Rumor: 2024-2025 Trade Rumors and Free Agency - Offseason Edition

[henchman21]

If it is so easy and so clear, why do so many teams miss on so many draft picks?

The NHL is a damn tough league in which to play hockey, I get it. But even so, it seems to me that there should be room for player development after age 18. Or even 20.

We’re talking 20-23 year olds… not 18. When a player gets into the AHL it’s pretty clear which guys even have a shot.

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

UFA Projections: How much money did Canucks’ Elias Lindholm cost himself this year?

Daily Faceoff’s Top 75 free agents lists includes major movement in projected contract values.

www.dailyfaceoff.com

Projections:

Drouin 4x$5M
Trenin 3x$2.55M
Duhaime 3x$1.8M

 

[Ararana]

I’d be stoked if the Avs could get a legit 3C that wins faceoffs and is skewed towards being defensively responsible.

Like it or not the Avs centers going forward are MacK - Mitts - Colton - XXX

 

[Balthazar]

UFA Projections: How much money did Canucks’ Elias Lindholm cost himself this year?

Daily Faceoff’s Top 75 free agents lists includes major movement in projected contract values.

www.dailyfaceoff.com

Projections:

Drouin 4x$5M
Trenin 3x$2.55M
Duhaime 3x$1.8M

Bye bye JD

Also some people had Trenin at like 1M AAV in their projections...that was wayyyy off.

Edit:
Reinhart: 8 x $11.3M is mental (how is he going to get 8 years? He isn't staying in FLA).
Monahan: 4 X 5.3M is yikes too
Brady Skjei: 5 x $7.5M this guy is making 1st pairing money now?

 

[RockLobster]

Bye bye JD

Also some people had Trenin at like 1M AAV in their projections...that was wayyyy off.

Edit:
Reinhart: 8 x $11.3M is mental (how is he going to get 8 years? He isn't staying in FLA).
Monahan: 4 X 5.3M is yikes too

I wonder how often these projections turn to reality, because it seems more often than not, aside from the "big names", they don't often come to fruition.

And I don't think this necessarily means (yet) that JD is gone.

 

[BobRossColton]

Go sign kylington according to that list 1x1.1, beauvillier 1x900k, hakanpaa 1x1.5

 

[Balthazar]

I wonder how often these projections turn to reality, because it seems more often than not, aside from the "big names", they don't often come to fruition

Did you look at past years to make that conclusion?

 

[NorthernAvsFan]

UFA Projections: How much money did Canucks’ Elias Lindholm cost himself this year?

Daily Faceoff’s Top 75 free agents lists includes major movement in projected contract values.

www.dailyfaceoff.com

Projections:

Drouin 4x$5M
Trenin 3x$2.55M
Duhaime 3x$1.8M

I’m passing on that Trenin deal.

Man, looking at that list, there are some really awful contracts projected for the 30+ year old guys. There’s potential for some real bad contracts to be handed out.

 

[RockLobster]

Did you look at past years to make that conclusion?

No, I went off of my biased selective memory lol (being serious here).

I did/do genuinely believe that aside from the bigger named UFA's, the more mid-to-smaller names rarely get the projections that these type of sites write.

 

[Vaslof]

I’m passing on that Trenin deal.

Man, looking at that list, there are some really awful contracts projected for the 30+ year old guys. There’s potential for some real bad contracts to be handed out.

That's UFA for ya

 

[Alienblood]

Like it or not the Avs centers going forward are MacK - Mitts - Colton - XXX

the window is closed then

 

[Ararana]

the window is closed then

I've been very vocal about that opinion for over a year now. The window closed when they let Kadri walk. They committed to a shorter window with Toews, but then let their similarly aged second line center walk - which f***ed their shorter window.

Man if Drouin walks, goddamn that hurts the top six so much.

XXX - MacKinnon - Rantanen
Lehkonen - Mitts - XXX

With very little money to fill the holes. I actually think Landeskog is doing the team a disservice by not choosing to LTIRetire. They need his 7 million right now for a top six winger way more than they need a hobbled third liner.

Seriously f*** Nuke, man. He leaves a huge hole in the lineup while simultaneously cutting 6 million right off the cap. It's remarkable how much a single player has f***ed the team not just two postseason runs in a row but going forward.

Still pondering this, haven't done a lot of investigation on the details yet, but right now I'm thinking you have to buyout Nuke's contract. The buyout penalties in 2027-2030 are significant, but by then this team isn't competing for shit anyway. If I'm doing this right, buying him out clears over 5 million the next two years. You could keep Drouin with that cap savings.

EDIT: And I just remembered Rantanen is going to chase 13+ million after next season lol. Avs should very seriously consider trading Rantanen this summer while they can get value for him.

 

[Avs_19]

Regular season Colton was mostly fine. The playoffs is where he was a big disappointment, even when you factor in all of the injuries and lack of depth/wings around him.

 

[henchman21]

Regular season Colton was mostly fine. The playoffs is where he was a big disappointment, even when you factor in all of the injuries and lack of depth/wings around him.

I'd single it out to Dallas. He was perfectly fine against Winnipeg. Then when it got to Dallas, he was simply outmatched by who they could throw at him. He's an average 3C and when he's faced against a guy who would normally be a 2C or is a very good 3C... he's going to lose more often than not.

Frankly this is all part of the larger issue. Avs had to pay their stars market wages and that eroded the ability to have depth... especially since the Avs couldn't draft well. Then to build up that depth, they've had to take on a lot of risk. Risk of Newhook panning out. Risk of RyJo finding work ethic. Risk of injuries not hitting them. Risk that Nuke will stay clean. Risk that Colton can be a good 3C (which he isn't) Etc. etc. Just taking on a lot of risk since there is nothing cheap coming through the system.

It is probably best to just settle into the idea that the Avs are a solid playoff caliber team and nothing more. There might be a year where they can catch lightning in a bottle, but things have to fall exactly right. They still need to shoot for that and take chances as a rebuild/retool is no guarantee. But the days of being a top contender are simply over.

 

[shadow1]

I was really disappointed in Colton in the playoffs. He had a couple good moments, but he and the entire third line vanished in the latter half of the Dallas series. 1G/3A is disappointing offensive production.

Further, Bednar doesn't really trust him as one of his horses. There are certain guys he'll play the living hell out of (like Compher, much to the chagrin of this fanbase). Colton hasn't earned that trust yet. His playoff ice time actually decreased (13:01) from the regular season, and even that number is inflated due to the 2OT game.

I don't think MacFarland will trade Colton though. The Avalanche paid quite a bit to get him, he had a very respectable regular season, and the free agent center market is horrible. With that said, if Colorado is desperate to shed money, maybe there's a case there. In the regular season, he gives you a competitive advantage on the third line. In the playoffs, against a deep team like Dallas, that wasn't the case at all.

 

[henchman21]

I was really disappointed in Colton in the playoffs. He had a couple good moments, but he and the entire third line vanished in the latter half of the Dallas series. 1G/3A is disappointing offensive production.

Further, Bednar doesn't really trust him as one of his horses. There are certain guys he'll play the living hell out of (like Compher, much to the chagrin of this fanbase). Colton hasn't earned that trust yet. His playoff ice time actually decreased (13:01) from the regular season, and even that number is inflated due to the 2OT game.

I don't think MacFarland will trade Colton though. The Avalanche paid quite a bit to get him, he had a very respectable regular season, and the free agent center market is horrible. With that said, if Colorado is desperate to shed money, maybe there's a case there. In the regular season, he gives you a competitive advantage on the third line. In the playoffs, against a deep team like Dallas, that wasn't the case at all.

The bolded is the key difference between good and great teams. Colton is easily good enough to roll over most teams in the regular season, but he's not good enough against the best teams. Just look at Florida... Bennett goes down and they elevate Lundell. Lundell has put up similar numbers to Colton offensive over the years (though WAY better defensively), but he has another gear. Lundell steps up and now has 9 points in 11 games with ~9 of those games being in a 2nd lien role. This now allows Florida to use an 80% healthy Bennett as a pure 3rd line pest. Or even Dallas who, even with Hintz out, can shift back Duchene to the middle on the top line with Seguin and Johnston. These are the types of teams that Colton simply can't match. I'd love for him to be upgraded to a legit weapon at 3C, but I don't see how that is feasible with the cap.

 

[Murzu]

UFA Projections: How much money did Canucks’ Elias Lindholm cost himself this year?

Daily Faceoff’s Top 75 free agents lists includes major movement in projected contract values.

www.dailyfaceoff.com

Projections:

Drouin 4x$5M
Trenin 3x$2.55M
Duhaime 3x$1.8M

Okay, so 20M for Drouin in the four years.

Years 29, 30, 31 and 32 basically. We can do that.

Then years 33, 34, 35 and 36 we pay him 3M annually.

That's 8 x $4M. If he loves it in Colorado, that's doable. Tight, but doable.

I'd single it out to Dallas. He was perfectly fine against Winnipeg. Then when it got to Dallas, he was simply outmatched by who they could throw at him. He's an average 3C and when he's faced against a guy who would normally be a 2C or is a very good 3C... he's going to lose more often than not.

Frankly this is all part of the larger issue. Avs had to pay their stars market wages and that eroded the ability to have depth... especially since the Avs couldn't draft well. Then to build up that depth, they've had to take on a lot of risk. Risk of Newhook panning out. Risk of RyJo finding work ethic. Risk of injuries not hitting them. Risk that Nuke will stay clean. Risk that Colton can be a good 3C (which he isn't) Etc. etc. Just taking on a lot of risk since there is nothing cheap coming through the system.

It is probably best to just settle into the idea that the Avs are a solid playoff caliber team and nothing more. There might be a year where they can catch lightning in a bottle, but things have to fall exactly right. They still need to shoot for that and take chances as a rebuild/retool is no guarantee. But the days of being a top contender are simply over.

We can afford lose the "3C battle" as our 1C will be better than other teams 1C (other teams than Edmonton) and this level Mitts wins most 2C battles. Mitts tips the scales in our favor.

 

[Balthazar]

The issue is even if JD would accept 4M long term, we don't have 4M.

 

[henchman21]

Okay, so 20M for Drouin in the four years.

Years 29, 30, 31 and 32 basically. We can do that.

Then years 33, 34, 35 and 36 we pay him 3M annually.

That's 8 x $4M. If he loves it in Colorado, that's doable. Tight, but doable.



We can afford lose the "3C battle" as our 1C will be better than other teams 1C (other teams than Edmonton) and this level Mitts wins most 2C battles. Mitts tips the scales in our favor.

That has to actually happen though… Mitts was fine, but MacK didn’t win his battles this year. He needs to be better for Colton to actually be okay on a contending level team in that role.

 

[Murzu]

That has to actually happen though… Mitts was fine, but MacK didn’t win his battles this year. He needs to be better for Colton to actually be okay on a contending level team in that role.

That's the oddity here. Something was wrong with MacK.. we should be able to trust him to be the best center on ice if McDavid isn't playing in the same game. If he plays to his level and Mitts plays like he did this spring, having Colton as 3C isn't a big issue IMO.

 

[dahrougem2]

It is probably best to just settle into the idea that the Avs are a solid playoff caliber team and nothing more. There might be a year where they can catch lightning in a bottle, but things have to fall exactly right. They still need to shoot for that and take chances as a rebuild/retool is no guarantee. But the days of being a top contender are simply over.

Here's my question, though: who in the West is a top contender if the Avs are not?

Dallas? Vegas? Edmonton? Are we seriously THAT far off from legitimate cup contention?

Out East after this year who is it? Florida again? NYR? Boston? Carolina?

I don't see much variance.

 

[henchman21]

Here's my question, though: who in the West is a top contender if the Avs are not?

Dallas? Vegas? Edmonton? Are we seriously THAT far off from legitimate cup contention?

Out East after this year who is it? Florida again? NYR? Boston? Carolina?

I don't see much variance.

You're assuming the Avs won't take a step back. Frankly just the simple swap of Nuke and Drouin to Landy is a pretty large step back. The Avs are losing ~6 forwards off the roster and ~2 defensemen without salary to replace those roles adequately. Which basically counts on the Avs picking up another ~4-5 guys at the deadline to fill out the roster. The big pieces are all ready for the Avs (except maybe in net), it is just about the rest of the roster and I don't see how they can have enough depth.

The Dallas series really wasn't that close, they are clear step ahead. While they maybe have some guys that step back a touch, they have a number of guys who should step up. Edmonton has one more clear year before it gets murky. Vancouver is on an upward trajectory. Vegas is tricky in that they should take a step back, but they always seem to find a way.

East will continue to be a bloodbath, I think there are 4 better than any in the West. The West just has to hope they beat themselves up.

 

[Balthazar]

Here's my question, though: who in the West is a top contender if the Avs are not?

Dallas? Vegas? Edmonton? Are we seriously THAT far off from legitimate cup contention?

Out East after this year who is it? Florida again? NYR? Boston? Carolina?

I don't see much variance.

Wait till you see the Avs lines in October

 

[Pacman33]

Im hoping drouin is back. If theres anyone willing to take a team friendly deal to be here, it should be him. He can chase money if he wants but here is the ideal situation for him

 

[the_fan]

What if Val has ruined the whole there is a good situation for the players signing with the Avs? I mean he’s such a key player specially in the playoffs and has let the team down 2 years in a row now. Players might look at that as an unstable situation to sign with the Avs