At what point, if any, would it make sense to entertain the idea of moving Toews to fix our 2nd line C? Or does his impending UFA after next season limit the return to us being better off letting him walk for free if we can't resign him than moving him at all.
Personally I dont think any of the 3 LD should be off the table. Whatever deal makes us better today, and ideally for the next 2-3 years... Is the deal they should make. Whether its Toews, Byram, or Girard.
That being said... I dont think any of them should be traded until next summer. Go get a rental 2C for this year, and if you do get Horvat, make every attempt to re-sign him as well.
Keep this Dcore together for one more playoff run. Hopefully through other pieces they can add enough to the forward group to win another cup before major reconstruction occurs.
Then, the nice thing about a deal next summer, is you can start talking about an extension with Toews and also start to get a ballpark idea of what Byram and his camp are looking for... Two very important pieces to the puzzle in terms of which Dman to trade IMO. For example, if Toews is willing to take the Weegar contract with us next summer... At that point I really think you lock him up and never trade him. Then you look at Girard/Byram and decide which one to trade between those two. On the flip side if Toews' camp is looking to really cash in and wants something that starts with an 8, he would jump to the top of the trade bait list for me since that is a number we simply cannot afford... So you trade Toews for a reallly good haul and stick with Byram/Girard as the Top 4LDs going forward.
Then you've also got the Byram aspect of it. If he's willing to take a ~$5M bridge deal next summer for 2-3 years... Again I think at that point you keep him and deal G/Toews and if Toews also signs a 6x$6M extension or something like that then Girard is the one you trade. However, if Bo isn't willing to take a bridge deal and wants something in the neighborhood of $8M on a long term deal... Again just like Toews I dont think the Avs can afford that number so he would jump to the top of my trade list.
The grey areas start to pop up if both Toews and Byram decide to chase the big money next summer. That's where it becomes really tough because we're probably screwed either way. Cant really afford either one of them at a number north of $8M and we shouldn't be paying them that much especially when we have no 2C at all right now. The far more important position. I dont really know what would be the best direction to go in at that point. I guess if you think Byram can be as good or better then Toews within ~2 years, you trade Toews. If you think Toews will be the better Dman for the next 2-3 years, you trade Byram. Or you say f*** it and trade Girard, and then likely lose Toews to free agency a year later but at least get one more run with Toews/Byram.
And then of course there's the injury concerns of both G and Bo. G had been extremely healthy earlier on in his career, but the last 2-3 years now injuries have started to ramp up with him enough that its becoming a bit of a concern. For Bo they're a full fledged significant issue at this point. Its good news he isn't dealing with a concussion right now, but the fact he's been in the NHL for 3 seasons now and still hasn't put together anywhere close to 100 games yet is a major concern. Toews missed a stretch last year, but has largely been completely healthy for most of his career outside of a game or two at different times.
Basically it comes down to this for me, ignoring potential trade returns for the time being.
- If both Bo and Toews take reasonable money(~$5M bridge and the Weegar contract) = Trade Girard
- If Bo takes a bridge but Toews asks for $8M+ = Trade Toews
- If Bo wants $8+ but Toews takes ~$6M = Trade Bo
- If both guys want big money = We're f***ed, but I'd probably trade Girard and lose Toews as a UFA.
It gets even more complicated IMO once you factor in potential trade returns... IE if Girards value tanks due to injuries this year it becomes tougher to move him or if Byram(knocks on wood) runs into more concussion issues. On the flip side if somebody crazy like Seattle comes and offers Shane Wright for Byram, it becomes tough to not to move him, or someone offers a crazy deal for Toews.
I think its a very complicated spot. I dont think its anywhere near as straightforward as some folks here think it is. "Trade Girard because Toews and Byram are better" is simply not the way to look at it at all. Not when no matter who you keep/trade, none of them are going to ever usurp Cale as the #1 guy here, they're all LHD meaning one of them is only going to be used as a 2nd pairing guy... Girard is the only one of the three signed long term and to a very team friendly contract, and at the end of the day our Center depth is absolutely putrid, its the most important position in hockey and we need major help with it.
