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

[henchman21]

So a 6M AAV 3rd line wing under contract for 7 years? Better be a temporary solution.

Frankly, it would be a 3rd line like Soda was a 3rd line under Bednar. Listed there on the game sheet, but usage is as a 2nd line. I know other issues sprout from that, just saying it wouldn't be a 14 minute line.

 

[dahrougem2]

So a 6M AAV 3rd line wing under contract for 7 years? Better be a temporary solution.

You harp too much on the placements of players.

Nichushkin can look more like a 6M player with Colton and Wood than he can with Johansen and Lehkonen IMO. So play him where he's best suited. Not like he's going to see 10 minutes and call it a night.

 

[GoNordiquesGo]

It is kind of crazy to look back at just how dominant of a run that was and yet you still had some doom and gloom during it.

I think it’s messed with the idea/expectation of a contender as well. Avs we’re probably done being on that level after the cup unless they got lucky with a few players. Cap simply makes it very hard to have that dominant of a cup team. If we win again it’ll be far more up and down.

Yea there's a LOT of sementic intertwined in this whole never-ending dispute about window/cup contender status/objective vs realist vs pessimist vs rosy glasses, etc...

At one extreme, for a select few, the bar seems set very high. The Avs need to be a top 2-3 team in the league, with no glaring weakness and very little uncertainty at important positions in order to meet the bar, otherwise the window is possibly already closed and the team is at risk of sinking fast. This group usually views itself as objective and realist.

At the other end. the bar is very low. As long as we have MacKinnon + Makar + Rantanen we will be contenders and the window will be open. They are usually calle dthe homers / rosy glasses.

And then +90% of this board is somewhere in between... fighting on semantics like "window closing", "Cup contender status", etc...

This has taken so much room that you now see takes that are very Dater-like : I like what the Avs did, they can easily be a top 3 team in the league and win the Cup, but there are risks, and they could very well miss the playoffs and realize that their window has already closed... I believe that this is a bit extreme, but not completely crazy at all. I think the floor is higher than that, as demonstrated last year when all hell broke lose yet we still won the division. But that's where sementics kicks-in again. What were we last year? We won the division but lost in the first round. Were we a cup contender or a team with a closed window. If we have a progression but a smallish one this year in the regular season. Meaning division champ again but with consistency issues with RyJo and Drouin for example. What will we be ? Without hindsight based on the playoff performance ?

 

[Freaky Styley]

I think ideally we could find another C to push RyJo down and/or move Colton to the wing, but that is a lot easier said than done given cap constraints, etc. I think a good player for this team would be a guy like Nieddereiter, who could be had for $2M with retention and could replace Tatar at the deadline.

Basically we could have Kovelanko, Landeskog (hopefully) and Niederreiter all joining the current group for the playoffs and push everyone down into better roles

Landeskog - MacKinnon - Drouin
Nichuskin - RyJo - Rantanen
Lehkonen - Colton - Niederreiter
Wood - Oloffson - LOC
Cogliano/Kovalenko

With that kind of winger depth the shortcomings at C are less noticeable

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

I think ideally we could find another C to push RyJo down and/or move Colton to the wing, but that is a lot easier said than done given cap constraints, etc. I think a good player for this team would be a guy like Nieddereiter, who could be had for $2M with retention and could replace Tatar at the deadline.

Basically we could have Kovelanko, Landeskog (hopefully) and Niederreiter all joining the current group for the playoffs and push everyone down into better roles

Landeskog - MacKinnon - Drouin
Nichuskin - RyJo - Rantanen
Lehkonen - Colton - Niederreiter
Wood - Oloffson - LOC
Cogliano/Kovalenko

With that kind of winger depth the shortcomings at C are less noticeable

I really hope the Pinto situation just continues for a bit, I do think he'd be a really nice fit for this team.

 

[henchman21]

I really hope the Pinto situation just continues for a bit, I do think he'd be a really nice fit for this team.

Pinto would be amazing here.

I really don't think the Avs will reverse course this season with RyJo. The assets aren't there for a mid-season change, the cap isn't easy to work, and they know he elevates his play. They are ride or die on him this season. If he completely fails this season and in the playoffs, they probably move on in the summer (likely would have to be bought out at that point).

 

[BobRossColton]

Pinto would be amazing here.

I really don't think the Avs will reverse course this season with RyJo. The assets aren't there for a mid-season change, the cap isn't easy to work, and they know he elevates his play. They are ride or die on him this season. If he completely fails this season and in the playoffs, they probably move on in the summer (likely would have to be bought out at that point).

We just stash him on the 3rd line with Colton as his LW, and end up with 2 3rd lines.

Colton pinto Tatar
Wood olofsson LOC

 

[henchman21]

We just stash him on the 3rd line with Colton as his LW, and end up with 2 3rd lines.

Colton pinto Tatar
Wood olofsson LOC

Easy to say, but cap wise how does it work? Asset wise, how do you get him?

 

[Balthazar]

If Pinto is on the market we'll have to outbid all the other teams that want him (unlikely) + can't send money back to Ottawa we'd have to pay someone to take a roster player that we need.

So yea, needless to say that chances of it happening are near 0 or 0.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

Pinto would be amazing here.

I really don't think the Avs will reverse course this season with RyJo. The assets aren't there for a mid-season change, the cap isn't easy to work, and they know he elevates his play. They are ride or die on him this season. If he completely fails this season and in the playoffs, they probably move on in the summer (likely would have to be bought out at that point).

I'm definitely with you there. It's a pipe dream, but having MacK-Pinto-Colton down the middle would be pretty nice.

 

[henchman21]

To me... it is clear what the Avs have planned for the top 9 center positions over the next few seasons:

23-24: MacK-RyJo-Colton (Colton is backup #2C)
24-25: MacK-RyJo-Colton (attempt to break in Ritchie as a NHLer)
25-26: MacK-Ritchie-Colton (Colton is backup #2C)

If failure happens, the move will be to shore up 3C and move Colton up. So not a Pinto sort of guy, but more of an Eller/Soda sort of guy.

Dickinson and Henrique would be the two names I'd watch down the line. If the Avs struggle at center, I think those are guys they'd target. If they don't struggle at center, they'll want DeBrusk to shore up the top 9 wings and move Tatar down for the playoffs. If there is a mix of the questions, Henrique makes even more sense with his positional versatility.

 

[Ararana]

To me... it is clear what the Avs have planned for the top 9 center positions over the next few seasons:

23-24: MacK-RyJo-Colton (Colton is backup #2C)
24-25: MacK-RyJo-Colton (attempt to break in Ritchie as a NHLer)
25-26: MacK-Ritchie-Colton (Colton is backup #2C)

If failure happens, the move will be to shore up 3C and move Colton up. So not a Pinto sort of guy, but more of an Eller/Soda sort of guy.

Dickinson and Henrique would be the two names I'd watch down the line. If the Avs struggle at center, I think those are guys they'd target. If they don't struggle at center, they'll want DeBrusk to shore up the top 9 wings and move Tatar down for the playoffs. If there is a mix of the questions, Henrique makes even more sense with his positional versatility.

Thats a short ass runway for Ritchie....

 

[Pokecheque]

I was only able to watch all of the 1st and a few min of the 2nd, but Nuke looked lazy to me, at least in the 1st.

He picked it up a little later on, started winning puck battles and bulldozing his way through guys--I could be wrong but I thought he also laid a pretty good hit on Dubois later in the game.

Slow starts for Nuke are nothing new. Took him a while to get his wind back last year, given his rather...interesting offseason, we might be seeing more of the same. Who knows.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

He picked it up a little later on, started winning puck battles and bulldozing his way through guys--I could be wrong but I thought he also laid a pretty good hit on Dubois later in the game.

Slow starts for Nuke are nothing new. Took him a while to get his wind back last year, given his rather...interesting offseason, we might be seeing more of the same. Who knows.

Yeah I didn't like Nuke the first two periods but I thought he was a lot better in the third. He did take a couple of shifts with Colton and they looked really good together.
I still don't like that 2nd line.

 

[sethro109]

I was only able to watch all of the 1st and a few min of the 2nd, but Nuke looked lazy to me, at least in the 1st.

Here's a visual representation of Nuke's game last night.

1st period.

2nd period.

2nd intermission.

3rd period.

 

[JH21]

Yeah I didn't like Nuke the first two periods but I thought he was a lot better in the third. He did take a couple of shifts with Colton and they looked really good together.
I still don't like that 2nd line.

Tatar is miscast on that 3rd line too. Put him with a natural passer like Johansen and let Nichushkin and Colton wreak havok

Drouin- Mackinnon- Rantanen
Lehkonen- Johansen- Tatar
Wood- Colton- Nichushkin
O'Connor- Olofsson- MacDermid

*Cogliano

 

[JLo217]

Prosvetov is a guy I’ve liked for a long time. Has size and is super athletic. Holes in his game for sure, but he has the athletic tools to succeed in the NHL unlike Annunen.

Add in the Avalanche goaltending coaches being able to work wonders for the most part with whomever has been in net. The system and goaltender coaching has made a massive difference even for goalies like Gru.

 

[henchman21]

Add in the Avalanche goaltending coaches being able to work wonders for the most part with whomever has been in net. The system and goaltender coaching has made a massive difference even for goalies like Gru.

I think the system makes it pretty easy for most goalies to come in. Where the Avs start having issues is rebounds and seam passes... which exposes less athletic goalies. Prosvetov doesn't have that issue though.

 

[AslanRH]

IF Landeskog comes back, he'd be a compliment to RyJo.
Landeskog can match any speed of play and be successful (unlike someone like MacK who lives and thrives in turbo mode)

 

[NorthernAvsFan]

I don’t feel comfortable throwing the towel in on Johansen after one game.

 

[LOFIN]

I don’t feel comfortable throwing the towel in on Johansen after one game.

Trying to stay optimistic? That's not the HfAvs way!

 

[henchman21]

Thats a short ass runway for Ritchie....

That's what the Avs do... they pencil in young guys to these roles and they sink or swim.

 

[UncleRisto]

Henrique is such an Avs target. Not a crazy big name option, but someone with versatility who can come in, not cost too much, and be fine.

And not even one where we'll be like this is great, but rather "yeah, whatever it's fine".

 

[thedoctor]

Henrique is such an Avs target. Not a crazy big name option, but someone with versatility who can come in, not cost too much, and be fine.

yes. I'll go so far as to say he was the target last year after Toews died, and then Henrique got hurt.

Yes, I know he plays wing mostly for the Ducks. No, I don't think the Avs care just like with Colton or Olafsson.

 

[ABasin]

That's what the Avs do... they pencil in young guys to these roles and they sink or swim.

Your timeline gives him 4 seasons in junior, no? Has him with the Avs in a season where he turns 21?

Or is my math stoned?