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

[henchman21]

It's actually irrelevant how good the team is, no-one in this age of parity is expected to win a bunch of cups. The odds just aren't there even if you have the best team in the league. One cup win is a realistic expectation for a top of the league core. Some will be lucky and win more, some will be unlucky and win none. Dynasties just aren't a thing.

I’d argue it is entirely possible like the Hawks, Pens, and Kings… but you have to win one early in the core’s age. If you win when they are close to UFA it’s simply hard to maintain because contracts get in the way. If you win young, you get a chance to retouch the depth before you’re paying high portions of the cap on a few players.

 

[EdAVSfan]

Going to have to be ready to give up this 1st and one of Ritchie/Goulash for that quality and that level of retention.

I have no issues with this. Getting an asset for Colton, and moving out 2 to get an ideal 3C for the right cap is EASILY a move I can get behind.

Let’s be honest. If Bednar doesn’t trust and love the 3C, there’s no chance of getting the top 6 reduced minutes.

 

[The Abusement Park]

I can already see it now. Every bitching at Max Domi failing at 3C next year

 

[Richard88]

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.

There's no way to slice it--unless they have a bonafide plan (which I concede they may, CMac certainly had a plan when he traded Newhook for draft picks last year and then flipped one for Colton), this is just an all-around bad idea.


Especially when you can find, and pay, for effective Top 6 wings much easier in either UFA or trade.

Would you still be saying it's a mistake to keep Drouin over Colton if they manage to swap Colton for a good 3C at a lower caphit (like Jenner, Laughton, Gourde, etc?).

I'm very dubious about giving up a 2nd rd pick to move up three spots but I do appreciate Grier making this move. We need more movement in the NHL draft, it's always so boring compared to other sports.

Grier basically moved up three spots and got Walman for free, not bad at all.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Would you still be saying it's a mistake to keep Drouin over Colton if they manage to swap Colton for a good 3C at a lower caphit (like Jenner, Laughton, Gourde, etc?).

Well Laughton is just Colton 2.0. He’d save some cap, but he’s roughly the same offensively and defensively, if not worse defensively.

Gourde would be expensive to acquire and looked rough this year.

Jenner would be a great move though.

 

[Richard88]

Going to have to be ready to give up this 1st and one of Ritchie/Goulash for that quality and that level of retention.

Do it.

With Rantanen being a pending UFA and Mittelstadt only signed for 3 years they need to have all the chips on the table.

 

[Alienblood]

Well Laughton is just Colton 2.0. He’d save some cap, but he’s roughly the same offensively and defensively, if not worse defensively.

Gourde would be expensive to acquire and looked rough this year.

Jenner would be a great move though.

Laughton kills penalties too

 

[Richard88]

I have no issues with this. Getting an asset for Colton, and moving out 2 to get an ideal 3C for the right cap is EASILY a move I can get behind.

Let’s be honest. If Bednar doesn’t trust and love the 3C, there’s no chance of getting the top 6 reduced minutes.

1) Colton for a 2nd

2) 1st + Ritchie/Gulyayev for 3C with retention

Which combined comes out as:

Colton
1st
Ritchie/Gulyayev

for

3C
2nd
Drouin (signed for free with the cap space you get in the trades)

So basically trading down from ~24th overall to a 2nd to go from Colton to a different 3C, and swapping Ritchie/Gulyayev for Drouin.

You then have excess value at both 2LW with Drouin (assuming he signs at a reasonably low AAV) as well as 3C.

 

[RockLobster]

Would you still be saying it's a mistake to keep Drouin over Colton if they manage to swap Colton for a good 3C at a lower caphit (like Jenner, Laughton, Gourde, etc?).


Grier basically moved up three spots and got Walman for free, not bad at all.

They need to have a plan that ISN’T “let’s just go back to having no C depth”. Whatever that plan is, from there, depends on the caliber of the replacement.

If it’s a worse 3C, but they save anywhere from 500k-1.5M, then it’s a terrible move.

if it’s via trade, it depends on who is coming in and what the price to acquire them is.

What’s JGP been up to, if Lou is thinking of buying him out, is he still someone who works best on the 3rd line?

 

[Chiarelli]

I would ditch Colton AND not re-sign Drouin.

Assuming you could get Skinner and Pageau.

I also was one of the few ok with bringing Nuke back too tho.

 

[Pokecheque]

I think Colton would be much more tolerable as a 3C if the Avs had a goalie capable of bailing him out. But the combination of Colton continually failing to cover the point shooters and Georgiev continually getting beaten from distance, it's led to a LOT of bad goals.

I don't like the fact that the Avs swung a little too hard in the other direction (which they seem to do in cycles) and replaced a lot of their defensive forwards who couldn't score with a lot of scrappy depth forwards who can't defend. They just can't seem to find a balance.

Also, and it's likely a moot point since they don't really have the resources to address it, but goaltending that didn't give up four a night would be a huge upgrade.

 

[Richard88]

It's interesting that Friedman specifically mentioned Nashville as having interest in Colton... Makes me wonder if perhaps something could be done around Colton and Sissons @50% (~$1.4m X2).

Filling the 3C spot for $1.4m would conveniently leave just enough cap space to sign Drouin at $4m AAV and ice a 22 man roster, as shown in the AGM below.

Sissons 3c - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Create your own team. Trade, sign, recall, reassign, and buyout players as though you were your favourite teams general manager.

www.capfriendly.com

Sissons doesn't have the offensive numbers Colton does, but he's better defensively, PK's, is good on draws, and is a right hand shot so overall he'd be a much better fit for what Bednar wants from his 3rd line. Lehkonen-Sissons-O'Connor would definitely be a pretty good defensive line.

Just a question of what value of picks it would take to make that worth it for both sides.

 

[SirLoinOfCloth]

Sissons on this team would be dangerous with Moser commentating. Scissoring with Sissons would be too tempting.

 

[Ararana]

Sissons on this team would be dangerous with Moser commentating. Scissoring with Sissons would be too tempting.

That's assuming he can properly identify which player it is to begin with.

 

[Foppa2118]

It's interesting that Friedman specifically mentioned Nashville as having interest in Colton... Makes me wonder if perhaps something could be done around Colton and Sissons @50% (~$1.4m X2).

Filling the 3C spot for $1.4m would conveniently leave just enough cap space to sign Drouin at $4m AAV and ice a 22 man roster, as shown in the AGM below.

Sissons 3c - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Create your own team. Trade, sign, recall, reassign, and buyout players as though you were your favourite teams general manager.

www.capfriendly.com

Sissons doesn't have the offensive numbers Colton does, but he's better defensively, PK's, is good on draws, and is a right hand shot so overall he'd be a much better fit for what Bednar wants from his 3rd line. Lehkonen-Sissons-O'Connor would definitely be a pretty good defensive line.

Just a question of what value of picks it would take to make that worth it for both sides.

I don't think it's impossible they move Colton, but I think they'll wait until Ritchie proves he can at least produce offensively at the same rate in a 3C role

I don't think they leave that role a question mark going into the season. Especially since we don't know if Ritchie would even make the team out of camp or after his tryout. I think adding Mitts will allow the team to be more patient with Ritchie than they would have normally.

Colton also has a full NTC next year, which I believe kicks in July 1st, then changes to a M-NTC in 25-26. My guess is he's not moved before the 2025 off season.

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

 

[hockeyfish]

Juicy.

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

 

[Mighty Makar]

@Bill Peckerskull is killing it, as usual. Thank you!

 

[Balthazar]

@Pokecheque

 

[LOFIN]

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

@Bill Peckerskull is killing it, as usual. Thank you!

Probably won't like me as much on Monday, as I may be going out to a job site and not available most of the day.

 

[Balthazar]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1806453262503276930

 

[Mighty Makar]

Probably won't like me as much on Monday, as I may be going out to a job site and not available most of the day.

Pardon! Just kidding. Thanks for all that you do on this site. You will be terribly missed on Monday.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

So Vancouver just spent $6.25M for 3+ years on Joshua and Myers who easily just had the best years of their careers(And quite frankly no other year has really come close) last year?


Oooof, both of those deals have the makings of being ugly as both are two prime candidates for regression.