretty sure Sakic and MacFarland know that and will take care of it

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

Also… can we please just get the MacK extension done?

More of this for the next 9 years, please.

 

[The Moops]

Also… can we please just get the MacK extension done?

More of this for the next 9 years, please.

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Yeah I was just watching a video today that had all the goals we scored in the playoffs. Just sign him