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

[NOTENOUGHRYJOTHINGS]

It would take a better prospect than Mercer to get Byram.

Stud top pairing Dmen are way harder to find than top 6 forwards.

Mercer put up 42 points and 56 points seasons. I'd argue he's already a second liner with upside to be a first liner.

 

[SirLoinOfCloth]

2 guys in the top 4, 3 guys in the top 10

King Connor McDavid continues his reign atop TSN Top 50 NHL Players poll | TSN

It was never in doubt. Edmonton Oilers’ captain Connor McDavid is, for a third consecutive pre-season, the unanimous choice as the player projected to be best in the NHL.

www.tsn.ca

Makar was 3rd last year so he fell one spot. If only he could stay healthy.

"Nathan MacKinnon was third behind McDavid and Draisaitl in regular-season points per game in 2022-23 and the Colorado captain ranks third all-time in playoff points per game behind Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier."

Colorado captain?!?! Do better TSN.

 

[niwotsblessing]

"Nathan MacKinnon was third behind McDavid and Draisaitl in regular-season points per game in 2022-23 and the Colorado captain ranks third all-time in playoff points per game behind Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier."

Colorado captain?!?! Do better TSN.

Being 3rd behind Gretzky and Messier in playoff PPG is impressive.

 

[Richard88]

Being 3rd behind Gretzky and Messier in playoff PPG is impressive.

But it's only because he went out early in the playoffs after feasting on Arizona every year


/s

 

[NOTENOUGHRYJOTHINGS]

I thought McDavid and Drai have way higher playoff ppg.

 

[henchman21]

I thought McDavid and Drai have way higher playoff ppg.

They do

 

[BobRossColton]

Mercer put up 42 points and 56 points seasons. I'd argue he's already a second liner with upside to be a first liner.

I think draft picks would suffice with the players

 

[Richard88]

If the Avs put Francouz on LTIR and Cogliano on IR they actually already have a cap compliant 23 man roster, $125k under the cap.

There's a lot of flexibility here to claim one or even two players on waivers, especially since neither Meyers or Malinski require waivers.

Drouin - MacKinnon - Nichushkin
Lehkonen - RyJo - Rantanen
Wood - Colton - Tatar
Tufte - Olofsson - O'Connor
MacDermid - Meyers

Toews - Makar
Byram - Manson
Girard - JJ
Malinski

Georgiev
Annunen

IR: Cogliano
LTIR: Francouz, Landeskog

 

[CobraAcesS]

Wood getting $2.5m X 6 but passing on Allison at league minimum for free is... a decision

God I really hope ya'll are panicking a bit on Wood lol. We don't need a 2.5M Cody McLeod.

 

[Chiarelli]

Mercer put up 42 points and 56 points seasons. I'd argue he's already a second liner with upside to be a first liner.

Mercer is also high IQ and talent and can stay healthy

 

[NOTENOUGHRYJOTHINGS]

I think draft picks would suffice with the players

I don't think they're in the acquire draft picks for good players stage. It would be amazing to get Mercer for Byram and a first or something. But I doubt NJD wants anything to do with that.

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

Teams which were arguably at or below the Avs in contention status (Tampa has cup expectations but Jersey was just happy to be there) used all of Colton, Wood, Drouin, and Ryjo below where the Avs intend to use them.

You can be optimistic and say the Avs are shelling out barely $10millions in cap space for a 2C 3C and and second and third line wingers. What a bargain!

Or you have question marks all over your middle six on a team that couldn't get out of the first round.

Kinda like when the Avs brought in Nuke, Kadri and Burakovsky. All players that didn't help their teams in the post season and had significant question marks.

Any given season anything can happen. Both positively and negatively. No reason not to start the year hoping for the best when there isn't a big reason to be negative.

 

[John Mandalorian]

Wood getting $2.5m X 6 but passing on Allison at league minimum for free is... a decision

Fair. Although, it’s not like they could be expected to predict the Allison situation when acquiring Miles of Wood.

 

[Hennessy]

We're not going to put Allison on a pedestal, are we? A guy waived by the Flyers and passed on by every team in the league, yet somehow Colorado, with a great-looking 4th line already, was boneheaded not to grab him.
Nah.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

That's surprising as hell. Perhaps there's something off ice we aren't aware of.

Or perhaps there’s something on ice HF Avs isn’t aware of lol.

Has to be the weirdest obsession I’ve ever seen on here.

 

[Avs_19]

Bro that Florida 15-16 Draft thread is golden. I revisit it every now and again for the lulz.

GDT: - 2015 NHL Entry Draft (At Least we're not Boston) - Round 1

Meier makes sense, Sharks already have another Swiss top prospect.

forums.hfboards.com

We see you @Murzu liking all of the Panthers fans' pain.

 

[Jazzguitar]

Mercer is also high IQ and talent and can stay healthy

So the exact opposite of what the Avs look for then

 

[Avaholic29]

God I really hope ya'll are panicking a bit on Wood lol. We don't need a 2.5M Cody McLeod.

I don’t recall McLeod ever getting multiple 15+ goal seasons. Wood is a good get lol. 2.5m is peanuts in 2 years, likely peanuts by next year. Weird weird thing to fret over.

 

[Murzu]

We see you @Murzu liking all of the Panthers fans' pain.

Whooops

 

[Richard88]

Kinda like when the Avs brought in Nuke, Kadri and Burakovsky. All players that didn't help their teams in the post season and had significant question marks.

Any given season anything can happen. Both positively and negatively. No reason not to start the year hoping for the best when there isn't a big reason to be negative.

Burakovsky scored some clutch goals for Washington in their cup run, and had a great record of scoring in elimination games. That indicated that he could be a valuable contributor in the playoffs for the Avs, which was indeed the case as he continued that elimination game goal record with the Avs (think it was something like 9 goals in his last 9 elimination games or something along those lines). His two biggest highlights were the two goals against Tampa for Washington in game 7 of the ECF, and the OT winner against Tampa in the final for the Avs.

 

[Richard88]

Jesper Boqvist might have been an interesting waiver name had we not already signed Tatar. Wonder if someone claims him.

Zboril probably needs to be claimed by someone who can give him more of a shot than as a 6/7D but he'd nonetheless be an intriguing pickup if the Avs decide to pick him up and send Malinski down.

 

[AvsInRhodey]

Jumpning back to the Toews contract conversation, obviously sarifices will need to be made one way or another and it depends on your short-term vs long-term view. My take take is give Toews 8 years for the lowest cap number we can get. That's long term pain for short term gain, but we are in a world of cap pain in 4 years anyway. That's the year Makar gets his big raise, and Girard, Colton, and Lehks are either getting raises or walking. We are set up for a huge cliff in 4 years. Also around the same time some of our vets will be starting to show their age. Might as well just own it and sign everyone to max term deals for the short term savings. We did it with Landy, Mack, Nuke, and to some extent Wood on his 6 year deal. Will do it again with Rants. We should absolutely do it with Toews, whose style of play will age pretty well for the first half of deal. At least we'll have the best chance to win another cup within the next 4 years.

To make the money work, we'll need to trade Manson for peanuts (or add a sweetener) once his no trade clause runs out in the middle of next offseason. If Landy comes back next year, we might have to trade Girard as well. I don't want to trade Sammy as that creates a defensive depth issue, but he's the most likely candidate to go if we need to shed salary and the goal is to win another cup in this window. If this all plays out as I think, next offseason we are keeping Toews and Landy, trading Manson and Sammy, and we put our pro scouts to work to find a pending RFA dman who has that hidden gem potential and is willing to sign in the $3M range. Basically, attempt to recreate the Toews trade but at a slightly cheaper scale.

IMHO, these next 4 years are the critical runs we have left as a true cup condender. I look at our contracts due in the 2027 offseason, Makar being the biggest of them, and I see a lot of reason to treat that as the team's turning point. I think all major personel decisions, including Toews, should be made with this turning point in mind. What happens before then will have the biggest impact on our chances to win another cup for the next decade. Win now mode until the wheels fall off is my strategy.

 

[John Mandalorian]

Jumpning back to the Toews contract conversation, obviously sarifices will need to be made one way or another and it depends on your short-term vs long-term view. My take take is give Toews 8 years for the lowest cap number we can get. That's long term pain for short term gain, but we are in a world of cap pain in 4 years anyway. That's the year Makar gets his big raise, and Girard, Colton, and Lehks are either getting raises or walking. We are set up for a huge cliff in 4 years. Also around the same time some of our vets will be starting to show their age. Might as well just own it and sign everyone to max term deals for the short term savings. We did it with Landy, Mack, Nuke, and to some extent Wood on his 6 year deal. Will do it again with Rants. We should absolutely do it with Toews, whose style of play will age pretty well for the first half of deal. At least we'll have the best chance to win another cup within the next 4 years.

To make the money work, we'll need to trade Manson for peanuts (or add a sweetener) once his no trade clause runs out in the middle of next offseason. If Landy comes back next year, we might have to trade Girard as well. I don't want to trade Sammy as that creates a defensive depth issue, but he's the most likely candidate to go if we need to shed salary and the goal is to win another cup in this window. If this all plays out as I think, next offseason we are keeping Toews and Landy, trading Manson and Sammy, and we put our pro scouts to work to find a pending RFA dman who has that hidden gem potential and is willing to sign in the $3M range. Basically, attempt to recreate the Toews trade but at a slightly cheaper scale.

IMHO, these next 4 years are the critical runs we have left as a true cup condender. I look at our contracts due in the 2027 offseason, Makar being the biggest of them, and I see a lot of reason to treat that as the team's turning point. I think all major personel decisions, including Toews, should be made with this turning point in mind. What happens before then will have the biggest impact on our chances to win another cup for the next decade. Win now mode until the wheels fall off is my strategy.

By the time it’s year 8, DT’s cap hit may not even seem that bad. You could also look at getting DT done as a goodwill gesture/ insurance with Makar. There are a lot of ways one could easily justify term with DT.

 

[Balthazar]

Can't wait to see the list of goalies on waivers today.

Wonder if we pick one or overplay the shit out of Georgiev and keep Annunen as a backup.

 

[Balthazar]