When you look at options for the 2C, it is going to be a bit complicated. Certainly, it can be addressed with enough will power as these guys move every year, but here's how I see it breaking down:
Rental Market:
Lindholm - He's really the only sure fire guy on this list. Legit top 6 (arguably 1C) where the bidding will be high and teams will want to re-sign him.
Monahan - Injuries are well documented, but also not sure of the fit. He doesn't skate any better than RyJo, but maybe has a touch more effort. Not an ideal guy in your top 6... maybe as a 4C/injury replacement.
Wennberg - He's not a 2C IMO and has similar effort faults at RyJo.
Older guys that may want to move:
Kadri - We know his fit here and he's playing at a very similar level to Lindholm. Probably cycles back in well. Contract will be bad in a couple years.
Hertl - Still playing well and would honestly fit very well, contract would take some maneuvering.
Jenner - Ideally more of a wing or 3C than a 2C, but good contract. Columbus moving their captain would be odd given the situation, but he'd be a good stopgap add.
Couturier - Lots of injury risk with a large amount of contract risk, who knows if Philly even wants to move him?
Gourde - With how the Avs' play, he might be the best stylistic fit. His ultimate offensive ceiling isn't where you'd ideally have a 2C, but controls the ice, plays hard and should push into the upper 40s on with 40+ of them at ES.
Young guys who have shown top 6 ability:
Cozens/Fatty - Fatty is easier to fit today and probably easier to trade for, but likely have less ultimate upside. Buffalo likely sees both as core guys, so price is probably through the roof.
Zegras - Taking some risk his game rounds out, but tons of upside here. Again core guy that you'd have to convinced Anaheim.
Lundell - This is a different type of risk.. he's pretty much played 3C and the offense hasn't come along. Maybe it is depth, maybe the reports of a lack of offensive upside were true. Probably could be had in a hockey trade that addresses their defense.
Sillinger - Columbus has some young guys who may push him down their ultimate lineup, struggled a lot since his rookie year.
Frost/Cates - Both had a brief blip up and showed some potential, both are struggling this year. Very risky options.
Typing all that out... most realistic options are probably Wennberg from the rental group, Gourde from the older group, Frost from the young group. Gourde is probably the closest to a 'solution' and he's probably a half to full step away from it.
Hey there’s different ways to get players going. Bednar is a players coach, he likely had the conversation with Rantanen to see what Rantanen thought would be best. Rantanen as a confident top player obviously asked for more ice time. Based on how he played last game I can’t imagine that continues much longer. That means he will soon get hit with the other easy options - reduced ice time and/or benching him.
What bothers me is that it appears to be a lack of effort that has led to poor play which has then eroded his confidence. He picks up points, but he’s not driving those points. If he can’t drive a line we have to call in to question what sort of contract the Avs should be willing to offer him in 2 years.
Totally agree with CMac, as I previously alluded to. Coming into the season most fans were aware that there was a high amount of risk given the large amount of roster turnover. I’m glad that the longer term signings have at least played well. With the patch work 2nd line players I think it’s safe to say we at best went 1/3 and that’s it Drouin stays healthy and continues to play with high effort.
Now that we have a better idea of what we have, it’s up to CMac to make this team a juggernaut. We still have pieces in both draft capital and young players to make that happen, if he fumbles it again this year and trades decent value for bad stop gaps I think that job he’s done needs to be looked at a bit harder.
Yeah I'm sure Rants had some words about it... but at the most simplistic, a player with Rantanen's skating isn't going to play with pace when he's out there for 27 minutes. Some of the best skaters, passers, and thinkers out there have issues with that much time. It is a rare skill.
