I think a lot of you guys have a ton of recency bias when it comes to Kadri. Yes, he was incredible during the cup run and became a core player during that season. But have you all forgotten what he was like before that? He was a complete net negative player, dragging down his linemates and wasting offensive chances. How were the Avs supposed to know which version of Kadri they were going to get long term, especially as age caught up with him? Signing 30+ year old players to big, long term deals is exactly how you guarantee our window closes at some point.
As much as I love him, I'm glad the Avs didn't give Kadri the deal he got in Calgary.
As for Manson, if they let him walk, they would immediately need to go looking for a replacement. It's not like you can easily just go out and find big physical top-4 right d who aren't complete liabilities offensively.
I think re-signing Manson was the right move, because it allowed the team down the line to deal from a position of strength - they could afford to trade whoever made the most sense out of Toews, Byram, Girard and Manson when the time came, leaving them still with a very solid top 4. And I personally don't blame them for not going with a top four of Makar, Toews, Byram and Girard.
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