Rumor: 2024 Trade Rumors and Free Agency Thread: Post Deadline

[expatriatedtexan]

I think EJ said he heard a couple weeks or so before the deadline (can't remember exactly) that he might go to Colorado. Think he said Briere came to him.

Also EJ said CMac watched him earlier in the season a couple times. So they probably had him as a backup plan for a bit.

Yeah, he even mentioned earlier in the day Briere approached him and said it didn't look like it was going to happen. But after the Avs moved Mitts, the situation changed enough that they were able to get it done and Danny called EJ back and said, if you want, we've got a deal in place to send you back to Colorado.

The fact that Danny treated EJ with this kind of professionalism and care speaks volumes to the man Briere is. He treated this situation with real class and treated Johnson with a ton of dignity.

 

[Richard88]

I have a feeling a Coyle+Carlo trade didn't include getting Nelson from NYI. I think they might have switched that up a bit when they heard Mikko could go to Dallas. Just a guess.

Nah I think Nelson was always their no.1 guy. That's why they moved early for him, more than 24 hours before the actual deadline. Then it was just a case of finding the right trade involving Mittelstadt and they clearly felt that Coyle was the main guy they wanted and could afford.

Then it was just a case of trying to see if they could squeeze in Carlo with the remaining assets, which they just clearly didn't have the assets or capspace to do once Toronto upped their offer.

 

[Richard88]

That would make sense, but I can confirm Carlo was still on the table after acquiring Nelson.

As of Thursday night, post-Nelson acquisition, the Avs were still in on both Coyle and Carlo.

Early Friday, the Leafs were finally willing to include Minten in a Carlo deal. The Avs did not have a prospect of that level after giving up Ritchie for Nelson and gave up on that package, focusing instead on just getting Coyle.

EJ was the last resort after Carlo wasn’t a possibility anymore.

Carlo and one more guy that got moved on Friday were Avs targets until Friday morning/noon time.

I got this first hand from somebody close to CMac(pretty obvious who, lol). I also posted this a couple of days after the deadline.

Brad Marchand or Brandon Tanev?

 

[Richard88]

A second pair RD is going to cost money. The whole point is if we need to move Colton, Wood, and Manson, it's because we have a cap crunch. Who exactly are you targeting who is likely available, cheap, and capable of playing top 4 minutes?

First of all, like I've said, a move for a 2 RHD doesn't necessarily have to happen in this offseason. It could wait until the TDL when more guys become available and when you can get retention to fit guys in easier.

To throw some names out, here are some RHD's who are pending UFA's in 2026 (listed by highest to lowest caphit):

Jacob Trouba
Rasmus Andersson
Connor Murphy
Nick Jensen
Radko Gudas
Andrew Peeke

Admittedly most of those guys are getting older so they wouldn't be long-term solutions, apart from Andersson (28) or Peeke (27).

Peeke doesn't have great puck skill but he's been playing well for Boston and has a manageable $2.75m caphit. Having just traded Carlo though Boston probably won't want to move Peeke this offseason, but maybe he's available as a TDL acquisition who you re-sign in the 2026 offseason.

Braden Schneider is an RFA in 2026, and with NYR having signed Will Borgen to a big contract recently there's a possibility that Schneider gets moved if he's looking for a decent raise next summer as Borgen and Schneider would probably both be too expensive for their bottom pairing.

Simon Nemec or Brandt Clarke have been in rumours lately too and might be worth exploring.

 

[Richard88]

If EJ was merely the backup option for Carlo then the Avs actually would have been able to make a Carlo trade work even without trading Wood. They simply would have needed to send out Malinski's $850k and Vesey's $800k and get at least $550k retained on Carlo to get his caphit down to $3.55m. That would have left them with the 22 man roster below with just $1,000 in capspace.

Boston retained $615k of Carlo's contract (i.e. 15% of $4.1m down to $3,485,000) so retention wouldn't have been an issue. Vesey could have gotten traded out in a separate deal if Boston didn't want him in the deal.

The choice for Boston basically would have been something like:

2027 1st + Malinski + Vesey/mid-round pick for Carlo ($550k retained)

vs

2026 1st + Minten + 4th for Carlo ($615k retained)

Looking at that it seems like the Avs were in that race right up until the end, and only lost because Toronto added Minten like @RoyIsALegend has said. The Avs had a pretty good deal on the table which is effectively what forced Toronto to include Minten in the deal.

 

[MarkT]

First of all, like I've said, a move for a 2 RHD doesn't necessarily have to happen in this offseason. It could wait until the TDL when more guys become available and when you can get retention to fit guys in easier.

To throw some names out, here are some RHD's who are pending UFA's in 2026 (listed by highest to lowest caphit):

Jacob Trouba
Rasmus Andersson
Connor Murphy
Nick Jensen
Radko Gudas
Andrew Peeke

Admittedly most of those guys are getting older so they wouldn't be long-term solutions, apart from Andersson (28) or Peeke (27).

Peeke doesn't have great puck skill but he's been playing well for Boston and has a manageable $2.75m caphit. Having just traded Carlo though Boston probably won't want to move Peeke this offseason, but maybe he's available as a TDL acquisition who you re-sign in the 2026 offseason.

Braden Schneider is an RFA in 2026, and with NYR having signed Will Borgen to a big contract recently there's a possibility that Schneider gets moved if he's looking for a decent raise next summer as Borgen and Schneider would probably both be too expensive for their bottom pairing.

Simon Nemec or Brandt Clarke have been in rumours lately too and might be worth exploring.

Okay so if there's a cap crunch, you're actually advocating for a defense core of this for most of the year:
Toews - Makar
Girard - EJ (assuming he doesn't retire)
Lindgren - Malinski

That core is one injury away from being very weak, and it's already not very inspiring. The solution of course would be to acquire Manson's replacement in the offseason, but even if they traded for Peeke, that's less than 2m in cap savings, and I think Manson to Peeke is more than 2m worth of drop in play. I suppose you could assume 50% retention, but then this is getting expensive, which it would already be for all the guys you listed. Speaking of which, most of the guys you listed are not really options unless LTIR frees up cap space, since if we're trading Manson we're right up against the cap. And if LTIR frees up cap space for one of these guys, it probably means an important player is hurt, which means we need to replace that player too. I just don't see how it's really feasible to replace Manson next year. The year after, sure - one of those very guys you listed could get signed as a short or long term replacement. But I think you have to stick with Manson next season and lose someone else (if Landy is back). If it's not Girard, then it has to be either letting Lindgren (or Nelson) walk, or trading Coyle.

Nemec and Clarke are indeed interesting (especially Clarke), but not as Manson replacements. If we're trading him, our #1 need immediately a big guy who plays physical and can move the puck, who ideally shoots right. We would not be able to afford spending our rather meagre assets on yet another puck mover who can't clear the front of the net. It could be interesting if we end up with Lindgren and another physical LD if we trade Girard (Xhekaj for example). Then we could roll Lindgren with Malinski and the new guy with Nemec/Clarke as the bottom pair. This assumes continued growth from Malinski though.

 

[Richard88]

Okay so if there's a cap crunch, you're actually advocating for a defense core of this for most of the year:
Toews - Makar
Girard - EJ (assuming he doesn't retire)
Lindgren - Malinski

That core is one injury away from being very weak, and it's already not very inspiring. The solution of course would be to acquire Manson's replacement in the offseason, but even if they traded for Peeke, that's less than 2m in cap savings, and I think Manson to Peeke is more than 2m worth of drop in play. I suppose you could assume 50% retention, but then this is getting expensive, which it would already be for all the guys you listed. Speaking of which, most of the guys you listed are not really options unless LTIR frees up cap space, since if we're trading Manson we're right up against the cap. And if LTIR frees up cap space for one of these guys, it probably means an important player is hurt, which means we need to replace that player too. I just don't see how it's really feasible to replace Manson next year. The year after, sure - one of those very guys you listed could get signed as a short or long term replacement. But I think you have to stick with Manson next season and lose someone else (if Landy is back). If it's not Girard, then it has to be either letting Lindgren (or Nelson) walk, or trading Coyle.

Nemec and Clarke are indeed interesting (especially Clarke), but not as Manson replacements. If we're trading him, our #1 need immediately a big guy who plays physical and can move the puck, who ideally shoots right. We would not be able to afford spending our rather meagre assets on yet another puck mover who can't clear the front of the net. It could be interesting if we end up with Lindgren and another physical LD if we trade Girard (Xhekaj for example). Then we could roll Lindgren with Malinski and the new guy with Nemec/Clarke as the bottom pair. This assumes continued growth from Malinski though.

You've made some good points. Replacing Manson would undoubtedly be difficult to do. The easiest solution is simply to keep him and let Lindgren walk.

Doing that might be necessary simply due to the lack of ideal solutions. But it also comes at the cost in terms of assets.

Manson would net a decent return this off-season, say like a 2nd round pick with maybe a plus given that there's high demand and short supply for RHD's. So the decision between Lindgren and Manson is essentially Lindgren + 2nd+ Vs Manson. And Lindgren would have ~4 year term vs Manson only 1 more year (yes, he could be re-signed in 2026 but I don't think that's advisable given his injury record and age at that point).

 

[MarkT]

You've made some good points. Replacing Manson would undoubtedly be difficult to do. The easiest solution is simply to keep him and let Lindgren walk.

Doing that might be necessary simply due to the lack of ideal solutions. But it also comes at the cost in terms of assets.

Manson would net a decent return this off-season, say like a 2nd round pick with maybe a plus given that there's high demand and short supply for RHD's. So the decision between Lindgren and Manson is essentially Lindgren + 2nd+ Vs Manson. And Lindgren would have ~4 year term vs Manson only 1 more year (yes, he could be re-signed in 2026 but I don't think that's advisable given his injury record and age at that point).

I disagree with that assessment. it's really Lindgren + 2nd vs Manson + whatever it costs to replace Manson (if that's even possible). I don't know how to quantify, but there's also definitely a cost associated with not having Manson on the team. EJ definitely helps for now, but next season I really don't want to find out how badly we need a guy like Manson after we trade him away. I still remember how desperately the Avs needed him before we traded for him, and that was with EJ on the team.

I actually don't mind Lindgren on a ~4 year term. That would bring him to ~31, and by then hopefully one of our LD prospects has surpassed him on the depth chart, so he's our #5 or #6.

So all tolled, putting Girard aside, since we've discussed that option to death and I doubt we'll ever agree, I think the best option (assuming Nelson re-signs and Landeskog is back) is to move Coyle (and Colton, and Wood) and probably Kivi walk. We already know Drury can play 3C and Kelly can play 4C, and we've got guys coming up who could also potentially play center. We just roll with an epic top 6 and an insanely deep defense. It could be worse.

We then look to upgrade the bottom six at some point if possible. Then next offseason all we need to do is find a Manson replacement and re-sign Necas and Drury, which should be easily do-able with the cap increase.

I think the roster above is my new ideal, to be honest. As much as I've liked Coyle so far, if Landy comes back I think it's either Nelson or Coyle + Kivi, neither of which is terrible, really, and if Landy can't play next year of course it's all of the above.

 

[RoyIsALegend]

3C > 5D

Just my opinion.

Coyle is an elite 3C and we are a completely different team running 29/11/10 down the middle.

 

[Tommy Shelby]

Brad Marchand or Brandon Tanev?

Luke Schenn or Craig Smith would be my guesses

 

[MarkT]

3C > 5D

Just my opinion.

Coyle is an elite 3C and we are a completely different team running 29/11/10 down the middle.

I agree in theory, but I don't see any of Girard, Lindgren or Manson as a 5D. If we move Girard, we're losing a young, useful guy who is great in the system, and on a reasonable contract. If we lose Manson we almost immediately need to start looking for a replacement because we don't have anyone else who provides what he has. If we let Lindgren walk, we will also need to replace his grit at some point unless Middleton or EJ is the plan. Of the three, as everyone here knows, my pick is Girard, but there's no obvious right answer there in my view.

Bah! I guess I'm on the letting Lindgren walk train. This roster would be pretty sweet too. it would be very tight cap-wise though. Drouin or Nelson would need to play ball.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

I agree in theory, but I don't see any of Girard, Lindgren or Manson as a 5D. If we move Girard, we're losing a young, useful guy who is great in the system, and on a reasonable contract. If we lose Manson we almost immediately need to start looking for a replacement because we don't have anyone else who provides what he has. If we let Lindgren walk, we will also need to replace his grit at some point unless Middleton or EJ is the plan. Of the three, as everyone here knows, my pick is Girard, but there's no obvious right answer there in my view.

Bah! I guess I'm on the letting Lindgren walk train. This roster would be pretty sweet too. it would be very tight cap-wise though. Drouin or Nelson would need to play ball.

View attachment 998093

I would let Girard go before I let Lindgren walk, assuming we can get Lindgren signed to a 3.5M deal. Girard is just easier to replace with Malinski.

Im also a big Manson fan but we've managed well without him in multiple instances and he is both injury prone and declining. And its not like hes a great PKer.

I would potentially rebuild that entire 2nd pairing and just make it a bottom 4 that cost the same.

Toews-Makar
Lindgren-Malinski
Dumoulin-Rutta
EJ

Yes the 2nd pairing is not ideal, but that third pairing takes all the PK time. Leaving more time for toews and makar at ES.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

I would let Girard go before I let Lindgren walk, assuming we can get Lindgren signed to a 3.5M deal. Girard is just easier to replace with Malinski.

I’m kind of in the same boat. Girard just doesn’t really bring any higher end skills, he has good mobility and skating in general. However, he doesn’t really create high end opportunities offensively and defensively he’s just okay. He’s just very…average

 

[forsbergavs32]

I’m kind of in the same boat. Girard just doesn’t really bring any higher end skills, he has good mobility and skating in general. However, he doesn’t really create high end opportunities offensively and defensively he’s just okay. He’s just very…average

Yeah I can see that. He’s not particularly bad at anything but he’s not particularly good at anything either. If Malinski can keeping playing well I think we can move G for cap space.

Toews - Makar
Lindgren - Malinski
XXXXX - Manson

Be that an offseason bandaid or Behrens in the 3LD spot

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Just pure insanity going on in here...

 

[RoyIsALegend]

I’m kind of in the same boat. Girard just doesn’t really bring any higher end skills, he has good mobility and skating in general. However, he doesn’t really create high end opportunities offensively and defensively he’s just okay. He’s just very…average

He actually excels in a Bednar system.

A) Retrieve puck with speed
B) Retrieve puck under forechecking pressure
C) Ability to skate it out
D) Ability to make long passes to the forwards

We take it for granted how hard it is to do those things on a consistent basis. It’s something we need all of our D to do effectively, especially the minute munchers.

I continue to say let Lindgren walk.

 

[dahrougem2]

Lindgren will get the same money as Girard does now, maybe a touch less. Yet his body has taken a beating and he doesn't play a longevity style.

You don't choose that guy over Girard.

 

[Pokecheque]

Boy I would LOVE for them to keep Lindgren but yeah, he’s going to get decent coin on the market.

 

[Balthazar]

Lindgren will get the same money as Girard does now, maybe a touch less. Yet his body has taken a beating and he doesn't play a longevity style.

You don't choose that guy over Girard.

Yes and no.

I could see Lindgren-Malinski becoming the cheaper version of Girard-Manson next year. That swap is not that risky (especially if you factor in injuries) and would allow them to save ~3M of cap space + get precious assets back for Manson and Girard.

If Malinski and Lindgren keep playing well CMac will have to seriously consider that option.

 

[BobRossColton]

Okay @Richard88

Trade out Manson
Trade out Wood
Trade out Colton
Sign Malinski+Perbix to a combined 5-5.5m
Give Lindgren 4.0x5
Nelson at 8.0x4
Toews(7.25) Makar (9)
Girard (5) Perbix (3.75)
Lindgren(4) Malinski (1.75)

 

[The Moops]

Yeah, he even mentioned earlier in the day Briere approached him and said it didn't look like it was going to happen. But after the Avs moved Mitts, the situation changed enough that they were able to get it done and Danny called EJ back and said, if you want, we've got a deal in place to send you back to Colorado.

The fact that Danny treated EJ with this kind of professionalism and care speaks volumes to the man Briere is. He treated this situation with real class and treated Johnson with a ton of dignity.

Which is funny, because of you'll remember, Briere did not get traded his last year here. Wonder if he's still bitter about it and did want EJ to go through that

 

[hockeyfish]

There have been plenty of times it's made sense to move Girard yet the team hasn't even really considered it. Seems to me that the Avs view him as a core player while other teams have little interest in him.

 

[Vaslof]

No chance Girard gers traded. Manson for Lindgren I could see happen.

 

[RoyIsALegend]

Okay @Richard88

Trade out Manson
Trade out Wood
Trade out Colton
Sign Malinski+Perbix to a combined 5-5.5m
Give Lindgren 4.0x5
Nelson at 8.0x4
Toews(7.25) Makar (9)
Girard (5) Perbix (3.75)
Lindgren(4) Malinski (1.75)

Why is 27 year old Ryan Lindgren, first time reaching UFA, going to take a paycut on his current salary?

 

[GirardSpinorama]

Why is 27 year old Ryan Lindgren, first time reaching UFA, going to take a paycut on his current salary?

Mostly cause he didnt have a good 1.5 seasons.