On the cap hit... instead of a Manson/ERod combo, it would have been a Kadri/Schenn type combo instead (remember Avs had EJ still at this point).
On RD that could have been had, we saw Tanev at the last deadline (and the Avs were in it). Avs clearly got Manson in a trade. Savard was also moved. Those two fit the exact same mold. Then you have different molds of players in different ways... say a left shot that can play the right side, like Orlov or Ekholm. Or a different type of RD like Hronek. Or slightly lesser versions. Every year these types of defenders trade places. They aren't necessarily cheap, but they can be had. Along with this, the Avs had Byram as a floater #5 that would play both sides and all the pairings at different times to get him minutes. They already had 4 guys for top 4 roles. They could have moved forward with that... and that group would be stronger than today's group.
With Newhook, it was simply a misevaluation and a bad move. Skill sets matter and if a player is deficient in something, they need to make it up elsewhere in drastic ways. It isn't like it wasn't clear to see with Newhook. It was chattered about prior to his drafting, after he was drafted, and when he was in the NHL. The Avs even made moves to ensure he wasn't even playing center, on any line, for the Cup run. Arguably, his miss (amongst others) cost 2 scouts their jobs. He was a western Canada guy (so Klipp was his regional scout) and Hepple had to ensure Sakic Newhook was the guy. Both have now been phased out. The move to esure Newhook wasn't playing center makes the whole thing more egregious IMO. The Avs already saw the struggles and just said they were okay with it. You can't just do that with important positions like the 2nd line center spot.
We keep forgetting that it wasn’t Manson or Kadri.
The Avs were going to keep Kadri if EJ accepted the trade to Anaheim, which he was flip-flopping on over a two week period until ultimately deciding to stay.
Kadri even waited and gave the Avs time. Him coming back was still on the cards even after Manson was re-signed.
This is true in the sense that the Avs kept trying with Kadri and wanted him back. Kadri even game them ample time to figure out it. Where I have issue with it, is Kadri should have been figured out prior to Manson. Then it should have been an Manson/EJ decision rather than a Kadri/EJ decision. They knew Kadri would wait, they pushed that as far as they could, and it ended up burning them.
In any case of this, the roster issues caused by the loss of Kadri have hurt this team over the past two seasons. We now have Mitts to take that role, but it cost further assets to get there. The Avs not only hurt the past two seasons by that decision, they lost further assets to improve the team.
If Kadri wanted to stay, he would have stayed. Players have agency. That is something we often ignore here in the trade thread, blaming Avs for not getting player X or Y when they might never have wanted to come here.
Kadri wanted to stay, and the framework of a deal was in place. Kadri gave a ton of time for the Avs to figure out the cap issues until eventually he had to sign elsewhere.