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

[AvalancheSpeedsters]

In case you guys are wondering what Mitts is up to, he’s in the lineup for team Germany in EURO CUP24

Good for him. You know those Germans, if you don't join their party they'll come get ya!

 

[EdAVSfan]

If you can build out:


Lehky - Mack - Drouin
Landy - Mitts - Mikko
Wood - Colton - LOC


Toews - Makar
G - Manson


Any leftover money should be spend on the Defense IMO. You can get away with scrubs on the 4th line, and just add another bottom 6F or two at the deadline for fairly cheap. And it'd be a way to allow some kids a chance to earn a spot, we know Kovalenko is gonna be one of those 4th line guys, I'd say Foudy should be given a good shot as well.


But the Defense is IMO the most vulnerable to suffer if an injury hits. If the Avs have the cap space available, I'd like to see them spend ~$2M or so on a legit #5 that can play spot duty in the Top 4, that way if an injury hits they aren't screwed on the back end.


Chatfield is who I wanted but $3M was probably a little too much. If Ferraro is available and San Jose would retain, they should absolutely be involved with him, though it's really tough to figure out his value. With full retention, probably quite a bit honestly.

Have we run the numbers to see if there is any leftover money?

That feels like a complete cap roster.

 

[Mighty Makar]

Wonder if the Avs have interest in Patrick Kane if they're looking for cheap top 6 option.

I hope so.

 

[Avs9296]

Wonder if the Avs have interest in Patrick Kane if they're looking for cheap top 6 option.

I mean probably, there were rumours about the Avs being interested when he was still with Chicago.

Having said that, will he actually be cheap? He had 47 points in 50 games coming off a hip surgery. He's going to sign short term but bigger dollars I think.

 

[sethro109]

Wonder if the Avs have interest in Patrick Kane if they're looking for cheap top 6 option.

Everything about P. Kane's past tells me there's no way he signs here.

 

[LOFIN]

Wonder if the Avs have interest in Patrick Kane if they're looking for cheap top 6 option.

Define cheap. He signed a "show me" type of deal after surgery. Almost scored a PPG. There are going to be people who are willing to pay for his services.

 

[hockeyfish]

Define cheap. He signed a "show me" type of deal after surgery. Almost scored a PPG. There are going to be people who are willing to pay for his services.

I'm sure a team will give him 4-5 for a year or two.

 

[LOFIN]

I'm sure a team will give him 4-5 for a year or two.

He can get much more than that. If it's a real top contender, that's obviously different. I'm fairly confident he can remain a PPG guy for the next two years at least. That should be worth 6-7mil. I don't want that in Colorado, but someone is going to give that to him.

 

[Pokecheque]

Wonder if the Avs have interest in Patrick Kane if they're looking for cheap top 6 option.

Oh dear God no

 

[AvsFan2123]

I personally wonder if we can convince Viktor Arvidsson to sign a 1 year deal like Evan Rodrigues did. Boost his value. He’s coming off an injury plagued year. Come play here for a year. Get PP time. Rack up the points and possibly win a Cup. Then cash in and sign the last contract of your career. It’s definitely a risk for him to only do 1 year I get that. But there’s absolutely the rewards like I listed.

Cause like previously discussed we may need wings. Drouin is unsigned. They’ve given us zero indication of when Landeskog is returning this season. Nichushkin could be gone for good. We may need to try getting one top 6 wing who could sign relatively cheap. Perron and PKane other options.

 

[EdAVSfan]

Lehky, Rants, Landy and Drouin would be 4 top 6 wings. Most teams are not complete in that area and have a fringe guy in a higher role. You don’t need 4, but 4 is nice to have. Avs have it.

The cap is going to be tight regardless. You can’t trim Colton for savings. You can’t time beyond Nuke for savings. Defense is maybe an area, but they already trimmed. I think in any case, this team is going to be a step or two worse than this past season’s team simply due to the cap and reliance on very cheap depth.

This is exactly what I’m struggling with.

For months, yourself, I and many others have acknowledged that a decent sized salary was needing to be moved out to avoid having 10 guys at minimum salary. Some were good with Lehkonen, others preferred Colton.

Under your own scenario above, getting Drouin back in the fold and leaving Nuke out, leaves us with the necessary wings. Fantastic.

But here’s the problem, despite clearing nuke, we haven’t actually achieved the primary goal, which was to save cap space. Nukes penalty and drouins new salary can prob be very close to Nukes cap hit. So we haven’t actually accomplished anything.

So again we have the dilemma, where is the cap space that we always needed for the last several months of discussion, coming from?

 

[Freaky Styley]

This is exactly what I’m struggling with.

For months, yourself, I and many others have acknowledged that a decent sized salary was needing to be moved out to avoid having 10 guys at minimum salary. Some were good with Lehkonen, others preferred Colton.

Under your own scenario above, getting Drouin back in the fold and leaving Nuke out, leaves us with the necessary wings. Fantastic.

But here’s the problem, despite clearing nuke, we haven’t actually achieved the primary goal, which was to save cap space. Nukes penalty and drouins new salary can prob be very close to Nukes cap hit. So we haven’t actually accomplished anything.

So again we have the dilemma, where is the cap space that we always needed for the last several months of discussion, coming from?

Roster size of 21. It's tight but it's doable. I traded Nuke for Jake Bean's rights, but that's more or less just to show what removing his salary and getting a D at that price range looks like. If you swap Girard with Ferraro, that's a further 1.75M saved which adds up to either an upgrade somewhere or 2 more league min roster spots for a 23 man roster.

I'm also of the opinion we can get Drouin for 500k less long term, but was trying to be cautious with him and Mitts projections. I also think Landeskog could start on LTIR, so we could have some flexibility at least in the short term.

 

[Balthazar]

View attachment 882977

Roster size of 21. It's tight but it's doable. I traded Nuke for Jake Bean's rights, but that's more or less just to show what removing his salary and getting a D at that price range looks like. If you swap Girard with Ferraro, that's a further 1.75M saved which adds up to either an upgrade somewhere or 2 more league min roster spots for a 23 man roster.

I'm also of the opinion we can get Drouin for 500k less long term, but was trying to be cautious with him and Mitts projections. I also think Landeskog could start on LTIR, so we could have some flexibility at least in the short term.

There's literally 0 chance that Nuke won't have some sort of cap hit/penalty in November. Even in the unlikely event where we manage to trade his ass we'd have to either retain or take a contract back.

 

[Freaky Styley]

There's literally 0 chance that Nuke won't have some sort of cap hit/penalty in November. Even in the unlikely event where we manage to trade his ass we'd have to either retain or take a contract back.

I traded for Jake Bean, so there's a contract.

Not sure how you can have so much certainty. There's a chance he comes back and is ready to play but the Avs are done with him. If so, some team will take him on at his full hit, the Avs just won't get full value.

 

[The Abusement Park]

I traded for Jake Bean, so there's a contract.

Not sure how you can have so much certainty. There's a chance he comes back and is ready to play but the Avs are done with him. If so, some team will take him on at his full hit, the Avs just won't get full value.

That won't happen, I can almost guarantee that. The teams that would risk adding him are teams that are contending with good, leadership. But they won't be able to afford that contract.

 

[Balthazar]

I traded for Jake Bean, so there's a contract.

Not sure how you can have so much certainty. There's a chance he comes back and is ready to play but the Avs are done with him. If so, some team will take him on at his full hit, the Avs just won't get full value.

It's not because it's convenient to us that it's even remotely realistic

That won't happen, I can almost guarantee that. The teams that would risk adding him are teams that are contending with good, leadership. But they won't be able to afford that contract.

Even that part isn't happening. Not with 6 more years on the book. If his contract is terminated or we buy him out then some team will give him a cheap 1 year contract.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

View attachment 882977

Roster size of 21. It's tight but it's doable. I traded Nuke for Jake Bean's rights, but that's more or less just to show what removing his salary and getting a D at that price range looks like. If you swap Girard with Ferraro, that's a further 1.75M saved which adds up to either an upgrade somewhere or 2 more league min roster spots for a 23 man roster.

I'm also of the opinion we can get Drouin for 500k less long term, but was trying to be cautious with him and Mitts projections. I also think Landeskog could start on LTIR, so we could have some flexibility at least in the short term.

The problem with this scenario is that you have to go over the cap when you activate Nuke from LTIR in order to trade his ass to Columbus. I don't see the Av telling Gabe to go back on LTIR for three weeks while we hash out this Nuke situation.

 

[hockeyfish]

If the Avs want to make any moves this off-season, resolution to Nuke's situation needs to happen soon.

 

[henchman21]

This is exactly what I’m struggling with.

For months, yourself, I and many others have acknowledged that a decent sized salary was needing to be moved out to avoid having 10 guys at minimum salary. Some were good with Lehkonen, others preferred Colton.

Under your own scenario above, getting Drouin back in the fold and leaving Nuke out, leaves us with the necessary wings. Fantastic.

But here’s the problem, despite clearing nuke, we haven’t actually achieved the primary goal, which was to save cap space. Nukes penalty and drouins new salary can prob be very close to Nukes cap hit. So we haven’t actually accomplished anything.

So again we have the dilemma, where is the cap space that we always needed for the last several months of discussion, coming from?

There’s a lot of details to it, but if you can save ~1m from Nuke to Drouin and minimum the rest, you end with cap space. It won’t build a great team with depth, but in the realm of working. Just build up on capfriendly while we still have it.

What people have to probably accept is this team will be worse. The Avs are not improving at this point. There could be a real debate on paying for depth rather than re-signing Drouin. But we’ll know that direction by July 2nd surely.

The problem with this scenario is that you have to go over the cap when you activate Nuke from LTIR in order to trade his ass to Columbus. I don't see the Av telling Gabe to go back on LTIR for three weeks while we hash out this Nuke situation.

Nuke doesn’t have to be activated from PAP to be traded. Rumors are around the Avs exploring the traded market.

Secondly on the Cap, you only have to be compliant in the afternoon of each day. Thats when the cap counts hit. Entirely possible he’s activated at say 7am and then dealt with by noon (take your pick on which way)… that would leave the Avs cap compliant still. It would be a very narrow threading of the needle. Technically possible.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Have we run the numbers to see if there is any leftover money?

That feels like a complete cap roster.

There would actually be quite a bit. Assuming they get Drouin signed at 3.5, and Mitts at 6.0, it would look like:

Lehky(4.5) - Mack(12.6) - Drouin(3.5)
Landy(7.0) - Mitts(6.0) - Mikko(9.25)
Wood(2.5) - Colton(4.0) - LOC(1.05)

Toews(7.25) - Makar(9.0)
Girard(5.0) - Manson(4.5)

George(3.4)
Annunen(0.85)


That group would be ~$80.4M so $7.6M left for anywhere from 5-8 remaining roster spots, where 3-4 of them should be league minimum deals anyway.

If you count Wagner as the 13th forward at $775k, and Kovalenko as a 4th line guy at $900k, then you've got about $6M left for 2 more 4th liners, another Dman, and then probably a 7th Dman. I also have a feeling Jack Johnson comes back for one more year, and maybe Caleb Jones as the 7th D both for $775k.

If those things happened, than you'd have ~$4.5M left for 4C, 4LW, and #5D essentially. $1M(or less) for the 4LW and you'd have roughly $1.8M to spend on a 4C and #5D.

 

[EdAVSfan]

There’s a lot of details to it, but if you can save ~1m from Nuke to Drouin and minimum the rest, you end with cap space. It won’t build a great team with depth, but in the realm of working. Just build up on capfriendly while we still have it.

What people have to probably accept is this team will be worse. The Avs are not improving at this point. There could be a real debate on paying for depth rather than re-signing Drouin. But we’ll know that direction by July 2nd surely.

Hey Hench, so I know you’re probably encompassing multiple different conversations with the reply, so I’ll try to be more specific.
I’m not even discussing at all, quality of roster. Whether we’re better or worse is tangential to my premise.
I’m talking purely from a cap logistic here.

So here’s something maybe I’m not understanding. When you discuss the « save 1M », I get that. But that falls in line with the « threading the needle » mentality that you like to say. So here’s where I’m lost.

If we sign Drouin, great. On the other hand, is it possible the Avs can KNOW what the cap penalty is, prior to November when Nuke can get re-instated? Because nukes cap penalty can be 500k, or 3M. So if the avs don’t know where it falls, how can you even begin to give Drouin 3-4 mil, when the penalty is up in the air?

Now, obixously, if the avs find a trade, or get closure soon, then all this is moot.
But under the ideology that we don’t know what Nuke’s penalty will be until well into the season, isn’t it possible we still need to find cap space? And if we do, where is it coming from?

 

[henchman21]

Hey Hench, so I know you’re probably encompassing multiple different conversations with the reply, so I’ll try to be more specific.
I’m not even discussing at all, quality of roster. Whether we’re better or worse is tangential to my premise.
I’m talking purely from a cap logistic here.

So here’s something maybe I’m not understanding. When you discuss the « save 1M », I get that. But that falls in line with the « threading the needle » mentality that you like to say. So here’s where I’m lost.

If we sign Drouin, great. On the other hand, is it possible the Avs can KNOW what the cap penalty is, prior to November when Nuke can get re-instated? Because nukes cap penalty can be 500k, or 3M. So if the avs don’t know where it falls, how can you even begin to give Drouin 3-4 mil, when the penalty is up in the air?

Now, obixously, if the avs find a trade, or get closure soon, then all this is moot.
But under the ideology that we don’t know what Nuke’s penalty will be until well into the season, isn’t it possible we still need to find cap space? And if we do, where is it coming from?

The penalty would be the payout over a term. They’ll have an idea of where that is, we won’t, but they will. There are lots of ways to handle it, but losing ~4.5-5m of Nuke’s cap hit allows the Avs the flexibility needed to make specific things work. If they can’t come to terms with Drouin or a different reclamation, they still have a projected 3 top 6 wingers (which is pretty normal in the NHL) and can then spend more on depth.

What the Avs do is really anybody’s guess until July 2nd. By then we will at least have an idea of what is planned.

 

[EdAVSfan]

The penalty would be the payout over a term. They’ll have an idea of where that is, we won’t, but they will. There are lots of ways to handle it, but losing ~4.5-5m of Nuke’s cap hit allows the Avs the flexibility needed to make specific things work. If they can’t come to terms with Drouin or a different reclamation, they still have a projected 3 top 6 wingers (which is pretty normal in the NHL) and can then spend more on depth.

What the Avs do is really anybody’s guess until July 2nd. By then we will at least have an idea of what is planned.

Ah ok, so they do have an idea. This is where I was struggling because I assumed it would be completely unknown, but within a pretty wide parameter.

Obviously if the savings are 4.5-5M that makes it significantly better for filling out the roster.

 

[hockeyfish]

Ah ok, so they do have an idea. This is where I was struggling because I assumed it would be completely unknown, but within a pretty wide parameter.

Obviously if the savings are 4.5-5M that makes it significantly better for filling out the roster.

One would assume by now that Sakic/MacFarland have had enough discussions with their lawers, the league, the PA, and Nuke's agents to know what it will cost to terminate the contract. If not, they really aren't doing their jobs. It's possible a trade somehow comes up before then, but unlikely. It's also possible that an ordinary buyout could be more attractive. And it's possible that no trade comes up, and a buyout or termination don't look attractive, and they default to bringing Nuke back. I think that last option is extremely unlikely.

But yeah, I'd be shocked if the Avs front office doesn't have a very good idea where that situation will lead.

 

[henchman21]

One would assume by now that Sakic/MacFarland have had enough discussions with their lawers, the league, the PA, and Nuke's agents to know what it will cost to terminate the contract. If not, they really aren't doing their jobs. It's possible a trade somehow comes up before then, but unlikely. It's also possible that an ordinary buyout could be more attractive. And it's possible that no trade comes up, and a buyout or termination don't look attractive, and they default to bringing Nuke back. I think that last option is extremely unlikely.

But yeah, I'd be shocked if the Avs front office doesn't have a very good idea where that situation will lead.

Yup… some idea now matter the situation. Which likely translates in some manner of the 4/5 top 6 wings on this roster being here. Worst case is 3/5, which isn’t ideal… but workable.

Speaking to the middle of the season. Start may not have that, but doesn’t really matter as they can function for a month.