Rumor: 2024-2025 Trade Rumors and Free Agency Talk | The Slow Crawl to the Season

[Ceremony]

MacKinnon didn't take a discount. Toews did. Ristolainen should have been out of the league before he signed that contract with Philadelphia.

 

[Balthazar]

No one on that team took a discount.

A discount is what Boston and Tampa have done in the past when core players agree beforehand to all do it so it benefits everyone.

Spreading the money over 8 years instead of 7 when you're 29 isn't a discount.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

MacKinnon didn't take a discount. Toews did. Ristolainen should have been out of the league before he signed that contract with Philadelphia.

I agree. Toews 7.25 is very nice. Open market he gets way more.

Fifty point D with good overall game don't grow on trees.

 

[Alienblood]

He has arb rights and if they look at the kind of minutes he's been playing this year he likely did.

He's no loss

Mack took a big discount again.

 

[dahrougem2]

The only player who has taken a discount to play here is Jonathan Drouin lol.

Every other player secures the bag first. MAYBE you can argue Lehkonen but at the time his numbers didn't warrant more imo.

 

[LOFIN]

The only player who has taken a discount to play here is Jonathan Drouin lol.

Every other player secures the bag first. MAYBE you can argue Lehkonen but at the time his numbers didn't warrant more imo.

Also, should not be held against them. Basically no-one around the league takes discounts when they are in their prime and have a chance to make real money. I wouldn't take a discount either lol.

 

[Vaslof]

For the record I never mentioned discounts (which is a dumb discussion), I said reasonable deals. Anyway this all started from a hypothetical. I'll have more to say if Rants does end up leaving this summer.

 

[Balthazar]

The only player who has taken a discount to play here is Jonathan Drouin lol.

Every other player secures the bag first. MAYBE you can argue Lehkonen but at the time his numbers didn't warrant more imo.

Yep, starting with the captain who went to the market then asked the Avs to match the biggest offer.

Lehky didn' take a discount, he wasn't producing much in Montreal so he didn't have a track record to ask for more. Mack and Nuke got 8 years to match the market value. Toews at his age sacrificed a bit of AAV for term. Makar only "sold" one UFA year which is what kept the AAV low.

There are multiple stories in Boston of Bergeron taking a (real) discount and asking the rest of the core to do the same and they agreed. McAvoy was the first to break that mold.

Similar stories in Tampa with Kucherov.

 

[Bender]

Also, should not be held against them. Basically no-one around the league takes discounts when they are in their prime and have a chance to make real money. I wouldn't take a discount either lol.

Yeah real money like 5 or 6 million dollars per year as opposed to that 'crap, how the hell am I supposed to feed my family on a paltry $775,000 per year? I might as well go and beg for scraps outside king soopers' ??

 

[dahrougem2]

Also, should not be held against them. Basically no-one around the league takes discounts when they are in their prime and have a chance to make real money. I wouldn't take a discount either lol.

Ehhh, I think it comes with context.

Someone in the workforce choosing a $90,000 salary over a $75,000 salary could be the difference between the family getting to go on a vacation once every few years, or a down payment for a home.

When it comes to pro athletes, greed trumps all. It's why I don't *truly* buy the "all I care about is winning" cliches that get spewed by several athletes - not just NHLers - when clearly money comes first.

If the Avs core players TRULY cared about winning over everything, we'd have seen MacKinnon take 10M, Landeskog take 6M, Makar take 7M, Toews take 5M, etc.

Obviously I don't blame them for securing max money, this is their career and they worked their lives to be able to make this kind of money in such a limited timeframe. However, I also think players that complain about a lack of depth at times are hypocritical if they are making big $$$.

 

[Tommy Shelby]

Manson took a discount too, he would have easily gotten between 5-6M on the open market

 

[Balthazar]

When it comes to pro athletes, greed trumps all.

Eric Lacroix says all the time that there's only so many steaks you can eat.

When it comes to pro athletes it's mostly ego. They deserve more than the other guy.

 

[SirLoinOfCloth]

Ehhh, I think it comes with context.

Someone in the workforce choosing a $90,000 salary over a $75,000 salary could be the difference between the family getting to go on a vacation once every few years, or a down payment for a home.

When it comes to pro athletes, greed trumps all. It's why I don't *truly* buy the "all I care about is winning" cliches that get spewed by several athletes - not just NHLers - when clearly money comes first.

If the Avs core players TRULY cared about winning over everything, we'd have seen MacKinnon take 10M, Landeskog take 6M, Makar take 7M, Toews take 5M, etc.

Obviously I don't blame them for securing max money, this is their career and they worked their lives to be able to make this kind of money in such a limited timeframe. However, I also think players that complain about a lack of depth at times are hypocritical if they are making big $$$.

While I don't disagree with what you've said, there's some other context too - the NHLPA and the agents. There's pressure to inflate wages as much as possible from both these camps, and they'll be in the ear of the players pushing them for as much as they can get. A star player taking way below market value has the knock on effect of devaluing other contracts. Just look at how many comparisons are made when discussing potential term and AAV. The league could also "look into it" for cap circumvention or something and potentially void it all if they wanted to.

 

[Bender]

Eric Lacroix says all the time that there's only so many steaks you can eat.

When it comes to pro athletes it's mostly ego. They deserve more than the other guy.

Yeah but in his case, it's all of them

 

[Balthazar]

Say the Avs were offering Rants 12 X 8 (96M) at the beginning of the year but he turned it down and decided to wait to test the market instead.

Now some other team is offering 14M X 7 (98M) and the Avs match but over 8 years (12.25 X 8)

At the end of the day that extra 2M will make 0 difference in his life. Literally none. He'll have the same house, drive the same cars, have the same vacations, etc. It's all about ego.

 

[LOFIN]

Say the Avs were offering Rants 12 X 8 (96M) at the beginning of the year

Yeah, but they weren't. And apparently have still not crossed that threshold.

 

[Balthazar]

Yeah, but they weren't. And apparently have still not crossed that threshold.

Source?

 

[LOFIN]

Source?

Kypreos. Say what you will about him as an analysist, he doesn't break stuff or give insider info that much anymore but when he does it's usually spot on.

His understanding is that Rantanen camp is looking for something in the 95-100 million range (11.875-12.5), but the Avs have had no interest going anywhere near that number. This was like 2 months ago, well into the season however.

 

[bleuetbio]

Clearly the Avs are going to trade OO to Montreal for our future Selke 3C

It gonna take a lot to take out Evans from Montreal.

Future 2C and RD gonna be a priority for them.

 

[missionAvs]

Have you seen Ristolainen play!?

No kidding. Risto is an absolute abhorrent hockey player. Big Z laps him and Big Z himself is just ok. The good news about Big Z is that he's only 26 so there's still time......right?

 

[EdAVSfan]

It gonna take a lot to take out Evans from Montreal.

Future 2C and RD gonna be a priority for them.

Possibly. But they’re gonna struggle to get a future 2C for a historical 30 point UFA.

 

[dahrougem2]

It gonna take a lot to take out Evans from Montreal.

Future 2C and RD gonna be a priority for them.

I hope you're not expecting a future 2C style prospect for a pending UFA Jake Evans?

 

[Balthazar]

Evans will be Montreal's 3C next season.

They really have no reason to trade him...he's worth more to them than any possible return.

 

[RoyIsALegend]

Evans will be Montreal's 3C next season.

They really have no reason to trade him...he's worth more for them than any possible return.

I've seen you say this a few times, but the fact is he's an unrestricted free agent in 7 months. There's no signed contract extension.

 

[Balthazar]

I've seen you say this a few times, but the fact is he's an unrestricted free agent in 7 months. There's no signed contract extension.

I'm saying this because I know that they have no one to play center. Dvorak is gone and Dach/Newhook clearly can't play C.

Their next guy in line to be a middle 6 C is Hage who's still 2 years away at best. Why would they trade Evans? They have the cap space and they need him.

Montreal is at the stage where they need players, not draft picks.