Rumor: 2023-24 Trade Rumors and Free Agency: Season Thread

[John Mandalorian]

I think the reason for not keeping EJ should have been if he didn't want to play for around $1M or didn't want to bounce between a 6D and 7D role with JJ.

Otherwise his injury history wouldn't have been a big deal in a 7D role and he definitely would have played at the required level for that.

If anything, interchanging as a 6/7D would have helped him stay healthy and rejuvenated for the playoffs, where they might need a bigger defenseman like him.

It's understandable they let him go with the cap though. They may also have room for him at 50% on a prorated deal at the deadline, we'll have to see. That cap hit would be around $400k or so.

Absolutely. If Manson and Makar didn’t miss several games, maybe you consider EJ at 950K. The Avs were loyal through all the years with injuries at 6M after all. But when you look at what Buffalo paid, it’s easy to see why Colorado may have felt they already overpaid out of loyalty.

 

[sethro109]

What about EJ's season told you he was better than Brad Hunt?

Everything. There's a reason Buffalo gave him that contract and didn't just send us a 7th for Hunt.

 

[Avsboy]

EJ’s big and strong defensively

 

[dahrougem2]

What about EJ's season told you he was better than Brad Hunt?

The fact that Brad Hunt is not an NHL player.

 

[Foppa2118]

It's understandable they let him go with the cap though. They may also have room for him at 50% on a prorated deal at the deadline, we'll have to see. That cap hit would be around $400k or so.

To follow up on this with a potential EJ trade at the deadline.

JJ made $950k last year. The Avs traded for him 5 days before the deadline and CapFriendly has his Avalanche cap hit at $236,216. Which is 24.86% of his total contract.

50% on EJ's deal would be $1.625M. If we round up to 25% for any margin of difference in the timing, that would give him a $406,250 cap hit with the Avs.

We'll have to see what their cap situation is like near the deadline though.

 

[John Mandalorian]

What about EJ's season told you he was better than Brad Hunt?

Brad Hunt has a better shot and that’s it.

 

[John Mandalorian]

EJ’s big and strong defensively

EJs no longer especially effective offensively. But he also doesn’t exactly kill you either. In other words, he’s not generating points but he’s not Graves either.

 

[Metallo]

Softer than butter.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

I have no issue with being 7th. That’s still a contender. If Drouin/RyJo/Colton all pop off and we’re even slightly more healthy than last season we’ll rise pretty quickly.

Avs went with high risk/reward. Difficult to rank until you actually see it play out. The superstars give the team a high floor but we rolled the dice on a few players that will determine the ceiling.

True. It depends how our gambles pay off.

7th is very fair.

Folks are simply drinking the Kool-Aid around here projecting them to be any higher than that right now with all the question marks on this team especially around the depth.

We are better than last season though

 

[AllAboutAvs]

Except for in 2022 when the Avs were overwhelming favourites and dominated 16-4...

Were we favorites at the beginning of that season? I thought we weren't.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

True. It depends how our gambles pay off.



We are better than last season though

Maybe, hopefully. Certainly not a guarantee though.

 

[John Mandalorian]

Were we favorites at the beginning of that season? I thought we weren't.

Important to keep in mind how perception moves the needle. Before that season the Avs lost in the 2nd round yet again. And you had Tampa trying to threepeat.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Were we favorites at the beginning of that season? I thought we weren't.

Ya we were the favorites but not quite as heavy a favorite as the 2020/21 season.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

One other thing not to forget about this year's roster is not only we are bigger and faster but hopefully we have Nuke fully healthy and his head screwed on right. He was never really healthy last year and it showed a lot in his skating, forechecking and overall play. He is a very, very important player on our team especially with Landy out. I don't remember the W/L record but it is night and day when he is in the lineup compare with when he is out.

 

[Foppa2118]

One other thing not to forget about this year's roster is not only we are bigger and faster but hopefully we have Nuke fully healthy and his head screwed on right. He was never really healthy last year and it showed a lot in his skating, forechecking and overall play. He is a very, very important player on our team especially with Landy out. I don't remember the W/L record but it is night and day when he is in the lineup compare with when he is out.

Also Toews with a sub par year vs a contract year. Plus Byram a year older with more experience.

I would say Makar hopefully more healthy than last year too, but it sounds like his hip is still nagging him a bit.

 

[GoNordiquesGo]

Ya we were the favorites but not quite as heavy a favorite as the 2020/21 season.

If you go back to this board at the beginning of the Cup season, our traditional "realists" / "objective" / "not Kool-Aid drinkers" were saying that Kadri was a sub-par 2nd line center with major mental issues, that Compher was a mediocre 3rd line center, that the right side of our Defense had a glaring hole that goaltending was a huge question mark, that we had a hole in the top 6 because Nichushkin had never proved he could be a top 6 player, and that we would never win a cup with all these weaknesses, so we would once again lose one of the the last years of our cup window, which was goona close before the Mac contract kicks-in.

So whether or not we were viewed as favorites at the start of the year depends on who you ask...

 

[nammerus]

Were we favorites at the beginning of that season? I thought we weren't.

Substantial favourites.

 

[Avs_19]

The Athletic preview is actually really well done and bang on. It's really no different than what we've said repeatedly for months now leading up to the season. Not many teams, if any, have better top end talent than the Avs but the depth is a question mark. You can be the most optimistic person in the world but you can't guarantee success for guys like Johansen, Colton, Wood, Drouin, etc based on what we've seen from them recently. They've got to prove themselves in their roles.

A key part of the preview:

Those aspirations would be much easier to achieve with Landeskog in the fold. That the team’s top end is still super elite without him is a testament to how scary they would be with him — but it’s also the reason Colorado doesn’t rank higher. With Landeskog, the Avalanche would be projected for 110.6 points (first) with a 12.4 percent chance of winning it all (second).

Don’t count out the possibility of a Landeskog postseason return, but for now, we have to operate under the assumption that Colorado is going to have to pull it off without him. The Avalanche are still in a strong position in spite of their captain’s injury — it’s just hard to justify them as favorites. Not with their current depth. The top players are enviable, yes, but what sent the team to a shocking first-round exit last spring remains an issue.

For now, the team starts with the seventh-best Stanley Cup chances, third in the West, and second in the Central. That can change during the season if some of their depth projects hit better than expected, or they make some adjustments at the deadline.

The Avalanche deserve the benefit of the doubt on that front and have the talent to be a top-five team regardless, but they’re not the unequivocal top team, even if that’s what their reputation might suggest.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

The Athletic preview is actually really well done and bang on. It's really no different than what we've said repeatedly for months now leading up to the season. Not many teams, if any, have better top end talent than the Avs but the depth is a question mark. You can be the most optimistic person in the world but you can't guarantee success for guys like Johansen, Colton, Wood, Drouin, etc based on what we've seen from them recently. They've got to prove themselves in their roles.

A key part of the preview:

Gonna have to explain that part to a few people here for sure.


But yeah, it's a very fair analysis and an accurate rating of where the team is right now... Like most of the things produced by The Athletic quite frankly.


Plus like they said, add Landy to this team for the playoffs and they're probably a top dog in the league again.

 

[dahrougem2]

To follow up on this with a potential EJ trade at the deadline.

JJ made $950k last year. The Avs traded for him 5 days before the deadline and CapFriendly has his Avalanche cap hit at $236,216. Which is 24.86% of his total contract.

50% on EJ's deal would be $1.625M. If we round up to 25% for any margin of difference in the timing, that would give him a $406,250 cap hit with the Avs.

We'll have to see what their cap situation is like near the deadline though.

I don't know that Buffalo will be selling come TDL. They seem primed to take a playoff spot given their young kids progressing and Boston/Tampa Bay regressing due to Bergeron/Krejci losses and Vasilevskiy injury.

 

[The Moops]

Did everyone already forget that the bottom 6 couldn't score a goal if the net was empty last year? Legit got like 1-2 goals from players outside of the big dogs in the Seattle series, and besides Landy we had all of our offensive weapons. Scoring should be much better across the board this season. That's what I'm most excited about. Even if RyJo and Colton are 20/20 guys that's way better than what we were getting last year.

 

[Foppa2118]

I don't know that Buffalo will be selling come TDL. They seem primed to take a playoff spot given their young kids progressing and Boston/Tampa Bay regressing due to Bergeron/Krejci losses and Vasilevskiy injury.

True. If they're in a playoff spot, they probably won't sell.

 

[Balthazar]

True. If they're in a playoff spot, they probably won't sell.

Not "probably". They sure don't need picks and prospects, especially not at the expense of maybe a longer playoff run. If anything they'll buy.

 

[Foppa2118]

Not "probably". They sure don't need picks and prospects, especially not at the expense of maybe a longer playoff run. If anything they'll buy.

I guess I need to learn to speak in absolutes and ignore that we've seen playoff teams sell before.

 

[The Merchant]

This team is deeper than the Cup year.