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

[redacted]

2C is top priority obviously but Im pretty dang hot for Ivan Barabshev in UFA

IMO the Avs should not be looking to a wing to spend 5++m on. I think they will grab one this summer, but I hope they avoid this trap.

Barbie does look very good and fits incredibly well on Vegas... which is why they likely re-sign him. They'll have cap space to make it work since they don't really have any major signings they have to make and roughly have $9.25m in cap space.

God bless anyone who is ready to slot Compher into top 6 spot or to give him money AND term.

Oh it is going to be a disaster... I just hope it isn't here.

 

[Bender]

IMO the Avs should not be looking to a wing to spend 5++m on. I think they will grab one this summer, but I hope they avoid this trap.

Barbie does look very good and fits incredibly well on Vegas... which is why they likely re-sign him. They'll have cap space to make it work since they don't really have any major signings they have to make and roughly have $9.25m in cap space.


Oh it is going to be a disaster... I just hope it isn't here.

Cap space is NEVER an issue for the golden ******. I'm quite sure Mark Stone's back will likely be out for next year's regular season too.

 

[redacted]

Cap space is NEVER an issue for the golden ******. I'm quite sure Mark Stone's back will likely be out for next year's regular season too.

Frankly, cap space is only an issue if you let it be. Teams have shown different ways of attacking it and it working.

 

[McMetal]

Oh it is going to be a disaster... I just hope it isn't here.

I know it seems like an obvious move, but I could see him being a decent signing for Chicago. Not because he's good, but because they're still going to be pretty bad next year even with Bedard, and they'll need warm bodies for their "top six" who can "play center". They could do worse for a 2C if the intention is to rebuild properly. Their team is a shambles right now and Bedard isn't going to cure those woes by himself.

Then again, they might just consider nabbing Bedard "rebuild complete" and go make bigger splashes in UFA. I've seen dumber things happen.

 

[Avs9296]

The problem I have with Compher isn't his skillset or how many points he can produce, it's that he's downright LAZY half the time. He goes long stretches (typically post trade deadline) where he just mails it in. He did it on the first 2 years of his four year deal, and for the last half of this year. It's absolutely infuriating. He skates around with his stick in the air and doesn't engage in any battles.

For me it's a hard pass at almost any price. It's time to move on.

 

[EXTRAS]

Anyone think he can hit 50 points again?

Compher, I mean.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Anyone think he can hit 50 points again?

Compher, I mean.

Yeah. A players production is tied into ice time and opportunity far more then people on here want to believe.

If JTC goes to a team like Chicago next year and continues to get 18-20 minutes a night for them with favorable PP time, and if he's playing meaningful minutes with Bedard, he'll get 50 again. Might even flirt with 60.

 

[dahrougem2]

J.T. Compher has Chicago written all over him. They are going to draft Bedard, they want to "insulate" him with "championship vets" etc, etc. They'll see the local boy who has a Stanley Cup and just had the best season of his career.

Would not surprise me in the least to see them offer him a 5 year, 27 million dollar contract with a full NMC

 

[redacted]

Compher would need a lot of minutes and 1st unit PP time to replicate his season. If he goes to a team without much depth, I could see him replicating for a season or two. If he goes to a deeper team (even if not good) like say LA... he's going to be back around 30 points real quick.

If JTC could consistently play with a high motor, he'd easily be a 2C. We've all seen those spurts where he's on and he's playing with intensity. He's a fantastic player in those moments and would easily be worth whatever contract he gets. The problem is you get ~15-20 of those games per season and the rest of the year you actively hate his play. At 23/24... you just hoped it would come around. At 28... he is what he is.

 

[Pokecheque]

The problem I have with Compher isn't his skillset or how many points he can produce, it's that he's downright LAZY half the time. He goes long stretches (typically post trade deadline) where he just mails it in. He did it on the first 2 years of his four year deal, and for the last half of this year. It's absolutely infuriating. He skates around with his stick in the air and doesn't engage in any battles.

For me it's a hard pass at almost any price. It's time to move on.

I've never really considered it laziness per se. There just come stretches where he either loses confidence or just plain doesn't know where to go. When he's going all out and battling for the puck along the boards, crashing the net, and challenging point shooters, he's aces. When he's reluctant and floating above the boards and generally chasing the play in the defensive zone, that's when he's at his worst.

That said, I absolutely would not throw long term $$$ at him. Honestly I kinda hope he lands in Chicago. His hometown (or close to it) a rink where he generally plays his best hockey, and the franchise is in rebuilding mode so expectations won't be all that high. He'd be the perfect transition guy as they ease Bedard into the league.

That said, f*** the Hawks.

 

[CobraAcesS]

I've never really considered it laziness per se. There just come stretches where he either loses confidence or just plain doesn't know where to go. When he's going all out and battling for the puck along the boards, crashing the net, and challenging point shooters, he's aces. When he's reluctant and floating above the boards and generally chasing the play in the defensive zone, that's when he's at his worst.

That said, I absolutely would not throw long term $$$ at him. Honestly I kinda hope he lands in Chicago. His hometown (or close to it) a rink where he generally plays his best hockey, and the franchise is in rebuilding mode so expectations won't be all that high. He'd be the perfect transition guy as they ease Bedard into the league.

That said, f*** the Hawks.

Fatigue would explain a lot of that, but he's just shown that he steps down once rewarded. Probably a combination of both.

 

[niwotsblessing]

You'd think a 'ginger' like JTC would have more fire and verve in his game. He collected points playing with Moose and Nuke, after he signs with the B-Hawks he won't break double-digits in goals. On top of which his lack of a consistent physical game leaves much to be desired. Taken as a whole, Compher sucks.

 

[Balthazar]

When he's reluctant and floating above the boards and generally chasing the play in the defensive zone, that's when he's at his worst.

But that's what he is the vast majority of the time!

I don't think it's laziness either, he never was a top 6 player in the NHL and shouldn't play there.

 

[redacted]

You'd think a 'ginger' like JTC would have more fire and verve in his game. He collected points playing with Moose and Nuke, after he sings with the B-Hawks he won't break double-digits in goals. On top of which his lack of a consistent physical game leaves much to be desired. Taken as a whole, Compher sucks.

There are many things to bitch about with JTC... but his history shows he's a near lock for double digit goals. Only in one season has he failed to hit that number and he played 21 games that season. Never crossing 30a, I could get behind that prediction... but he's scoring 12-17 goals next year if he isn't injured.

 

[Balthazar]

he's scoring 12-17 goals next year if he isn't injured.

Perhaps, but he'd score a hat trick in one game, have a couple of 2-goal games and then 3-4 games where he'd score one goal.

That means ~75 games without a JTC goal per season.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Perhaps, but he'd score a hat trick in one game, have a couple of 2-goal games and then 3-4 games where he'd score one goal.

That means ~75 games without a JTC goal per season.

I mean that’s most 3rd and 4th liners tbf?

 

[redacted]

Perhaps, but he'd score a hat trick in one game, have a couple of 2-goal games and then 3-4 games where he'd score one goal.

That means ~75 games without a JTC goal per season.

That's not really accurate... JTC had 1 multi goal game this season (2 goals vs Buffalo). He had 2 last season (both 2 goal games). In fact, he's only had 8 multi goal games in his whole career and one hat trick.

 

[Pokecheque]

Fatigue would explain a lot of that, but he's just shown that he steps down once rewarded. Probably a combination of both.

Eh, I think it was a combination of things.

I get that more than a fair chunk of this is my own conjecture, but I think it's...mostly true.

JTC started out as an all-out grinder, threw himself in front of every shot, also scrapped like hell in the offensive zone. He also got hurt a lot. Things went completely south after Kerfoot was dealt and he was tabbed as the 3C going forward. He knew he couldn't play the way he was before and not risk further injury so he got hesitant and damn near played his way out of the NHL. He found his way a bit when they stuck him back on the wing but he continued to struggle when they put him back at center.

Broken record time--I still think it all changed once Helm arrived. That guy taught JTC how to be effective without necessarily selling out physically, especially on the penalty kill. I know there's a fairly strong argument that it kicked into gear the moment the team finally dealt Tyson Jost, but IMO we were seeing him start to "get it" well before that happened.

IMO the new contract and the bottom falling out of his game were a bit of a coincidence--they threw him into a role he simply wasn't ready for, and the things that got him to the NHL in the first place were kinda/sorta leading to too much injury and he couldn't immediately figure out how to balance it.

Again, I still don't think a long-term market-value deal is a good idea, especially for Colorado, but I hope he gets his $$$ regardless.

 

[Balthazar]

I mean that’s most 3rd and 4th liners tbf?

Yea but he plays on the 2nd line with PP1 opportunities

 

[The Abusement Park]

Yea but he plays on the 2nd line with PP1 opportunities

I mean this was the only year he was a legit 2nd line player. He’s had spot duty there, but the reason he does spot duty is because he isn’t good enough consistently to be a top 6 player. And bottom 6 guys scoring in waves is why they’re bottom 6 guys and not top 6 guys. If they scored consistently they wouldn’t be 3rd or 4th liners.

 

[Gumballhead]

I just don't understand. Compher might be versatile, but he's not great at anything. He is a decent 3rd liner, preferably winger, nothing more. How is he going to get 5M+ annually, wtf am I missing? I wouldn't give him over 3.5M.

He’s the kind of player Tampa retains for fantastic value. Hard to beat those tax savings and them beaches I guess.

 

[CobraAcesS]

Eh, I think it was a combination of things.

I get that more than a fair chunk of this is my own conjecture, but I think it's...mostly true.

JTC started out as an all-out grinder, threw himself in front of every shot, also scrapped like hell in the offensive zone. He also got hurt a lot. Things went completely south after Kerfoot was dealt and he was tabbed as the 3C going forward. He knew he couldn't play the way he was before and not risk further injury so he got hesitant and damn near played his way out of the NHL. He found his way a bit when they stuck him back on the wing but he continued to struggle when they put him back at center.

Broken record time--I still think it all changed once Helm arrived. That guy taught JTC how to be effective without necessarily selling out physically, especially on the penalty kill. I know there's a fairly strong argument that it kicked into gear the moment the team finally dealt Tyson Jost, but IMO we were seeing him start to "get it" well before that happened.

IMO the new contract and the bottom falling out of his game were a bit of a coincidence--they threw him into a role he simply wasn't ready for, and the things that got him to the NHL in the first place were kinda/sorta leading to too much injury and he couldn't immediately figure out how to balance it.

Again, I still don't think a long-term market-value deal is a good idea, especially for Colorado, but I hope he gets his $$$ regardless.

I could see that, it is a bit simple to just say a player is lazy, but the timing is interesting.

If he is really playing afraid sometimes I could see the decline at the TDL being a, oh shit I'm it type of thing.

You'd have to wonder how much he really wants to be a 2C at that point.

I'm just over it, but in weird way if he actually signs more of a 3C contract. He might actually try harder if he was conserving energy to play 2C. I can't remember the last time I seen it said, but players do that I think. Usually smarter ones though lol.

 

[shadow1]

	Age	Exp. Cap	GP	G	A	P	+/-
JT Compher	28	$3.50	423	88	106	194	-4
Andrew Copp (2022)	28	$3.64	483	82	120	202	+69

Both guys were coming off their first 50+ point season (52 for JT, 53 for Copp), and Compher has a better track record for injuries.

Copp received $5.65x5, I'm expecting something similar for Compher.

 

[redacted]

Copp actually took a bit less on the UFA market too as he wanted to be in Detroit. There will be a team that offers 6x6 for JTC... just about the situation and if he wants to be a part of it.

 

[Pokecheque]

I could see that, it is a bit simple to just say a player is lazy, but the timing is interesting.

If he is really playing afraid sometimes I could see the decline at the TDL being a, oh shit I'm it type of thing.

You'd have to wonder how much he really wants to be a 2C at that point.

I'm just over it, but in weird way if he actually signs more of a 3C contract. He might actually try harder if he was conserving energy to play 2C. I can't remember the last time I seen it said, but players do that I think. Usually smarter ones though lol.

I think that was more just him burning out a little like the rest of the team. I think he'll be fine with whatever role he's given, he, like any other player just wants to get a significant role and put into a position to succeed. The Avs IMO too often did not do the latter the last couple of years.