Prioritizing the better hockey player is not a terrible mistake.
If you want Bendar to play the lines at a more reasonable TOI... having well below average 3 and 4Cs is not going to help that.
I don’t necessarily agree. Especially with all the wingers that will potentially be available for cheap this offseason.
I don't think he will. He will get 8x12=96Rantanen really is going to be making more than Nate, isn’t he?
The problem with Suter isn't his play... the problem is coaches like his play and start elevating him up the lineup. He's capable of a 15 minute role and playing that well. The problem is coaches will play him 19-20 and those extra flaws start to surface.
Colton is a 3C that can't drive his line (as seen with the loss of LOC) and isn't good defensively. Let's not act like he's hard to replace.
Rantanen really is going to be making more than Nate, isn’t he?
Maybe the Avs will sign Guentzel and trade Mikko.
He's an average 3C. How do the Avs replace that with ~1m to spend at an average level?
Of course I want that, but Bednar clearly doesn't want that. Even with Mittelstadt here I don't envision the top line playing less than 22 per game.
No matter how you slice it, keeping a winger (Drouin) over a capable--albeit average--3C (Colton) is a mistake. Drouin can't effectively play C, so he can't slot in to that space, and now you either have to find a replacement for less than 4M (which will not net you someone who is as good as Colton was for us last year), or you just go REALLY cheap and have the on-ice results to reflect that...which will lead to the Top6, specifically the Top Line, being well overplayed by the time the playoffs come.
A 3C is more important to a team's success than a 2W. I get wanting to keep Drouin, but this will be relegating the bottom 6 to a combined ~16 minutes a night. Unless they pull off an expensive trade for a 3C with retention, odds are the bottom 6 gets a lot worse.
12x8 is still more than any other winger makes, and just because Toronto overpaid William Nylander doesn't mean Colorado will overpay Rantanen. Just like they didn't when Marner signed for almost 2.5mil more with worse stats.
It's only a mistake if you think it's a mistake. I don't think it's a mistake based on how this team is built and how Drouin severely outplayed Colton last season.
I don't disagree in theory, but this isn't theory - this is Jared Bednar's preferred allocation of minutes. He's going to ride his top guys into the ground. So, you strengthen the top six.
I think Bednar would prefer to have a more balanced set of minutes as reflected by earlier usage… but the lack of depth and his full on have to win every game has caused this.
He’s not overpaid. He’s paid what average 3Cs make. He’s not providing excess value and that’s the problem.
He really is not though. He makes average 3rd liner money. We've got to stop living like the Cap is 10-15M less than it is now. Yeah we're going to be in a crunch, but he makes average 3rd liner money, and he is an average 3rd liner...who just happened to post career highs in goals and points last year.
