Rumor: 2023-2024 Trade Rumors and Free Agency: Off-season is in full swing

[dahrougem2]

Those aren't random stats. Those are last season totals. That's the first thing his agent will use in negotiations. Age won't play a big factor in his average. Karlsson signed his huge contract when he was 29. Someone on the open market will give him 9 a year, and that’s where all of his leverage comes from.

Yeah that is not how contracts work.

 

[John Mandalorian]

The 2nd line is somewhat bereft of puck handlers transitioning the puck. Its not a strength of Johansen and its not a strength of Lehkonen/Nichushkin. Not saying Lehkonen or Nichushkin are horrible at it but its usually someone else doing it. Miko can do it if hes on the 2nd line but thats a heavy ask for him to be the primary person doing it.

Its a real opportunity for Byram to transition the puck and orchestrate offense. A healthy season obviously helps. But if Byram is on the ice with that 2nd line, its a nice opportunity for him to command the puck and play a game that somewhat resembles his WJC.

 

[AvsFan2123]

The 2nd line is somewhat bereft of puck handlers transitioning the puck. Its not a strength of Johansen and its not a strength of Lehkonen/Nichushkin. Not saying Lehkonen or Nichushkin are horrible at it but its usually someone else doing it. Miko can do it if hes on the 2nd line but thats a heavy ask for him to be the primary person doing it.

Its a real opportunity for Byram to trandition the puck and orchestrate offense. A healthy season obviously helps. But if Byram is on the ice with that 2nd line, its a nice opportunity for him to command the puck and play a game that somewhat resembles his WJC.

That’s why I’m kind of hoping they split Nate and Mikko at 5v5 for the most part. Obvious not 100% of the time. I love when they stack best players out there when other team ices it. Or just offensive zone draws, whatever. But I think I’d like them to try;

Drouin-MacKinnon-Nichushkin
Lehkonen-Johansen-Rantanen
Wood-Colton-Foudy
Cogliano-Meyers-LOC

We’ve seen time and again that Nate and Mikko can drive the bus themselves on their lines. Giving RyJo a shooter in Mikko could be a huge boost in his hopeful comeback, and a forechecking horse in Lehkonen to help setup possession.

 

[NorthernAvsFan]

Bednar’s preference over the years has been to put MacKinnon and Rantanen together. Last year, he obviously realized his son’s limitations and had Mikko next to him for most of the year.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he tries Lehk/RYJO/Val as a second line to start the season. Simply because Johansen has more talent on the offensive side than Compher.

It wouldn’t be my preference though. My general thought is that having Mack and Mikko on seperate lines makes the team more difficult to defend.

 

[Balthazar]

Is it a bad thing that we would have 3 legit #1 defenders?

If they get paid like it then yes it's bad. You have to make choices in a salary cap world.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he tries Lehk/RYJO/Val as a second line to start the season.

Bednar isn't a fan of having Lehky and Nuke on the same line.

Anyway, if Drouin is playing with Mack these two need a defensive forward to help them defensively, that guy isn't Rants.

 

[Vaslof]

Is it a bad thing that we would have 3 legit #1 defenders?

Nope. The money's the problem. We'd have to trade Girard and give up any hope of re-signing Rantanen.

 

[Balthazar]

I am in the camp that Toews has to be signed going into this year or traded. Hopefully they learned their lesson with Statsny and Landeskog you can't wait until they play out their last season unless the player is unwilling to talk extension then you trade them.

They literally just let Kadri walk because he was old and wanted term. Toews is in the same boat.

If they keep Toews as their own rental it's like trading him for a 1st rd pick ++. It would cost that much to get him as a rental at 4.1M and since they already have him they don't have to spend the assets.

 

[Andrew Wiggin]

They literally just let Kadri walk because he was old and wanted term. Toews is in the same boat.

If they keep Toews as their own rental it's like trading him for a 1st rd pick ++. It would cost that much to get him as a rental at 4.1M and since they already have him they don't have to spend the assets.

Good point, though it is possible that Kadri wasn't willing to talk extension the summer before his last year. I also think they did ultimately make an attempt last year to sign him, even if it wasnt a big push.

 

[UnkleKraker]

Seravalli posted this today:



I clicked on the original Tweet to read the comments. Let's just say that they didn't age well.

Most fans don't fully understand the difference between a 25 yo and a 30 yo for a hockey player and are looking at what they have done instead of what they will do.

I find this very relevant to the Dunn vs Toews situation.

Eating crow confession. I initially thought Fla got fleeced bad in this trade because I felt Tkachuk had just come off an outlier year and didn't much care for his game. Last year abolished any idea that was true. Calgary got a decent hall but did d*ck all with it last season. The trade could look better in the future but at the moment Fla is the one that fleeced Cgy.

 

[Belgican]

Absolutely not. We don't know yet what Byram can do and we don't know if Toews is going to keep regressing, which would make him cheaper later.

What if Toews has a carreer year and wins another Cup ?

 

[Balthazar]

What if Toews has a carreer year and wins another Cup ?

Won't cost significantly more than he does now.

 

[Gumballhead]

What if Toews has a carreer year and wins another Cup ?

I’d take that, even if it meant having to pay more or even lose him. Cups!

 

[Belgican]

Won't cost significantly more than he does now.

I bet he will cost a lot more than if you sign him now, especially now that the cap is tight and that players sign for less, next year, everybody will want to be paid

 

[shadow1]

They literally just let Kadri walk because he was old and wanted term. Toews is in the same boat.

If they keep Toews as their own rental it's like trading him for a 1st rd pick ++. It would cost that much to get him as a rental at 4.1M and since they already have him they don't have to spend the assets.

Toews will be 30 this summer. Kadri was 32* last summer (signed a month shy of his 32nd b-day).

And the Avalanche did try to sign Kadri. Insiders had them in the mix until the very end, with rumors that they tried to trade Erik Johnson to free up cap room.

 

[Balthazar]

I bet he will cost a lot more than if you sign him now, especially now that the cap is tight and that players sign for less, next year, everybody will want to be paid

You think his agent doesn't know that the cap is going up? Unless he wins the Norris and gets an extra for that he can't really cost more.

He could cost less though...and he could cost even nothing if we choose to spend the money elsewhere because Byram can play with Makar.

 

[LOFIN]

Eating crow confession. I initially thought Fla got fleeced bad in this trade because I felt Tkachuk had just come off an outlier year and didn't much care for his game. Last year abolished any idea that was true. Calgary got a decent hall but did d*ck all with it last season. The trade could look better in the future but at the moment Fla is the one that fleeced Cgy.

I don't like reading stuff like this at all. If keeping Tkachuk was an option, would the Flames have kept him? Of course. They did well under the circumstances. We don't really know what else was out there, but I don't think a player like Huberdeau was available from somewhere else.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Bednar’s preference over the years has been to put MacKinnon and Rantanen together. Last year, he obviously realized his son’s limitations and had Mikko next to him for most of the year.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he tries Lehk/RYJO/Val as a second line to start the season. Simply because Johansen has more talent on the offensive side than Compher.

It wouldn’t be my preference though. My general thought is that having Mack and Mikko on seperate lines makes the team more difficult to defend.

Lehky and Val need to be split up. They don't work great together, they're too similar and take up a lot of the same spots on the ice.

 

[MacKaRant]

That's selling Byram short. It wouldn't be surprising if he's better than Toews as soon as next season. If Byram didn't exist then yeah we would have to sign Toews no matter the cost.

I think you're selling Toews short actually. He's just oh so reliable in all three zones and can chip in offensively in a selective and controlled fashion.

We can all see the potential of Byram, but he still lacks a great deal of maturity in his game, which has been exacerbated by all the health problems. I don't think he bridges that maturity gap in one season and I don't think the ceiling I see in his puck skills and offensive creativity are THAT much better than Toews'. Certainly below a few notches below Makar though.

I would love for both of us to be wrong though. Toews regains the form he showed in 2021-2022 regular season and in the playoff series against the Kraken, Byram stays healthy and takes major strides in his three-zone game, and collectively the board can't decide which one is more important to our team.

 

[Belgican]

You think his agent doesn't know that the cap is going up? Unless he wins the Norris and gets an extra for that he can't really cost more.

He could cost less though...and he could cost even nothing if we choose to spend the money elsewhere because Byram can play with Makar.

That’s what I mean, if the Avs lose Toews, their window closes, no way we can compete with Makar and Byram only, you really need Toews, he’s the highest priority to sign now, if the Avs are really serious at keeping their window open, they need to secure Toews … as soon as possible, for the price he deserves … now ! Why take the risk to wait ?

 

[MacKaRant]

That’s what I mean, if the Avs lose Toews, their window closes, no way we can compete with Makar and Byram only, you really need Toews, he’s the highest priority to sign now, if the Avs are really serious at keeping their window open, they need to secure Toews … as soon as possible, for the price he deserves … now ! Why take the risk to wait ?

I don't think the price is going up that drastically, and waiting gives us more information about the progression / regression of our three highly paid LDs. Plus, I hate to say it, but waiting allows us to make sure there is no major injury suffered between now and when his next contract starts.

I was speculating a couple days ago whether the team is actively negotiating with Toews' agent. The more I think about it, the less it makes sense to try to hammer something out now, unless we can get him signed for significantly below (something like $750K or $1M less) what we're projecting he gets on the market.

The motivation for Toews signing earlier is security against major injury, security against major regression (unlikely), family stability in Colorado, getting to play with Makar for more years, and potentially an eighth contract year.

 

[Balthazar]

That’s what I mean, if the Avs lose Toews, their window closes, no way we can compete with Makar and Byram only, you really need Toews, he’s the highest priority to sign now, if the Avs are really serious at keeping their window open, they need to secure Toews … as soon as possible, for the price he deserves … now ! Why take the risk to wait ?

If he ends up 2nd pair on year 1 of that new contract and we can't keep Rantanen because of that cap hit do you still want to keep him?

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

 

[shadow1]

If he ends up 2nd pair on year 1 of that new contract and we can't keep Rantanen because of that cap hit do you still want to keep him?

Colorado's #4 (Girard) and #5 (Manson) defensemen make a combined $9.5M.

Both are nice pieces to have, but aren't fundamental parts of what make the Avalanche great.

Toews and Rantanen are easily retainable by moving those two.

 

[niwotsblessing]

If he ends up 2nd pair on year 1 of that new contract and we can't keep Rantanen because of that cap hit do you still want to keep him?

Toews has exceptional synergy with Cale, splitting them up doesn't make sense. The real hope is that Byram can grow into being a force on the 2nd pair so that we have two ridiculous defensive tandems to control the ice and win Cups.

 

[CobraAcesS]

Lehky and Val need to be split up. They don't work great together, they're too similar and take up a lot of the same spots on the ice.

Yeah, it's pointless

I'm open on Nuke or Lehky on the top line though. Really depends on who they're playing and chemistry. Nuke up there adds size and Lehky makes that line faster.