Rumor: 2024-2025 Trade Rumors and Free Agency Talk | Part Deux

I know a few people have already had Jake Evans on their radar for 3C dating back to last year. Looks like they still have an outside shot at a deal but a lot of press about being potentially on the move. The more I watch and read on him I am full on the Evans train if the cost isn't too high (seeing a 2nd + speculated a lot) He plays a 3C role on Mtl but could there be top 6 upside similar to Lehky? Lehky had better draft pedigree, is a little older and broke into NHL quicker but some of their NHL track is similar. When we traded for Lehk he was playing a 3rd line role for them. They roll 3 to 4 lines fairly evenly in Mtl 5v5, his extra minutes come solely on the PK with no PP points all even strength or short handed. He has mainly been a .3 to .4 ppg player similar to Lehky before the year we got him trending at .5 ppg which is what Evans is pacing this year, they even played on the same line the year we traded for Lehky. It could be fun to get him and play him at 2C a few games to see how he looks with more minutes/better linemates and worst case he fills in 3C/RW pushing others down for depth?
He started the season at 4C in Montreal...he's always been a 4C in the NHL. He got insanely hot with an unsustainable shooting % in January which jacked his numbers significantly (conveniently on his UFA contract year).

IMO he's better than Drury but not a top 6 center. Ideally you have Evans at 3C and Drury at 4C. That'd not solve the 2C issue though.
 
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I know a few people have already had Jake Evans on their radar for 3C dating back to last year. Looks like they still have an outside shot at a deal but a lot of press about being potentially on the move. The more I watch and read on him I am full on the Evans train if the cost isn't too high (seeing a 2nd + speculated a lot) He plays a 3C role on Mtl but could there be top 6 upside similar to Lehky? Lehky had better draft pedigree, is a little older and broke into NHL quicker but some of their NHL track is similar. When we traded for Lehk he was playing a 3rd line role for them. They roll 3 to 4 lines fairly evenly in Mtl 5v5, his extra minutes come solely on the PK with no PP points all even strength or short handed. He has mainly been a .3 to .4 ppg player similar to Lehky before the year we got him trending at .5 ppg which is what Evans is pacing this year, they even played on the same line the year we traded for Lehky. It could be fun to get him and play him at 2C a few games to see how he looks with more minutes/better linemates and worst case he fills in 3C/RW pushing others down for depth?

For context Evans has 27 pts either EV or SH, 3 SHGs and 5 GWGs. Mittelstadt only has 12 EV points, Lehky has 29 (though only for 45 games).
Can't see it. Avs management has stated they see Drury as the 3C. The Avs also don't have alot of assets to be trading away for marginal upgrades. The 4th and 6th D needs some attention and the 2C if Necas isn't moved there.
 
The rental we want from Montreal is Joel Armia. People here don't know the kind of playoff beast he is.
 
He started the season at 4C in Montreal...he's always been a 4C in the NHL. He got insanely hot with an unsustainable shooting % in January which jacked his numbers significantly (conveniently on his UFA contract year).

IMO he's better than Drury but not a top 6 center. Ideally you have Evans at 3C and Drury at 4C. That'd not solve the 2C issue though.
Well that is kind of what I figured but its tough to tell positionally as Suzuki gets almost 16 min of even strength but lines 2, 3 and 4 are all with 30 seconds of even ice time so they roll those lines pretty evenly. Hes never had a chance to play additional minutes or on the power play to see if it even a possibilty to increase productivity. Was more postulating because he is high effort, decent speed with some skill like Lehky.
 
The rental we want from Montreal is Joel Armia. People here don't know the kind of playoff beast he is.
Yeah Armia would be super helpful. He’d be a very good 3rd liner instead of Wood.

It’s just unfortunate that I don’t think the Avs have the necessary assets for Armia but also for the moves they need to make.
 
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Well that is kind of what I figured but its tough to tell positionally as Suzuki gets almost 16 min of even strength but lines 2, 3 and 4 are all with 30 seconds of even ice time so they roll those lines pretty evenly. Hes never had a chance to play additional minutes or on the power play to see if it even a possibilty to increase productivity. Was more postulating because he is high effort, decent speed with some skill like Lehky.
Yeah he's a good fit and Bednar would love him....but he's a 3C

Yeah Armia would be super helpful. He’d be a very good 3rd liner instead of Wood.

It’s just unfortunate that I don’t think the Avs have the necessary assets for Armia but also for the moves they need to make.

I don't think he'd cost more than a 3rd but the problem would be retention. MTL have 1 slot left and plenty of pending UFA's to trade. I don't see them using it on Armia.
 
Yeah he's a good fit and Bednar would love him....but he's a 3C



I don't think he'd cost more than a 3rd but the problem would be retention. MTL have 1 slot left and plenty of pending UFA's to trade. I don't see them using it on Armia.
I mean we could probably use good C/RW depth anyway even on the 3rd line, he fits better than Armia as a depth peice skating and effort. Also anyone can be a 3C until they make that.jump. Watching some video he reminds me a little of Lehky but at C. Montreals bottom 3 lines get almost even ice time and hes out performing Dvorak and Dach, which isnt a mighty feat but wasn't too far off playing behind Monahan and Dvorak the last couple years at even strength. Some guys right now he has similar numbers too if you take away power play points which most 2Cs might not get here anyway: Evans (27), Kadri (26), Danault (28), Lundell (30), Donato (29), Bennett (29), Larkin (31), Nelson (33), JT Miller (22), Petterson (23), O'Reilly (22), Cozens (23), Zacha (28), Trocheck (27), Stephenson (23) and they all get substantially more even strength ice time. Plus reading through some of the player thread on the Mtl boards they don't have much bad to say about him, food for thought.
 
We don’t have a 1st next year so CMac will probably have to empty rest of the prospect pool. Ritchie, Behrens, Gulyayev etc…
 
Gourde is injured and has regressed. McCann was actually someone I was thinking about, his propensity to shoot the puck would be welcome here
Wasn’t sure about Gourde’s injury status myself. McCann isn’t a center but he shoots the puck and he’s on a good contract. Necas and McCann would be tremendous together on line 2.

Lehky-Mack-Nuke
McCann-Necas-Drouin
 
The rental we want from Montreal is Joel Armia. People here don't know the kind of playoff beast he is.

Playoffs for Armia:

44 GP
10 G
5 A
15 P
0.34 PPG (worse than his regular season career 0.36 PPG)

“Beast” lol

You like Armia, that’s okay, but he’s not any type of playoff beast. He literally produces less in the playoffs than he does in the regular season.

He’s an average skater, at best, who’s brain controller disconnects and stops skating while taking bad penalties.

I’ve never come away impressed with him and I watch too many Habs games.
 
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Playoffs for Armia:

44 GP
10 G
5 A
15 P
0.34 PPG (worse than his regular season career 0.36 PPG)

“Beast” lol

You like Armia, that’s okay, but he’s not any type of playoff beast. He literally produces less in the playoffs than he does in the regular season.

He’s an average skater, at best, who’s brain controller disconnects and stops skating while taking bad penalties.

I’ve never come away impressed with him and I watch too many Habs games.
Now look at Lehkonen stats with the Habs.
 
Now look at Lehkonen stats with the Habs.

What’s that got to do with anything?

Lehkonen became a much better player with the Avalanche, regular season and playoffs. He never scored more than 18 goals in a season for the Habs and that was his rookie season.

He’s taken his game to a whole other level with Bednar because he plays a style that fits with our coach.

I truly don’t think Armia does. Just my opinion.
 
Don't want Parayko - his back is f***ed up
I didn't aware it was that bad. I had just heard a rumor that St. Louis was apparently willing to listen on anyone but that they were not considering a fire sale per say. Sounds like a terrible decision to make for a GM, but that's just me. You don't partially sell your team into further continued mediocracy. You're supposed to sell everything that isn't nailed to the floor so you suck good enough to draft a new core to build around.

Back on the Jones train.

I think the decision has already been made that Mitts is available. But it also needs to be a real upgrade.
Considering we've heard rumors about other teams' interest in him, I would have to think CMac made it known at some point to other GMs he was available.

I'm back and no trade happened, that's disappointing
Hope your procedure wasn't as disappointing. Shooting blanks now? Or did you have a date with the black mamba. :laugh:

I was totally going for shock humor here. Absoultely NO reason to respond to this at all.

He started the season at 4C in Montreal...he's always been a 4C in the NHL. He got insanely hot with an unsustainable shooting % in January which jacked his numbers significantly (conveniently on his UFA contract year).

IMO he's better than Drury but not a top 6 center. Ideally you have Evans at 3C and Drury at 4C. That'd not solve the 2C issue though.
Why do people keep trying to bump Drury to 4C? CMac even said he was brought in to be our 3C.

Wasn’t sure about Gourde’s injury status myself. McCann isn’t a center but he shoots the puck and he’s on a good contract. Necas and McCann would be tremendous together on line 2.

Lehky-Mack-Nuke
McCann-Necas-Drouin
I'm sorry but when struggling to find a 2C on a team that already invested WAY too heavily into wingers as a percentage of the team's cap, the last thing I am doing this deadline is bringing in another top six winger. Even though I love Jared's game.

But my understanding is that the 1st 2 years from now doesn’t have the same value as next year’s 1st. Am I wrong about that?
I would have to think that this is entirely dependent on the team giving up the 1st and how their roster is currently compiled and what their depth looks like.

I can see situations where I think a team will be worse off a year from now and would prefer the later pick assuming it will be higher.

Also, could very well depend on the quality of players available in the drafts. There are some that we know are going to be deep. There are some we know are going to be thin. That could play a big part in which I'd prefer as well.
 
What’s that got to do with anything?

Lehkonen became a much better player with the Avalanche, regular season and playoffs. He never scored more than 18 goals in a season for the Habs and that was his rookie season.

He’s taken his game to a whole other level with Bednar because he plays a style that fits with our coach.

I truly don’t think Armia does. Just my opinion.
Armia was a playoff beast with the Habs just like he was a playoff beast with the Jets. Saying he didn't have many points is saying you didn't watch him. When the Habs got to the cup finals in 2021 Lehky had great playoffs and finished with 4 points. Armia had 8 and he was arguably their best forward.

It's that playoff run alone that got him his current contract. Playoff Armia is what you think Lawson Crouse is.
 
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Armia was a playoff beast with the Habs just like he was a playoff beast with the Jets. Saying he didn't have many points is saying you didn't watch him. When the Habs got to the cup finals in 2021 Lehky had great playoffs and finished with 4 points. Armia had 8 and he was arguably their best forward.

It's that playoff run alone that got him his current contract. Playoff Armia is what you think Lawson Crouse is.

Agree to disagree. I’m not a fan of Armia.
 
Why is McCann not in Colorado yet?!? Go get him CMac


Makar said,
Middle Finger Fuck You GIFs - Find & Share on GIPHY
 
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Agree to disagree. I’m not a fan of Armia.
Does your dad keep telling you that he hates him or something?

Because honestly there's 0 chance that you'd not be a fan if you'd have watched him in the playoffs with the Jets or the Habs. You love players like him. Everyone here does. :laugh:
 

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