Rumor: 2023-2024 Trade Rumors and Free Agency: Offseason Edition

[atreyuavenged]

Sign bjugstad(or kampf), puljujarvi (or engvall), orlov (or Gustafson)

Trade Girard, toews, newhook, 1st for a 2c and 3c

Also don't worry about landeskogs cap hit until after he actually skates. Until then it's money that should be spent.

Wouldn't mind Kampf. Could slot in as 3C or 4C. Probably one of the Leafs best players this playoffs.

 

[Foppa2118]

Huh? They gave up what 13 goals in 5 games(and 2 OT's) against Florida? That's not that problematic at all. The problem is their Mackinnon equivalent scoring 0 goals in a 5 game series and only scoring 10 goals in a 5 game series. The defense is fine.

Mikko had 1 goal in the Blues series. He had 0 goals in the Tampa series. But other guys stepped up. Especially on D.

You need offense from your defense in the playoffs, because you can't shut them down, the way you can forwards. They're an X factor. When it's a tight low scoring game, a goal or a big shot or play from a defenseman is often the difference in a game. And all the games in the Leafs-Panthers series were close.

Matthews and Marner not producing was an issue, and I've always thought they're too soft in the playoffs, but teams can win despite their stars not scoring in a round. Happens to star players in at least one round of most deep playoff runs. Teams find a way to shut them down, but a good well rounded team still wins.

The problem is Toronto had no equivalent to the Avs D core to compensate for them getting shut down.

Leafs in 11 Games

Rielly - 4 goals 12 points
Brodie - 0 goals 3 points
McCabe - 0 goals 2 points
Giordando - 0 goals 2 points
Gustaffson - 1 goal 1 point
Holl - 0 goals 1 point
Schenn - 0 goals 1 point
Liljegren - 0 goals 0 points

Avs in 20 Games

Makar - 8 goals 29 points
Toews - 5 goals 15 points
Byram - 0 goals 9 points
Manson - 3 goals 8 points
EJ - 1 goal 5 points
Girard* - 1 goal 3 points

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

That just seems crazy cheap. Is he a UFA at the end of next season? Also he's playing center regularly now?

He's a bit of a weird one. He's an RFA this summer so technically not even signed for next year... If he signs his QO with Winnipeg then he's got 1 year at $6M then becomes a UFA. He doesn't want to be in Winnipeg we know that, so he probably will just sign the QO if they don't move him beforehand.

What we don't know is whether it's him just not wanting to be in Winnipeg and Columbus before(Which is certainly possible) but would be happy to sign elsewhere where he'd rather be... Or if he's strictly waiting until UFA to sign with Montreal and that's it.

If Montreal is the only place he'll sign long term, then he's not gonna be worth much as teams won't want to pay a lot for a guy knowing he's just walking away in a year. If he's open to signing elsewhere long term his value probably increases a fair bit.

 

[Foppa2118]

Yeah, for me it's about slotting and both Toronto and Edmonton are terrible at evaluating their own players and where they should slot in.

Toronto
#1 -
#2 - Rielly
#3 -
#4 - Brodie / McCabe
#5 - Holl
#6 - Giordano / Schenn

I've said it before but they needed to get someone to slot in beside Rielly that's a true top pairing instead of giving up a ton of assets for RoR, Lafferty, McCabe, etc. Instead they brought in McCabe who is in no way a top pair guy so they have another Brodie who is also playing too high in the lineup. Massive fail and poor evaluation of their own team. If you have 1 hole on the middle pair, you can probably get away with it even though it's not ideal but not two.

Edmonton
#1 -
#2 -
#3 -
#4 - Nurse / Ekholm / Bouchard
#5 - Kulak / Ceci /
#6 - Bromberg / Desharnais

I see the loilers defense this way and even though Ekholm seemed rejuvenated after the trade, that guy is at best a #4 and not trending upwards. Nurse gets paid a ton of money and might play a lot of minutes but he's SO bad defensively that I can't even honestly rate him any higher than a #4. I've always liked Bouchard and I think he gets there eventually but he's not there yet. You can't win with holes like that unless they are getting 10 powerplays per game AND their goaltending saves their bacon.

Exactly. And how much do those D cores resemble the Avs with Barrie and EJ in bigger roles than they should have played, and a bunch of crap below them?

EJ was a 2/3 playing as a #1 for years. Barrie was a #3 playing as a 1/2. Then a bunch of third pairing and worse guys on the second and third pair.

Problems with quality at both the top and bottom of the depth chart on defense, with guys playing higher than they should.

Avs never had a team that could challenge for the Cup until they addressed that.

They brought in Girard, Cale, and Byram to improve the quality at the top of the D core. Then brought in JJ and Manson with EJ in a lesser role as he aged, to improve the quality at the bottom of the D core. Then they dominated and won the Cup.

 

[The Puckhound]

He's been on my mind as well. I think they slotted him more at wing last year, so I wonder if they'll let Killorn walk and aim to keep him longterm.

Interesting- I thought he was more of a pure C type, did he just play wing due to depth? If I'm not mistaken the raises for Cirelli, Cernak and Sergachev all start next season so they might not be able to afford him even if Killorn's on the outs.

Also after they gave up 9,000 picks for Jeannot he's an RFA and I feel like they will prioritize signing him lol

 

[Balthazar]

Why is Killorn's name even mentioned in this thread? Do we look like we can sign 34 yo wingers making 4M+?

 

[The Puckhound]

Why is Killorn's name even mentioned in this thread? Do we look like we can sign 34 yo wingers making 4M+?

I f***ed up the quoting and I think the original premise was lost here. Me and the other poster were discussing the possibility of Ross Colton to shore up the center depth.

Killorn was only mentioned in reference to if Tampa would let him walk and free up space to resign Colton themselves.

 

[CobraAcesS]

Byram definitely comes across as having the same sort of pride/confidence that Zadorov has, so I agree with others that he will always be tough to negotiate. The problem is if he's too prideful to see if he deserves a lot for playing an absolute bare minimum of games thus far in his career.

Backlund is my target for a centre, especially over MS55. Scheifele absolutely helps on the PP and 5v5 scoring, but there is so much more that is required to win hockey games and Backlund does that "so much more" stuff.


Nylander probably costs Byram because why would Leafs take anybody worse than him?

He's a bit of a weird one. He's an RFA this summer so technically not even signed for next year... If he signs his QO with Winnipeg then he's got 1 year at $6M then becomes a UFA. He doesn't want to be in Winnipeg we know that, so he probably will just sign the QO if they don't move him beforehand.

What we don't know is whether it's him just not wanting to be in Winnipeg and Columbus before(Which is certainly possible) but would be happy to sign elsewhere where he'd rather be... Or if he's strictly waiting until UFA to sign with Montreal and that's it.

If Montreal is the only place he'll sign long term, then he's not gonna be worth much as teams won't want to pay a lot for a guy knowing he's just walking away in a year. If he's open to signing elsewhere long term his value probably increases a fair bit.

I can see that, and Montreal is the easiest with what happened with Tavares, Parise, Suter, the last few people who were linked to NY, but I actually don't believe they all in every instance had their minds made up.

I did see he'd been playing center more somewhere too.

If he can actually be had for something that isn't extremely important it would be worth it.

We'll also probably have an idea of if Landeskog is making real recovery progress, and can figure out how to move forward. He's either going to be able to make progress, or he isn't.

If PLD works as the 2C, you do what you need to in order to lock that in, and that includes trading any non core piece.

I think our top two centers, a couple of heavy wingers and the obvious other three, four if you include the #1G are where we need to lock in our cap. Maybe the 3C. Everything else is the best you can find for the money, and the type of player you can actually trade for.

Landy's money has to go to the 2C. If he returns you find somewhere else to take it from.

Unless it's a young core player, I like the idea of trading for someone like Bennett though, who can be good in the position and on a cheap contract. We're not necessarily locked into either path I guess.

 

[PAZ]

Dubois would by #1 centre target for the upcoming season. Most likely a rental, but theres a chance he likes Denver.

Also a small chance Montreal won’t want Dubois if they draft Smith, as they’ll have Suzuki/Dach/Smith up the middle.

 

[Alienblood]

Go and get Alexander Barabanov Sharks somehow.

Edit: Hertl too

 

[Grackle Party]

Dubois would by #1 centre target for the upcoming season. Most likely a rental, but theres a chance he likes Denver.

Also a small chance Montreal won’t want Dubois if they draft Smith, as they’ll have Suzuki/Dach/Smith up the middle.

I think Dach is a wing now

 

[Balthazar]

I think Dach is a wing now

No he's their 2C. He's been pretty damn good at center too in the 2nd half of the season.

Montreal is likely drafting a defenseman or Michkov, Smith won't be there at 5.

 

[Balthazar]

 

[Oblivion Beckons]

Please no. Not a player that belongs anywhere near the Avs.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

I just want guys that contribute something when they aren’t contributing offensively. We had way too many guys that don’t add anything when they aren’t scoring. For some guys it was age, some engagement, some just general lack of ability

 

[Foppa2118]

Drouin seems like he would find his way into Bednar's doghouse in about five seconds and never really claw his way out.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

Drouin seems like he would find his way into Bednar's doghouse in about five seconds and never really claw his way out.

That or he’d somehow pull off a late career version of Guy Carbonneau where he goes from a known offensive weapon to entirely focusing on defense

 

[Foppa2118]

I just want guys that contribute something when they aren’t contributing offensively. We had way too many guys that don’t add anything when they aren’t scoring. For some guys it was age, some engagement, some just general lack of ability

I think this was mostly an issue because injuries made the team too reliant on them. Mainly guys like Malgin and Newhook.

Possibly a bigger issue was guys that fit the team well or provide things when they aren't scoring, but provided no offense. Like Nieto, LOC, and Eller. Compher falls into that category too because his offense disappeared.

In the end though both wouldn't have been much of an issue if the team was relatively healthy.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

Drouin seems like he would find his way into Bednar's doghouse in about five seconds and never really claw his way out.

I think that’s very much true.

Best case scenario would be a Burakovsky-like situation, where he brings some offence, but is benched when Bednar is irritated with his game. There are worse case scenarios though.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

I think this was mostly an issue because injuries made the team too reliant on them. Mainly guys like Malgin and Newhook.

Possibly a bigger issue was guys that fit the team well or provide things when they aren't scoring, but provided no offense. Like Nieto, LOC, and Eller. Compher falls into that category too because his offense disappeared.

In the end though both wouldn't have been much of an issue if the team was relatively healthy.

I would agree that a part was due to injuries, but I also feel like we had too many floaters on the team. Compher and Newhook are supposed to be skill guys but they brought very little of that. I actually felt Eller had a decent showing and he’d be fine as a 4C next year if he’s willing to take a paycut. I thought Malgin actually showed some good things, but then Bednar didn’t seem to trust him. The depth guys just didn’t ever seem to be able to get up to speed to actually hem the Kraken in.

I don’t think this team can just rely on outspending and out-skilling teams anymore. They’ll have to change that formula, and I think part of that needs to come in the form of some physicality from the lesser skilled players. You can do a lot with a forecheck that skates fast, is relentless and can throw some good hits.

 

[Avaholic29]

It’d be foolish not to try drouin if he was dirt cheap. I’d much rather have drouin in the line up than dumpster diving with ahl call ups or nieto types all season like we just did.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

I'd take Drouin on a league minimum deal for sure. If it doesn't work, he just getd buried in the AHL or is the 13th forward all year or whatever. No real harm done.


If it does work, depending on just how well it works, you could get a 3rd line guy that can chip in 35-40 points and help PP2 for dirt cheap, or you could even get a 60+ point Top 6 winger for Mackinnon for 800k, meaning our 2nd line automatically gets significantly stronger as one of Lehky or Mikko slots down into that spot.


Drouin has shown the ability to be a Top 6 forward before. Who knows what getting out of Montreal and getting on a cup contender with one of his good buddies could do to his motivation levels.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

I got no problems giving Drouin a PTO. But that's the only thing he's given. He's gotta earn everything else.

 

[Foppa2118]

I would agree that a part was due to injuries, but I also feel like we had too many floaters on the team. Compher and Newhook are supposed to be skill guys but they brought very little of that. I actually felt Eller had a decent showing and he’d be fine as a 4C next year if he’s willing to take a paycut. I thought Malgin actually showed some good things, but then Bednar didn’t seem to trust him. The depth guys just didn’t ever seem to be able to get up to speed to actually hem the Kraken in.

I don’t think this team can just rely on outspending and out-skilling teams anymore. They’ll have to change that formula, and I think part of that needs to come in the form of some physicality from the lesser skilled players. You can do a lot with a forecheck that skates fast, is relentless and can throw some good hits.

I liked Eller for the most part too. I hope they bring him back on a cheap deal.

He just provided zero offense. But Bednar's system is hard to adjust to. You have to hustle your butt off your entire shift both when you have the puck and when you don't, and then calm yourself down in the O zone to make a play and bury your chances. That's hard to do.

The role player types usually play better in their second seasons with the Avs, so maybe that'll be the case with Eller.

Regarding your last point, most of the Avs success actually does come from their attacking forecheck as well as their committed defense. Both play a big part in getting their stars the puck.

They just didn't have the talent to score this year with the depleted lineup.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

After a 2C Engval would be a very high target if I were the Avs.