Rumor: 2023-24 Trade Rumors and Free Agency: Part Deux

[Foppa2118]

I honestly don’t think Byram has been all that bad. The forwards are the issue right now, and they’re turning the puck over constantly.

He hasn't. He hasn't at all, he's been fine. It's just a few of his haters that never liked his draft pick, who take every opportunity to exaggerate things, and try to make people think like they do.

Then like with most narratives here, the sheer repetition of the same comments convince people into thinking if someone is saying the same thing over and over very confidently it must be true. But it's not. It's just bias and false narratives.

To claim that Byram has been worse without Girard is just 100% pure bullshit. The Girard-Byram pairing wasn't working, and neither were playing as well as they're capable. Conversely the Byram-Manson combo looked very solid at first, and both were playing some of their best hockey of the season.

The team in general is just in a funk right now. Has very little to do with G. Girard's absence isn't why Mikko, Colton, Val, and Makar stopped finding the back of the net, the PP stopped working, or why goaltenders are letting in iffy goals.

 

[JH21]

He hasn't. He hasn't at all, he's been fine. It's just a few of his haters that never liked his draft pick, who take every opportunity to exaggerate things, and try to make people think like they do.

Then like with most narratives here, the sheer repetition of the same comments convince people into thinking if someone is saying the same thing over and over very confidently it must be true. But it's not. It's just bias and false narratives.

To claim that Byram has been worse without Girard is just 100% pure bullshit. The Girard-Byram pairing wasn't working, and neither were playing as well as they're capable. Conversely the Byram-Manson combo looked very solid at first, and both were playing some of their best hockey of the season.

The team in general is just in a funk right now. Has very little to do with G. Girard's absence isn't why Mikko, Colton, Val, and Makar stopped finding the back of the net, the PP stopped working, or why goaltenders are letting in iffy goals.

Amen.

I've been saying the same thing for quite a while. Guys in here just spout garbage over and over on repeate and everyone else jumps on the bandwagon even if it isn't true.

It's like some psychological experiment to have this need to fit in, have the exact same viewpoints and don't be any different than the herd. They will jump on the latest fad and do whatever it takes to fit in for some online social cred.

The same thing is happening in society. There are very few critical thinkers who can objectively think for themselves.

Most people want to be led are there are very few leaders.

 

[Grigowski]

Regarding Byram:

If he becomes (or stays) a Top 4 D-Man for us, with potential, I am happy. The way he played during our cup-run seems to be forgotten pretty soon.

Not to mention the concussion-history.

Bowen Byram was a good pick. It´s the Duncan Siemens, Connor Bleackley and Martin Kaut´s that hurt us every f***ing time.

 

[Frenchy]

Perhaps. But assuming value was part of the consideration, it was a decent idea. If you’re going to play the ad hominem game, you should focus on the good as well as the bad.

Personally, was hoping they’d sign Danault at the time.

That would have solved all the Avs 2C problems for years

 

[BobRossColton]

Danault does have a m-ntc starting next year...buyout RyJo, send them G+

 

[Ararana]

If cMac's plan all along was to extend Toews and commit to the super short window, he should have just given Kadri the few extra million and term he wanted and shot Girard into the sun to pay for it.

I have zero faith he's capable of pulling a legit 2C at this point, and that's assuming he even wants one - which have have huge doubts on. Avs management has proven they don't prioritize the 2C position then go pikachu surprise face when it bites them in the ass every year.

BTW are we allowed to shit on cMac again, or are we still getting publicly flogged for that? Him and Sakic have been pretty f***ing terrible since the cup win. But he swapped Newhook for Colton and a Russian kid so we pretend they haven't.

Centre or not I would force Mikko to play C to get him to move his fat ass

I'm sure that's going to go over well in 6 months when they're trying to convince him to take less money to stay on a shitty team.

 

[redacted]

We beat LA, Carolina Jersey, Dallas, Vancouver, Minnesota and Tampa Bay already.

Are there some mystery teams left that we don't know about that we are yet to play?

NHL Strength of Schedule Rankings

Strength of Schedule Played and Strength of Schedule Remaining for all 31 NHL teams.

powerrankingsguru.com

NHL Western Conference Strength of Schedule

The Strength of Schedule table presents the winning percentages for each team and three different grouping of its opponents.

www.playoffstatus.com

Brian's 2023-2024 NHL hockey power ratings

NHL Team Strength of Schedule Leaders 2023-24? | Team Rankings

Which team leads the NHL in strength of schedule? With reference to the 2023-24 campaign, the Anaheim Ducks are in first place in SOS with 0.26.

www.statspros.com

All of those have the Avs between 26-30 in strength of schedule. Completely your choice if you want to ignore the data.

 

[redacted]

If cMac's plan all along was to extend Toews and commit to the super short window, he should have just given Kadri the few extra million and term he wanted and shot Girard into the sun to pay for it.

I have zero faith he's capable of pulling a legit 2C at this point, and that's assuming he even wants one - which have have huge doubts on. Avs management has proven they don't prioritize the 2C position then go pikachu surprise face when it bites them in the ass every year.

BTW are we allowed to shit on cMac again, or are we still getting publicly flogged for that? Him and Sakic have been pretty f***ing terrible since the cup win. But he swapped Newhook for Colton and a Russian kid so we pretend they haven't.



I'm sure that's going to go over well in 6 months when they're trying to convince him to take less money to stay on a shitty team.

IMO CMac was dealt a bit of a bad hand to start and he made a couple rookie moves. The cap situation was written on the wall for years prior CMac taking over and really he has had to deal with the worst two years of it in recent times since taking over. Combine that with typical rookie GM moves in the Manson re-signing, being naturally too conservative, etc and you have a predictable situation.

The Avs went risk/reward this offseason not because they wanted to, but because they had to. You don't willingly go after RyJo, you go after him because you are looking for a bargain with upside.

Now that isn't to say CMac is free from criticism, just more along the idea that the job he inherited was bound to be really bumpy for a few years and expectations were through the roof.

 

[Rumplesnipeskin]

He hasn't. He hasn't at all, he's been fine. It's just a few of his haters that never liked his draft pick, who take every opportunity to exaggerate things, and try to make people think like they do.

Then like with most narratives here, the sheer repetition of the same comments convince people into thinking if someone is saying the same thing over and over very confidently it must be true. But it's not. It's just bias and false narratives.

To claim that Byram has been worse without Girard is just 100% pure bullshit. The Girard-Byram pairing wasn't working, and neither were playing as well as they're capable. Conversely the Byram-Manson combo looked very solid at first, and both were playing some of their best hockey of the season.

The team in general is just in a funk right now. Has very little to do with G. Girard's absence isn't why Mikko, Colton, Val, and Makar stopped finding the back of the net, the PP stopped working, or why goaltenders are letting in iffy goals.

I thought Byram looked noticeably better after moving to the left side on a more permanent basis. He has been up and down like the rest of the team, more the rule than the exception.

For those hoping he will be a Heiskanen / Makar because of his draft spot, he just flat out never was, and never will be, that player. He will still likely have a solid career, and he can accomplish that in Colorado if he grows into a consistent second pairing DMan

 

[AllAboutAvs]

Almost everybody here except a very few of us wanted Sakic fired during his first couple of years. CMac has taken over as GM at a very tough time cap-wise. You combine the usual cap issues a team faces after winning a Stanley Cup along with the last two years of flat cap and nobody should be surprised that he is struggling putting forward a balance team. He hasn't been perfect by any means but overall he has done some pretty good moves considering what he has been dealt. IMO just like Sakic at the time CMac should be given some slack. I know it is tough to do because one was taking over a rebuilding team and CMac is expecting to keep winning but he is in a very tough spot.

 

[redacted]

I thought Byram looked noticeably better after moving to the left side on a more permanent basis. He has been up and down like the rest of the team, more the rule than the exception.

For those hoping he will be a Heiskanen / Makar because of his draft spot, he just flat out never was, and never will be, that player. He will still likely have a solid career, and he can accomplish that in Colorado if he grows into a consistent second pairing DMan

I highly disagree with the first part. Byram, has looked like crap away from Girard (and Makar). Which is most of his play from the left side. He's a bit more involved offensively, but his defense has taken a large step back playing on the left.

Agree on the second... I caught a lot of hell early in his prospect days by simply saying he wasn't a #1 sort and that he was more of a 2 or 3 sort. He needs to find a way to play with more balance. We can't have a risky 50-55 point guy manning the 2nd pairing or complimenting Makar on the top pairing. He needs to be a good defensive guy and key in on that, then let the offense flow in a more natural, less forced manner. Yeah that probably keeps him from being a 50 point guy... but a 30-35 point shutdown defender is incredibly valuable.

 

[Ararana]

He hasn't. He hasn't at all, he's been fine. It's just a few of his haters that never liked his draft pick, who take every opportunity to exaggerate things, and try to make people think like they do.

Then like with most narratives here, the sheer repetition of the same comments convince people into thinking if someone is saying the same thing over and over very confidently it must be true. But it's not. It's just bias and false narratives.

To claim that Byram has been worse without Girard is just 100% pure bullshit. The Girard-Byram pairing wasn't working, and neither were playing as well as they're capable. Conversely the Byram-Manson combo looked very solid at first, and both were playing some of their best hockey of the season.

The team in general is just in a funk right now. Has very little to do with G. Girard's absence isn't why Mikko, Colton, Val, and Makar stopped finding the back of the net, the PP stopped working, or why goaltenders are letting in iffy goals.

Byram without Girard has been completely fine. 60% of the 15 games so far without Girard Byram has been in the green in your basic advanced stats. We just have a few posters who really wack it hard to Girard.

The problem with Byram right now is his play is completely bipolar. He's either beating out Makar and/or Toews analytically, on any given night, or he's straight terrible. Seriously, this might be the worse GameScore composition for a defensemen I've ever seen (last game):

To me, this screams a young defenseman who hasn't even hit 150 games in the NHL and whose coaching staff has not only dicked around with his partners but played him most the early season on his offside. They're not exactly putting him in the best situations to find success.

But the fact that he does have such high impact games here here here here here here here here here here to me shows what kind of defenseman they have on their hands and that at some point he'll gain some consistency to his game and we'll see less of these god awful nights from him.

Not to mention the Avs as a whole just f***ing suck right now.

 

[redacted]

Byram without Girard has been completely fine. 60% of the 15 games so far without Girard Byram has been in the green in your basic advanced stats. We just have a few posters who really wack it hard to Girard.

The problem with Byram right now is his play is completely bipolar. He's either beating out Makar and/or Toews analytically, on any given night, or he's straight terrible. Seriously, this might be the worse GameScore composition for a defensemen I've ever seen (last game):

View attachment 781650


To me, this screams a young defenseman who hasn't even hit 150 games in the NHL and whose coaching staff has not only dicked around with his partners but played him most the early season on his offside. They're not exactly putting him in the best situations to find success.

But the fact that he does have such high impact games here here here here here here here here here here to me shows what kind of defenseman they have on their hands and that at some point he'll gain some consistency to his game and we'll see less of these god awful nights from him.

Not to mention the Avs as a whole just f***ing suck right now.

55+% xGF w Girard... Byram's highest with any defender this year. 46% w/o Girard. It is a pretty massive difference. The only other defender Byram is above 50% with is Makar and Makar is worse with Byram.... in other words, Makar is just that good. I would hardly call this fine.

I do agree on the bipolar stuff. I'd even say it is even a bit more extreme. In Byram's high impact games, if you dive into them he gets most of his analytical work done positively in 1-3 shifts in a game. He finds a groove where there is complete domination for 2-3 minutes. Then the rest of the game tends to be below average. He will have those shifts somewhere between 2 or 3 games every 5. That's where he gets those jumps analytically and they smooth over what is overall a pretty below average set of shifts. He's very enigmatic this way, and he's very mistake prone... my personal opinion is when he thinks he has to be the guy offensively, he can read well enough and is talented to make something happen occasionally... but he's not smart or talented enough to do it with consistency... nor does he know how to dial it back.

 

[SirLoinOfCloth]

Almost everybody here except a very few of us wanted Sakic fired during his first couple of years. CMac has taken over as GM at a very tough time cap-wise. You combine the usual cap issues a team faces after winning a Stanley Cup along with the last two years of flat cap and nobody should be surprised that he is struggling putting forward a balance team. He hasn't been perfect by any means but overall he has done some pretty good moves considering what he has been dealt. IMO just like Sakic at the time CMac should be given some slack. I know it is tough to do because one was taking ober a rebuilding team and CMac is expecting to keep winning but he is in a very tough spot.

Let's also not forget he's been slightly handcuffed by the Landy situation. Year 1 he was expected back, but then wasn't able to make it back. This year there's a chance he is back for playoffs but we're not sure. It is easy to say just LTIR him, but there's been a significant amount of uncertainty. You can't bring in a big FA prize and then be like "Oh Landy is back, now we're f***ed". You have to plan for Landy being back until you know for sure he's not.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

Let's also not forget he's been slightly handcuffed by the Landy situation. Year 1 he was expected back, but then wasn't able to make it back. This year there's a chance he is back for playoffs but we're not sure. It is easy to say just LTIR him, but there's been a significant amount of uncertainty. You can't bring in a big FA prize and then be like "Oh Landy is back, now we're f***ed". You have to plan for Landy being back until you know for sure he's not.

Very good point. In fact I wanted to address that as well but eventually forgot.

 

[redacted]

I understand the mulligan on the start of last year with Landy... not so much at the deadline. Yeah odds were low, but to waste a prime contention year is a pretty large mistake. We can point to the lack of an ideal 2C being moved... but Horvat, ROR, and Domi all moved. Kuznetsov, Hayes and RyJo could have very clearly been had. To say that Eller was the best shot they could take is just wrong to me. Yeah it probably wouldn't have worked out, but to do basically nothing was pretty bad at the deadline.

 

[Ararana]

I do agree on the bipolar stuff. I'd even say it is even a bit more extreme. In Byram's high impact games, if you dive into them he gets most of his analytical work done positively in 1-3 shifts in a game. He finds a groove where there is complete domination for 2-3 minutes. Then the rest of the game tends to be below average. He will have those shifts somewhere between 2 or 3 games every 5. That's where he gets those jumps analytically and they smooth over what is overall a pretty below average set of shifts. He's very enigmatic this way, and he's very mistake prone... my personal opinion is when he thinks he has to be the guy offensively, he can read well enough and is talented to make something happen occasionally... but he's not smart or talented enough to do it with consistency... nor does he know how to dial it back.

FWIW, I don't believe Byram will ever fully remove the flip floppy performance from this game. I do believe the negative extremes will start to taper out over time and experience. But he's always going to be a bit of a 'I'm not quite sure what we're going to get from him tonight' kind of guy. To be fair, you could say that of Makar this year as well.

Honestly, I'm just happy Byram has played 27/27 games this year and I'm holding my breath that continues. We're closing in on the 2 year anniversary of his last concussion. I'm not worried about Byram at all in Colorado as long as he stays healthy. IMO his floor is a #3D that will carry the second paring.

I understand the mulligan on the start of last year with Landy... not so much at the deadline. Yeah odds were low, but to waste a prime contention year is a pretty large mistake. We can point to the lack of an ideal 2C being moved... but Horvat, ROR, and Domi all moved. Kuznetsov, Hayes and RyJo could have very clearly been had. To say that Eller was the best shot they could take is just wrong to me. Yeah it probably wouldn't have worked out, but to do basically nothing was pretty bad at the deadline.

Preach. Now prepare to watch them do it again this year.

 

[Balthazar]

The Avs went risk/reward this offseason not because they wanted to, but because they had to. You don't willingly go after RyJo, you go after him because you are looking for a bargain with upside.

I disagree. Keeping our 2 first rounders last summer and going with RyJo was a choice. Two first round picks + G or Byram...we had the assets to make a move for a center.

 

[Ararana]

I disagree. Keeping our 2 first rounders last summer and going with RyJo was a choice. Two first round picks + G or Byram...we had the assets to make a move for a center.

Yup. They prioritized having all three LHD over having a 2C. Huge mistake IMO. I would have traded any of them to resolve the center problem.

 

[NateTheGreat]

If the forwards stopped fumbling and turning the puck over at an extreme rate in our own zone it would go a long way in helping out our defenseman.

It’s been so frustrating to watch our breakout this year. It used to be so easy coming out of our zone with either a stretch pass by the D or a winger chipping it to the center who’s supporting him and receiving the pass already in stride. Now it’s just a mess of forwards flying the zone early and the puck being fumbled at the blue line or on the half wall.

 

[redacted]

I disagree. Keeping our 2 first rounders last summer and going with RyJo was a choice. Two first round picks + G or Byram...we had the assets to make a move for a center.

It was certainly a choice... every which way you look is risk/reward on a different side or different ways. Maybe you take a different risk/reward on a guy like Mittelstadt/Frost where you pay a lot more for a guy who 'broke out' but you don't know of the sustainability of it. Which those two have gone different paths this year. Or you grab a guy like Lindholm who would be a 'rental' you'd hope to re-sign... which here if it broke out, you might be looking at near 10m for that privilege. Or you get a guy like RyJo who you hope rebounds. It is a risk in any manner. The cap situation means they have to take the risks and the ability to grab a guy without much risk just isn't there.


Byram was probably the piece to really get that position solved. If there was a major choice to pick between the build of the team, it was there.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

IMO there was a lot more going on at the last TDL we are let to believe that contributed in them making the Ellers move only. There was obviously the Landy uncertainty but I think they were also very much concerned on the availability/effectiveness of Nuke, Makar and Manson heading into the playoffs. I think overall they were looking at the playoffs as a much bigger long shot than we did because of all the injuries (and most importantly the type of injuries) they were dealing with at the TDL. Nuke was missing games and when he was playing he was in pain and it was obvious watching him on the ice he was not himself. And we all knew Makar was fighting something also. Again IMO they thought it wasn't worth risking all the assets needed to put the team in a position to have a chance to win it all. Doing so though it is also my opinion that it affected the rest of the team negatively mentally as seeing them giving up on that season and not trusting them to do it.

This is all speculation on my part obviously. We, as fans, need to remember we don't have all the info not only regarding team health but also what players were available and the price for those players. We also have to remember a lot of players do not want to come to the West conference let alone Colorado which is the team with the most travelling. Players being available does not mean they are an option for COL. Other teams tend to also demand more from top contending team for return in trades.

Most fans always think it is easier to make moves than it is in reality.

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

 

[The Merchant]

 

[redacted]

Complete head case... talented one, but a headcase. In the right situation, he's a guy who can put the pucks in the net and has a shot that can beat goalies from range. Which is a huge need on this team, is he worth the headache?