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

[Pokecheque]

Maybe we can convince Anaheim to take him back for a 6th or something lol

Would not be the first time (or even the second) that Anaheim brought back an aging defenseman they liked for twice the price.

 

[Nihiliste]

The worst part about the Manson deal is that they just didn’t need him. They had their top-4 penciled in, and EJ on the bottom pair. Why go out and spend $4.5mil on a 5th D when you needed a forward?

We all questioned whether neglecting the forward depth in favour of building the best D core in the NHL would be worth it…. It wasn’t

i think they need to trade G at this point, even though I’d rather keep him. They’ve tied their own hands with their current D core, as Manson has a NMC until next offseason

Right. I quite like Manson but it was a poor allocation of resources. Hopefully he gets healthy and has a good enough year to become traceable

 

[BobRossColton]

Orlov, Harrington, Soucy, Holl, Mikkola all their current or previous contracts are in the 1.5-3m range.

Gavrikov is who I'd target in Ufa, and use G to get Hayton+Valimaki.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

Manson will probably come back in better form after an off-season of healing, but the Avs don’t need a defender like him to be successful.

Look at how much better the Avs played when he was gone for games 6 and 7 of this series.

The Avs issues are far more tilted towards the forward side. This off-season should be all about the forward group.

Figure out if Nichushkin and Landeksog can play next season and then find a way to get a second line centre.

 

[Nihiliste]

Orlov, Harrington, Soucy, Holl, Mikkola all their current or previous contracts are in the 1.5-3m range.

Orlov is worth more for sure

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

So the consensus seems to be that a defenseman should be traded and it breaks down like this:

1. Girard - For a good return if possible but also to shed cap space
2. Byram - If the return is too good to pass up
3. Toews - If it's a legit hockey trade and brings in a Top 6 forward with term
4. Manson - See Girard (and not likely as Manson has a NTC)

The issue is Girard isn't likely to fetch a great return at this point IMO.

Maybe you do convince Buffalo of a Mittelstadt/Girard swap or Arizona with Hayton... But I don't think we're getting anything better then that. Now, it's possible a guy like Mittelstadt breaks out next year(And to be fair he had almost 60 points this year) does become a legit 2C, but he isn't a 100% for sure solution.


Whereas if you trade Byram or Toews you absolutely would get a guaranteed 2C solution for either of them.



The other direction they could go is to trade Girard simply for futures and cap space, and then flip those futures along with other pieces to solve the 2C spot. The question then is exactly what kind of futures can you get with Girard... Without taking any money back in the deal, I don't think you get much. Maybe a very late 1st and some C level prospect. If you take a bad contract back, then you might get some really nice futures but you're not creating the cap space needed to find the 2C either.

 

[Avs44]

I'm in the dump Girard for futures camp, at this point. Toews is too important to trade; he should be re-signed. Byram hasn't inspired a ton of confidence -- he's a very spotty second-pairing D (with high potential) right now.

 

[jaisen73]

Girard carrying 5 million is likely to require taking some salary back. But I'm cool with that so long as said player has less term still attached. The fact is that to address depth up front the Avs are going to have to give something up on the blue line and/or shed some salary. Girard would accomplish both. Arizona would be a prime candidate as they could be attracted to him still being young and can absorb that salary solely to reach the cap floor.

 

[Pokecheque]

Girard carrying 5 million is likely to require taking some salary back. But I'm cool with that so long as said player has less term still attached. The fact is that to address depth up front the Avs are going to have to give something up on the blue line and/or shed some salary. Girard would accomplish both. Arizona would be a prime candidate as they could be attracted to him still being young and can absorb that salary solely to reach the cap floor.

Yeah, if G is dealt it will be as part of a deal for a different veteran player.

 

[Foppa2118]

I'm not sure why Manson always gets evaluated based on how he played against a fast team with a high ankle sprain, that are notoriously easy to re-injure, and can severely limit your mobility.

Why evaluate him based on that and not the four round Cup win last season where he played well?

 

[dahrougem2]

Manson will probably come back in better form after an off-season of healing, but the Avs don’t need a defender like him to be successful.

Look at how much better the Avs played when he was gone for games 6 and 7 of this series.

The Avs issues are far more tilted towards the forward side. This off-season should be all about the forward group.

Figure out if Nichushkin and Landeksog can play next season and then find a way to get a second line centre.

I disagree. The Avs top 4 of Graves - Makar and Toews - Girard got bullied into submission vs Vegas in 2021. It was damn near consensus around here that the Avs needed a Manson style defensemen who could punish people and wouldn't get pushed around in battles to win in the playoffs.

He isn't amazing by any stretch but he absolutely adds a dimension to the team no other player can.

 

[Foppa2118]

Manson will probably come back in better form after an off-season of healing, but the Avs don’t need a defender like him to be successful.

Disagree on that. I think they definitely need a D man like Manson. Especially if EJ doesn't come back.

If EJ doesn't come back they'll have to add another big body. The top 4 is just a little too soft for a long playoff run. They would have had their hands full against a bigger Dallas team.

 

[The Abusement Park]

I'm not sure why Manson always gets evaluated based on how he played against a fast team with a high ankle sprain, that are notoriously easy to re-injure, and can severely limit your mobility.

Why evaluate him based on that and not the four round Cup win last season where he played well?

I mean he shouldn't have played in this series at all, he was clearly not healthy. But there's plenty of reason to be worried about Manson going forwards. He played 27 game this season, 67 last year, 23 the year before, and 50 the year before that. That's incredibly worrying.

 

[landstuhltaylor]

I'm not sure why Manson always gets evaluated based on how he played against a fast team with a high ankle sprain, that are notoriously easy to re-injure, and can severely limit your mobility.

Why evaluate him based on that and not the four round Cup win last season where he played well?

I expect him to be much better next year.

That said, he's on the wrong side of the hill and will be regressing every year. I like his game and I want him to succeed but I never did like the term he got.

 

[Foppa2118]

I mean he shouldn't have played in this series at all, he was clearly not healthy. But there's plenty of reason to be worried about Manson going forwards. He played 27 game this season, 67 last year, 23 the year before, and 50 the year before that. That's incredibly worrying.

It's the same as EJ. Ability to stay healthy is a concern, but the concern over ability to play when healthy is overstated.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

I disagree. The Avs top 4 of Graves - Makar and Toews - Girard got bullied into submission vs Vegas in 2021. It was damn near consensus around here that the Avs needed a Manson style defensemen who could punish people and wouldn't get pushed around in battles to win in the playoffs.

He isn't amazing by any stretch but he absolutely adds a dimension to the team no other player can.

I just don’t see it. I don’t understand how people look at Makar, Toews, and Byram and don’t see those guys as being able to move guys physically, because they absolutely do. It happens all the time. They’re the ones who play huge minutes for this team. Not EJ, not Manson. Those guys are just support pieces.

I think Makar is a different player than he was back then. Much more capable from a physical standpoint. G too, tbh. I thought Girard handled himself well physically in this series.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Florida and LA will both be all over Girard if he’s on the block.

 

[The Abusement Park]

It's the same as EJ. Ability to stay healthy is a concern, but the concern over ability to play when healthy is overstated.

Health is a very important thing. It doesn't matter how good you are if you're only available for basically half the games.

 

[Foppa2118]

Health is a very important thing. It doesn't matter how good you are if you're only available for basically half the games.

Depends on if he continues to miss as many games. Impossible to tell if this is just the variance of where his injured seasons will happen in his career, or a sign they will continue.

He was fairly healthy earlier in his career playing the same game. Played 67 games last year plus all 20 playoff games.

If he can stay in that 70ish regular season games and stay relatively healthy in the playoffs, that's good enough IMO. High ankle sprains are like season killers though.

 

[dahrougem2]

I just don’t see it. I don’t understand how people look at Makar, Toews, and Byram and don’t see those guys as being able to move guys physically, because they absolutely do. It happens all the time. They’re the ones who play huge minutes for this team. Not EJ, not Manson. Those guys are just support pieces.

I think Makar is a different player than he was back then. Much more capable from a physical standpoint. G too, tbh. I thought Girard handled himself well physically in this series.

I thought both Girard and Byram were abused physically in the series. Board battles and net front battles they got crushed.

 

[SirLoinOfCloth]

I actually didn't hate G this series. Sure he got outworked some but he also laid the body and pushed guys around he had no business doing so. Overall he was fine. He has some of his swag back with tornades. He didn't crumple under playoff pressure at least not from my point of view. He played I think 3rd most minutes of all players, behind Toews and Mack, most of which was not offensive zone starts. He was far from horrible in my mind.

 

[Balthazar]

Byram is like 20 lbs underweight. His body hasn't matured yet. He isn't small, he's just skinny.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

There’s a chance we add Kovalenko to our bottom 6 for the playoffs next year once his KHL season ends. That’s something to look forward to I guess lol

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Byram is like 20 lbs underweight. His body hasn't matured yet. He isn't small, he's just skinny.

Kid needs to hit the gym this summer or he's going to develop the beer gut before his man strength.

 

[sethro109]

Compher, go f*** up another teams 2nd line center spot you f***ing piece of shit.

Rodrigues, was on a show me contact. No way we get him back that cheap. We can't afford him.

Helm, he's done. Thank you for your service.

Cogliano, sadly I think he's also done. I'd be 100% down with him coming back in some sort of coaching/advisor role.

Eller, I'd be fine with bringing him back as our 3C if he's okay with a major pay decrease. I bet he ends up back in Washington though.

Nieto, he's not that great anymore, but if he wants back at league minimum he could still be a decent 4th liner.

Erik Johnson, I would bring him back a Vet minimum.

Jack Johnson, same as EJ.

Galchenyuk, our failed reclamation project is better off walking.


Hudo, let him walk and draft a new goalie in the later rounds.

Avs Notable RFAs:

Byram, must be brought back. I have no idea what kind of deal he's looking for, but we need to make it work.

Newhook, we should bring him back, but our fan base is completely done with him. For his own good I hope he gets traded. Because if he's not automatically a 60 point player in your first 2 years you're clearly a washed up bust.

Meyers, he's starting to look good. I can see him on the 3rd line next year. I can also see him going to arbitration though.

Malgin, we should definitely bring him back. He showed flashes and seemed to fit the system well. Should be pretty cheap too.

Ranta, I think his time with the Avs has probably come to an end. We should see if anyone else has a player in a similar situation that we can swap him for.

Maltsev, I don't know why he wasn't given more time with the Avs this year. I thought he was pretty good as a 4th liner. I bet he'll be back.

Merkley, he's still new here. Back with the eagles, then wait and see.

Clurman, I don't even know who this is.

Annunen, still very young for a goalie prospect. Definitely bring him back and see what happens with his development.