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

[Avsboy]

Instead of trading Girard I’d rather keep the best defence in history intact and just acquire Dvorak for peanuts. I’m in favour of keeping the team’s strength as strong as possible

 

[Richard88]

Instead of trading Girard I’d rather keep the best defence in history intact and just acquire Dvorak for peanuts. I’m in favour of keeping the team’s strength as strong as possible

Dvorak won't cost peanuts. And he isn't very good either.

 

[Avsboy]

Dvorak won't cost peanuts. And he isn't very good either.

Habs need to unload his contract. He’s not very good but better than the other options and fits neatly under the cap.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Habs need to unload his contract. He’s not very good but better than the other options and fits neatly under the cap.

How does he fit under the cap?


We have $3.91M in space and he makes $4.45M. On top of being awful.

Dvorak is literally the worst option.

 

[Avsboy]

How does he fit under the cap?


We have $3.91M in space and he makes $4.45M. On top of being awful.

Dvorak is literally the worst option.

33 points in 56 GP on the Habs is not awful. I didn’t realize his cap hit but it’s close. A few years of him at 2C at that price is not terrible.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

33 points in 56 GP on the Habs is not awful. I didn’t realize his cap hit but it’s close. A few years of him at 2C at that price is not terrible.

Its not like Montreal was a historically bad team offensively. They scored 221 goals, 27th in the league but still 2.7 Goals per game.

He was spoon fed offensive minutes and averaged almost 2:30 per game on the PP. He's not going to get anywhere near those offensive opportunities and minutes on the PP here with Colorado.


Just a really, really bad player.

 

[JH21]

Florida's roster and cap situation is quite intriguing.

Their LHD right now is a hot mess, and even with Duclair on LTIR they're still $1.2m over the cap with a 22 man roster. Not to mention $3.55m in potential bonuses.

Looking at their roster got me thinking about how a single trade could help their D and also get them cap compliant...

Something along the lines of Girard for Bennett + Hornqvist (50% / $2.65m) + Sourdif + 2nd (or other futures) would work for both sides cap wise...

With a trade like that the Avs forward depth would suddenly be really strong, and with MacDonald or Hunt taking Girard's spot on the 3rd pair the Avs would have ~$1.7m in capspace with a 22 man roster which should be enough to cover bonuses (especially since Meyers and Newhook would get pushed down the lineup by the forward additions and thus less likely to hit many bonuses).

Landeskog - MacKinnon - Nichushkin
Lehkonen ------ Bennett ---- Rantanen
Newhook ------ Compher -- Hornqvist
Cogliano -------- Meyers ---- O'Connor
Helm

Toews -- Makar
Byram -- Manson
MacDonald - EJ
MacDermid

So wait....Girard for Bennett, Hornqvist, Sourdif and a 2nd?

How much drugs have you smoked this morning?

 

[Oblivion Beckons]

Instead of trading Girard I’d rather keep the best defence in history intact and just acquire Dvorak for peanuts. I’m in favour of keeping the team’s strength as strong as possible

Dvorak is a 3C making $4.45 mil for 3 more years. Habs fans want him gone for good reason. If he joins this team you will be making posts about trading Dvorak like you do about trading Compher by years end.

 

[Shane Diesel]

So wait....Girard for Bennett, Hornqvist, Sourdif and a 2nd?

How much drugs have you smoked this morning?

I agree. Bennett has only shown he can produce next to Huberdeau, Hornqvist is a washed up cap dump and Sourdif and a 2nd are useless for a team in the middle of a Cup window. Completely asinine trade for the Avs.

 

[Avaholic29]

So wait....Girard for Bennett, Hornqvist, Sourdif and a 2nd?

How much drugs have you smoked this morning?

That’s actually not bad, they get to dump hornqvist. We Definitely wouldn’t get a second though and I want nothing to do with horny. Girard for Bennett is good though.

I agree. Bennett has only shown he can produce next to Huberdeau, Hornqvist is a washed up cap dump and Sourdif and a 2nd are useless for a team in the middle of a Cup window. Completely asinine trade for the Avs.

To be fair Girard has shown he can only produce with certain partners too lol

 

[Avsboy]

To be fair Girard has shown he can only produce with certain partners too lol

Girard would be a #1 on many teams
Same with: Byram, Makar, Toews, young EJ

 

[Shane Diesel]

To be fair Girard has shown he can only produce with certain partners too lol

Bullshit. Sam Girard came to the Avalanche as a second pairing defenseman and has ably played that position since. Sam Bennett is a bottom six forward his entire career outside 95 games playing next to Jonathan Huberdeau.

 

[Michel Beauchamp]

Yep exactly this. The money they were looking for teams don't have and or the teams interested don't want to make the moves necessary to make it fit. This BS narrative of trades take time and maybe something is already lined up crap needs to stop. If the teams interested in Kadri really wanted him at his current ask a corresponding cap compliance trade would have happened by now to make it happen by one of the interested teams.

Kadri and his agent really dropped the ball and overplayed their hand. Feel kind if bad that Kadri couldn't cash in on his big season. Now he's looking at even having to potentially sign a 1 yr prove it deal and having to bet on himself again. As there aren't many teams that can offer term and money left at this point. And even less options if Kadri wants to go somewhere where the team is competitive.

This aged very well...

 

[Avaholic29]

Bullshit. Sam Girard came to the Avalanche as a second pairing defenseman and has ably played that position since. Sam Bennett is a bottom six forward his entire career outside 95 games playing next to Jonathan Huberdeau.

Not bullshit, Girard gets exposed in front of the net and when forechecked without a physically superior partner. Can deny it all you want but he struggled this year. Doesn’t change the fact he’s good but he’s at his best with certain player types for partners. This year he will lose some of his minutes to Girard, if Bennett was good beside huberdeau I’m sure he’d do pretty good beside Rantanen too.

 

[Shane Diesel]

Not bullshit, Girard gets exposed in front of the net and when forechecked without a physically superior partner. Can deny it all you want but he struggled this year. Doesn’t change the fact he’s good but he’s at his best with certain player types for partners. This year he will lose some of his minutes to Girard, if Bennett was good beside huberdeau I’m sure he’d do pretty good beside Rantanen too.

Sam Bennett has played 483 games in the NHL and has scored 204 points. He spent 402 games in Calgary and scored 140 points.

In Florida he's played 81 games and scored 64 points.

Is it smarter to bet on 402 games or 81?

What do the statistics say?

 

[Avaholic29]

Sam Bennett has played 483 games in the NHL and has scored 204 points. He spent 402 games in Calgary and scored 140 points.

In Florida he's played 81 games and scored 64 points.

Is it smarter to bet on 402 games or 81?

What do the statistics say?

That he plays well in the top 6 with a playmaker? Lol. He’s a capable 2C, not many options out there.

 

[Shane Diesel]

That he plays well in the top 6 with a playmaker? Lol. He’s a capable 2C, not many options out there.

So Dunning-Kruger and Prospect Theory.

 

[Avsboy]

Avs made the following players look good: Brandon Yip, TJ Galiardi, Chris Stewart, David Jones, Tyler Arnason, Wojtek Wolski, Matt Hunwick, Kyle Cumiskey, Zachary Redmond, Peter Mueller. They all no longer had careers when leaving. Bennett would absolutely flourish in Colorado.

 

[The Moops]

Avs made the following players look good: Brandon Yip, TJ Galiardi, Chris Stewart, David Jones, Tyler Arnason, Wojtek Wolski, Matt Hunwick, Kyle Cumiskey, Zachary Redmond, Peter Mueller. They all no longer had careers when leaving. Bennett would absolutely flourish in Colorado.

I know what happened with Jones and Mueller, but wtf happened with Stewart? Guy had the shot to be a regular 30+ scorer

 

[Avsboy]

I know what happened with Jones and Mueller, but wtf happened with Stewart? Guy had the shot to be a regular 30+ scorer

Traded for EJ and his career soon went down hill. The usual post Avs curse and Hitchcock and him had issues.

 

[Richard88]

Sam Bennett has played 483 games in the NHL and has scored 204 points. He spent 402 games in Calgary and scored 140 points.

In Florida he's played 81 games and scored 64 points.

Is it smarter to bet on 402 games or 81?

What do the statistics say?

You could use the same argument against Nichushkin.

122 points in 343 games prior to last season (29.1 point pace).

52 points in 62 games last season (68 point pace).

By that logic the Avs never should have re-signed Nichushkin.

 

[Richard88]

So wait....Girard for Bennett, Hornqvist, Sourdif and a 2nd?

How much drugs have you smoked this morning?

Yeah let's just go with your idea and trade Girard for Jake Evans, Ylonen, and another no-name Montreal prospect instead

P.S. No drugs

I agree. Bennett has only shown he can produce next to Huberdeau, Hornqvist is a washed up cap dump and Sourdif and a 2nd are useless for a team in the middle of a Cup window. Completely asinine trade for the Avs.

Bennett has shown in Florida that he can produce and even thrive when he's given the opportunity to play in the top 6 with elite playmaking talent. A line of Lehkonen-Bennett-Rantanen would be a handful to deal with, especially on the forecheck and in the playoffs.

Hörnqvist may not be the player he once was, but at $2.65m for 1 year he'd be decent value. The roster could also use another RHS ~35 point forward, especially one who can score gritty goals next to Newhook and Compher. Maybe Hornqvist would be overkill on top of adding Bennett though.

As for Sourdif and a 2nd: the Avs prospect pool is looking bleak and Sourdif is a RHS C/RW with excellent skating who would easily be a top 3-4 prospect in the Avs pool who could potentially replace Compher on an ELC next year. A 2nd would also be useful as a TDL trade chip.

That’s actually not bad, they get to dump hornqvist. We Definitely wouldn’t get a second though and I want nothing to do with horny. Girard for Bennett is good though.



To be fair Girard has shown he can only produce with certain partners too lol

Why don't you think we'd get a 2nd?

Relative to contracts signed for ~35 point forwards this offseason $2.65m would still be above market value. Florida are also in a bind and HAVE to dump cap before the season starts, and there aren't many teams with capspace or need for another forward.

Girard for Bennett also favours Florida given that Girard is younger and has two more years under contract.

Given those circumstances it seems reasonable for Florida to add a pick/prospect in each case. Perhaps the Avs throw back a B forward prospect like Beaucage/Ranta/Kaut though.

Not bullshit, Girard gets exposed in front of the net and when forechecked without a physically superior partner. Can deny it all you want but he struggled this year. Doesn’t change the fact he’s good but he’s at his best with certain player types for partners. This year he will lose some of his minutes to Girard, if Bennett was good beside huberdeau I’m sure he’d do pretty good beside Rantanen too.

Girard would be a great fit next to Ekblad, and would probably also break out points-wise as he'd get to QB their top powerplay unit.

 

[John Mandalorian]

Girard has been excellent for the vast majority of his career. Sam Bennett has struggled the vast majority of time he's been in the league.

Put another way, it's been 6 years that both Bennett and Girard have been in the league. If you were to think of that time as an hour, Girard would have excelled for the first 50 minutes but kind of struggled for the last 10 minutes. Bennett is the inverse. He's only been good for the past 10 minutes.

This disparity makes it not a 1 for 1.

 

[John Mandalorian]

Yeah let's just go with your idea and trade Girard for Jake Evans, Ylonen, and another no-name Montreal prospect instead

P.S. No drugs



Bennett has shown in Florida that he can produce and even thrive when he's given the opportunity to play in the top 6 with elite playmaking talent. A line of Lehkonen-Bennett-Rantanen would be a handful to deal with, especially on the forecheck and in the playoffs.

Hörnqvist may not be the player he once was, but at $2.65m for 1 year he'd be decent value. The roster could also use another RHS ~35 point forward, especially one who can score gritty goals next to Newhook and Compher. Maybe Hornqvist would be overkill on top of adding Bennett though.

As for Sourdif and a 2nd: the Avs prospect pool is looking bleak and Sourdif is a RHS C/RW with excellent skating who would easily be a top 3-4 prospect in the Avs pool who could potentially replace Compher on an ELC next year. A 2nd would also be useful as a TDL trade chip.



Why don't you think we'd get a 2nd?

Relative to contracts signed for ~35 point forwards this offseason $2.65m would still be above market value. Florida are also in a bind and HAVE to dump cap before the season starts, and there aren't many teams with capspace or need for another forward.

Girard for Bennett also favours Florida given that Girard is younger and has two more years under contract.

Given those circumstances it seems reasonable for Florida to add a pick/prospect in each case. Perhaps the Avs throw back a B forward prospect like Beaucage/Ranta/Kaut though.



Girard would be a great fit next to Ekblad, and would probably also break out points-wise as he'd get to QB their top powerplay unit.

Part of the problem is that Girard has been offered in so many Avs proposals by Avs fans recently, the collective board has devalued him in how they perceive him.

He would help Florida a lot. But a lot of the board sees him as an undersized player who struggled when targeted by Vegas and was non-integral when the Avs won the cup. The other obstacle with the collective board is that they make the assumption all smallish puck movers are the same.

Girard is a tough sell on the main board, especially.

 

[Shane Diesel]

You could use the same argument against Nichushkin.

122 points in 343 games prior to last season (29.1 point pace).

52 points in 62 games last season (68 point pace).

By that logic the Avs never should have re-signed Nichushkin.

What on Earth does Valeri Nichushkin have to do with Sam Girard and Sam Bennett?