Even if they were entertaining the idea, it would take a lot more to move Brady on a good contract with 4 years left than just Rantanen who is a one year rental. Rantanen + Girard/Manson + 1st is probably something that won't make them immediately hang up.Brady is the Sens' Landeskog, they aren't moving him.
I would do B.Tkachuk for Rantanen - 1 for 1 rather easily.
I wouldn't trade Rantanen for Necas straight-up for sure but if he's the main piece and then you add 1 or 2 solid pieces, I'd look at it for sure.
I think Necas is significantly better than Burakovsky, personally.
I don't think losing Rantanen for nothing is a good idea but it's probably even a better idea than giving him a massive bag and then having him become even lazier than he was last year and having him for 8 years after that.
Bottom line - if the Avs sign him and he doesn't get back to what he previously was - and I'm talking strictly effort-wise here - we are f***ed.
Friedman this morning basically saying the Draisaitl deal has complicated the Rantanen's contract negotiations. He says he still believes Rantanen stays, but the numbers have changed.
Then he goes on to talk about how expensive MacKinnon is, and how expensive Makar will soon be, and implies how screwed the Avs are if they signed Rantanen . Naysayers look away!
Instead of Rantanen, we could have Jake Guentzel AND Yakov Trenin!I mean we are screwed if we sign Rantanen. It's a terrible choice to do so. We'll basically have 3 highly paid guys and a boat load of scrubs.
If Rants wants 13M+ you can't pay it. He's a f***ing winger, not a center. That 13M needs to be two guys like a 8-9M guy and a 4-5M guy if the team wants any chance moving forward.
No, Rantanen making 12.5M and being required to play with MacKinnon/Makar is the issue. A third wheel shouldn't have to cost 12M+. If he was driving the second line on the wing, I personally wouldn't be making a deal out of his salary.Rantanen making $12.5M absolutely is not what will/is ultimately sink this ship. These ridiculous notions need to stop.
I understand these valid arguments.It is shortsighted to look at a single year out of an 8 year contract. If Drouin performs as he did the final 75% of last season, he is going to get offers far higher than $3.75. One of two things happens in goal: 1) Georgie plays like Shesterkin and demands ( and gets somewhere) more than $3.25 or 2) He really sucks and the Avs need to pony up for a goalie ( is Nabakov really going to take the #1 in 12 months? I doubt it.) Mitts is a UFA the year after that. Where is his money coming from? For those who reply " Ritchie on an ELC", that contract will be up the same time as Mitts, Makar, Lehky and Girard.
Signing Mikko for $12M+ is like the death of 1000 cuts. Sure, LOC is a swallowable loss. But then Drouin? Then Lehky? Then Mitts? All the while Landy is eating $7M to play 3LW.
I think CMac is going to sign Mikko. But the Avs have already proven (twice in 2 years) that they are unable to get out of the second round with an elite top line and elite top pair. How does it get any easier after handing Mikko his retirement contract? Especially after moving Byram for only 3 years of Mitts? This is not simply a matter of losing LOC next year.
The team's best winger is not a "third wheel."No, Rantanen making 12.5M and being required to play with MacKinnon/Makar is the issue. A third wheel shouldn't have to cost 12M+. If he was driving the second line on the wing, I personally wouldn't be making a deal out of his salary.
There aren't 4 teams in the West with clearly better top 9 F and Top 4 D if Lando and Nuke comes back healthy.Of what you listed there's 3 or 4 teams in the West that have clearly better lineups.
And teams are allowed to ice an extra 3 forwards and 2 defense. Just because the Avs choose not to play those other 5 guys doesn't mean other teams won't. And we saw how gassed the Avs were against Dallas after an entire season of only 14 guys getting ice time each night.
No, Rantanen making 12.5M and being required to play with MacKinnon/Makar is the issue. A third wheel shouldn't have to cost 12M+. If he was driving the second line on the wing, I personally wouldn't be making a deal out of his salary.
If you are wanting 12M plus and can't consistently drive your own line, you are a 3rd wheel.The team's best winger is not a "third wheel."
Good post.Wow the discussion about mikko's next deal is strange.
The people opposed keep suggesting that if he's traded - the only thing we'd be able to get is futures which I find weird.
Why is the choice - signing #96 to a huge contract OR only getting picks/prospects in return and nothing in between? Doesn't make sense to me.
The Avs wouldn't trade Rantanen for purely futures.
I believe there is certainly a way for the Avs to get younger while trading Rantanen and maybe not have that much of a drop-off.
Just look at a guy like Necas. He just signed the ROR 2-year deal in Carolina - they are going to trade him at some point. He's making $6.5M for the next 2 years...that adds cap flexibility and you get younger for a couple of years. When he's up in 2 years, he's probably still not looking for anything near $12M.
Brady Tkachuk we keep hearing off-and-on that he's 'unhappy' in Ottawa - that guy makes $8.2M over the next 4 years...that would be a sweet top line winger to add.
Both these guys could potentially be available - both those teams needs a 'jump start' for sure.
Both these players are not as good as Mikko scoring-wise but I'd be willing to bet that they could be about 75-80% as productive playing with Mack and on the top PP... when you offset that with the cap savings, you really have to think about it.
I know that with time we tend to forget and the just look at the stats sheet but I was extremely disappointed with mikko's season and effort level for the majority of last season. I understand fully that he had a very productive season but he was very much grabbing on to #29's MVP season - almost in a Rob Brown* sort of way.
(*Rob Brown put up 115 pts playing on the top line in Pittsburgh playing with Mario Lemieux when Mario put up 199 pts in 1988-89 - it wasn't that extreme but it was at least a bit similar)
I don't think the Avs should be afraid to make this kind of deal. The Panthers did it with Huberdeau and look how much they benefitted. The idea is that you do what's best for the future of the franchise and the way Rantanen looked to me last year - I certainly would be very nervous about signing him to a massive long-term extension.
No, Rantanen making 12.5M and being required to play with MacKinnon/Makar is the issue. A third wheel shouldn't have to cost 12M+. If he was driving the second line on the wing, I personally wouldn't be making a deal out of his salary.
Well, the year before was when 29, 8, and practically the entire lineup struggled with injuries, and 96 stepped up big-time. He had NO problem driving a line on his own. And yes, I know you added in "consistently," but IMO Rants is more consistent than people give him credit for.If you are wanting 12M plus and can't consistently drive your own line, you are a 3rd wheel.
His production is very dependent on playing on 29s wing. Virtually every time 96 is pulled from 29 his production dips sans one time when 29 was hurt and he actually stepped up. 29s production is fairly constant with or without 96.
Can't pay 12M+ to a guy who can't drive a line on his own.
Even if you perceive Rantanen having to play with MacKinnon as an issue, it's not a Rantanen issue. It's a Bednar issue.
I stand by my opinion that it's on Bednar, entirely. He should have enough clout in the room to be able to determine the lines for crying out loud. He just doesn't want to.Last year was way more of a Johansen issue than anything else. At least now they won't half-assedly try to put Mikko at center. It's clear the coaches and the player just don't have any desire to do that.
At no point during the Cup run did Rants carry his own line. Kadri was easily the third-best, and frankly sometimes second-best player on the team.I stand by my opinion that it's on Bednar, entirely. He should have enough clout in the room to be able to determine the lines for crying out loud. He just doesn't want to.
We won the cup when Rantanen played the most important games away from MacKinnon. Rantanen has been at his best with the Avs when he has been separate from MacKinnon, carrying his own line.
I hope, but I'm not optimistic at this point that we would actually see it next season if we have Landy and/or Nuke back. We have an abundance of top-6 wingers at that point (in reality we don't, because someone is hurt lol).
I don't disagree. But he did play on a separate line from MacKinnon.At no point during the Cup run did Rants carry his own line. Kadri was easily the third-best, and frankly sometimes second-best player on the team.
That I agree with, and I also agree that Bednar has his faults. But I don’t believe that MacKinnon and Rantanen being joined at the hip is 100% on Bednar.I don't disagree. But he did play on a separate line from MacKinnon.
And was the second best point producer (after Makar) during the run, better than MacKinnon. While we don't remember Mikko for being a face of that cup-run, he was a pretty damn good soldier.
It's simply not consistent enough. At that price point I shouldn't have to wonder can he do it consistently, there should be no doubt.Well, the year before was when 29, 8, and practically the entire lineup struggled with injuries, and 96 stepped up big-time. He had NO problem driving a line on his own. And yes, I know you added in "consistently," but IMO Rants is more consistent than people give him credit for.
Anyway, I fully understand making the roster this top-heavy isn't a great idea, but I simply don't think there's an alternative at this point.