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

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I remember the interview with Chiarelli just after he drafted Bouchard. He said that everyone is looking for a top pairing right shot defenseman and now the Oilers have one.

Didn't look like a great pick for the first couple of years but now he's looking promising.
 
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Yeah LOC should be a 4th line guy. He's just been miscast out of necessity.

Production is certainly important, but there are times where it really doesn't tell the story. If LOC scored 35 points, that in and of itself would not make him a 3rd liner. Take a guy like Gagner. He could always put up points when given the time, but he was also an objectively bad hockey player. If you put him on a bad team and fed him him PP time, he was going to put up a ~40 point pacing. Which in his time with the lower scoring league, that makes you think he's a fringe 2nd line guy. In reality he's a guy you bury on your 4th line and try to feed easy offensive minutes or use on your 2nd PP unit. If you're a bad team, he gets you some point production on the cheap because he can't demand a contract from an actual good team. The first half of his career teams tried to force the issue as a 2nd line guy.... once he got to Columbus, they figured out where he could be useful and he carved out another ~400 games in a role like that.

Now LOC is not the same type of guy Gagner is (pretty much exact opposite), but he's a limited player. He's best using his speed and keeping his effort up. If his minutes climb, he loses his jump and he becomes a far less effective hockey player. If you can keep him on the 4th line and to ~10-11 minutes a game he's simply a much more effective hockey player.

Balthazar said:
I remember the interview with Chiarelli just after he drafted Bouchard. He said that everyone is looking for a top pairing right shot defenseman and now the Oilers have one.

Didn't look like a great pick for the first couple of years but now he's looking promising.
Click to expand...

Bouchard seems to get a lot of hate, but he's turning into a pretty damn good defensemen. If the Ekholm-Bouchard pairing picks up where it left last year and he takes another half step... it solves a lot of problems for Edmonton.
 
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dahrougem2 said:
LOC is a 4th liner.

No, it is not hyperbole. He cannot defend, he cannot skate, he doesn't intimidate anyone. He is the worst player in the NHL and it isn't close.
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Yes. Good wheels, good effort, good defensively, PKs.......hands of stone. 4th line guy.
 
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Yep LOC being on the 3rd line is the tell-tale sign that the depth is still a major issue for me heading into the season.


It's fine if he's playing on the 3rd line because of injuries. But he's a 4th liner through and through and starting in the Top 9 is not good.


This is exactly why I think we need to get one more Top 9 forward before the season starts.
 
www.spotrac.com

2023 NHL Free Agents Tracker

Tracking the status and signings of all 2023 NHL free agents.
www.spotrac.com www.spotrac.com

Possible top 9 options: Kane, Bailey, Tatar and Kase (?)

Others/long shots: Poolparty, Comtois and Colin White (?)

RD: Bear (?)
 
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AvalancheSpeedsters said:
No way. I get that it would make sense from a cap management perspective, but prefer Rantanen . Max offer would be Ritchie and first .
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Even if Johansen has a good year, that guy is going to be 32 next season. 2C is still a massive problem for the Avs going forward, with no one in the pipeline who could fill that spot.

Not to mention Mikko will be walking 20 months.
 
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By itself, LOC being on the 3rd line is a pretty minor issue.

But, it’s when the injures mount that it becomes more of a problem.

They have the cap space to make one more move, so I’m not sure what’s holding that up at this point. Maybe they want to officially strike out on Kane/Tatar, before pivoting?
 
NorthernAvsFan said:
By itself, LOC being on the 3rd line is a pretty minor issue.

But, it’s when the injures mount that it becomes more of a problem.

They have the cap space to make one more move, so I’m not sure what’s holding that up at this point. Maybe they want to officially strike out on Kane/Tatar, before pivoting?
Click to expand...

I dont think it's a minor issue by itself. I think its still a pretty significant concern. He's way less useful on a 3rd line.

But I do agree it gets conpounded even further by A) Injuries moving him even further up the lineup and also B) Him being on the 3rd line means 2 of Meyers/Pavel/Olofsson starting the season on the 4th line.


He needs to start on the 4th line. That's the base level line to where I think you can look at our depth and say it's in decent shape.
 
Pierce Hawthorne said:
Yep LOC being on the 3rd line is the tell-tale sign that the depth is still a major issue for me heading into the season.


It's fine if he's playing on the 3rd line because of injuries. But he's a 4th liner through and through and starting in the Top 9 is not good.


This is exactly why I think we need to get one more Top 9 forward before the season starts.
Click to expand...
If/when they have injuries, I wonder if the Avs are planning on plugging the top 6 and bottom 6 differently. Rather than just promoting up the lines.

In other words, if there is an injury in the top 6, Colton moves up. If there's a 2nd injury in the top 6, rather than moving someone else from the bottom 6 up, they go get more of a scorer type from the AHL (Foudy, perhaps?), and plug him in up there. And leave the bottom 6 for guys who skate and bang (less scoring types). That sort of thing.
 
I don't have a hesitation with LOC being the worst offensive player on the 3rd line. I mean, he is sort of a black hole, I get it and we can probably live with it if...he could maintain his high energy play with the increased minutes.

That's my problem. In the past, his motor couldn't handle the minutes and he lost his defensive effectiveness. You can't have him playing elevated minutes being a known offensive black hole AND not playing up to his normal defensive standards.

Has his conditioning improved to the point where he can now handle it? Maybe. If not, I hope it's addressed by the trade deadline.
 
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