Rumor: 23-24 Trade Rumors and Free Agency Part Trois: The Road to the Deadline

[Grigowski]

What do you think the most likely outcome would have been if the 2C was fixed during the summer....yup most likely a dman would be gone.

Possible outcome! Maybe make the damn deal that is 2 years overdue at the draft? Maybe use your 1st rounder for a longer solution. or bigger deal. Not another reclamation project.

This problem is solved in the summer or draft, not at the deadline when the prices are crazy and sellers sniff your desperation....

The old AVS-Front-Office song with the exception of 2022: Too little, too late...

But seriously, one of Byram, Manson and Girard will be gone anyway, your are right....

We just cant afford all of them. Even with the cap rising.

Like Bender said: No D-Man on your 3rd pair should earn 3,8, 4.5 or 5 mill.....

 

[Bender]

as far as trading Bo and Girard, won’t happen because the big part of Avs identity is the blue line which provides majority of the offense for this team. They’re not gonna break that up

I guess we'll see but I think you're 100% wrong. One of the two will be traded... it might not happen at this deadline - if they can't find a deal that they like - but it's going to happen before the start of next season.

As I said, a D-Man making close to $4M or $5M playing on the bottom pair doesn't make sense and it weakens the roster in other areas.

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

I would prefer to keep Bo and trade Sammy, but I can understand why Bo would have to be the piece going to get the 2C they covet. I guess I can see them targeting another veteran D-man for this playoff run, if one of Bo/G is dealt, but they have Malinski, Behrens, and Gulyayev waiting in the wings. Getting a D-man with term doesn’t make much sense.

I also hate the idea of trading Ritchie at this time. He appears to be the Avs best F draft pick in years, and has a real upside. Holding onto him could extend their window if and when they have to let one of their big forwards go for cap purposes. Trade your 1sts the next couple years, trade Olausson, trade Foudy, etc., but hold onto Ritchie.

 

[BrickNHL]

So right now, the rumours have us after right handed defensemen, expensive back up goalies, and wingers?

Makes sense

 

[John Mandalorian]

Does anyone remember how frustrating Manson was last year when missing so much of the season?

Yeah, its been better this year but don't let that make you forget about last year.

A suggestion would be to keep an open mind on trading Manson as well. He's the inverse of Girard in that he becomes easier to trade in June.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

Possible outcome! Maybe make the damn deal that is 2 years overdue at the draft? Maybe use your 1st rounder for a longer solution. or bigger deal. Not another reclamation project.

This problem is solved in the summer or draft, not at the deadline when the prices are crazy and sellers sniff your desperation....

The old AVS-Front-Office song with the exception of 2022: Too little, too late...

But seriously, one of Byram, Manson and Girard will be gone anyway, your are right....

We just cant afford all of them. Even with the cap rising.

Like Bender said: No D-Man on your 3rd pair should earn 3,8, 4.5 or 5 mill.....

I see what you are saying. Your original post sounded like you didn't think it would cost a dman the past summer to get a 2C. My bad.

 

[SirLoinOfCloth]

Does anyone remember how frustrating Manson was last year when missing so much of the season?

Yeah, its been better this year but don't let that make you forget about last year.

A suggestion would be to keep an open mind on trading Manson as well. He's the inverse of Girard in that he becomes easier to trade in June.

I disagree with this. We need a Manson-esque player come playoff time. Otherwise our D is mostly finesse and not a big hard hitting body. I'd trade Byram or G (in my opinion trade Bo before G) before I trade Manson.

 

[John Mandalorian]

So right now, the rumours have us after right handed defensemen, expensive back up goalies, and wingers?

Makes sense

Its naive to dismiss GMs name dropping Colorado for their benefit in creating leverage towards teams that actually are interested.

 

[Bender]

I disagree with this. We need a Manson-esque player come playoff time. Otherwise our D is mostly finesse and not a big hard hitting body. I'd trade Byram or G (in my opinion trade Bo before G) before I trade Manson.

Yeah the Avs will certainly want to keep Manson for this playoff run at least. After that, who knows but maybe at that point they are trading him as a 2-time Stanley Cup champion.

 

[hockeyfish]

Does anyone remember how frustrating Manson was last year when missing so much of the season?

Yeah, its been better this year but don't let that make you forget about last year.

A suggestion would be to keep an open mind on trading Manson as well. He's the inverse of Girard in that he becomes easier to trade in June.

Not sure why Manson becomes easier to trade in June. He has a 12 team NTC that kicks in.

 

[John Mandalorian]

Not sure why Manson becomes easier to trade in June. He has a 12 team NTC that kicks in.

He has a full NTC now. You explicitly stated the reason.

 

[forsbergavs32]

Not that it’s anything groundbreaking but Elliott Friedman is on NHL radio right now and says he thinks we’ll add a 2C and a D-man

 

[hockeyfish]

Edit. Nevermind, damn you Cap Friendly.

 

[John Mandalorian]

Thank You - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Thank you for the amazing 9 years

www.capfriendly.com

CF isn't perfect, but I trust them enough on the details. All I see is a partial NTC that starts in June.

It goes from NTC to MNTC this June. Therefore, it becomes easier to trade him in June.

 

[hockeyfish]

It goes from NTC to MNTC this June. Therefore, it becomes easier to trade him in June.

Yeah, sorry, I totally misread what Cap Friendly was trying to say.

 

[Ararana]

As much as I love Byram, trading Bo and keeping Ritchie and Girard makes more sense long term. The decision regarding Byram was made when they extended Toews - Byram is a redundancy in Colorado. I'm not convinced they draft him if they knew Lou was going to give them a free top pairing LHD.

And with what we've seen from Ritchie this season, I'm more than fine taking a gamble on that kid. If you bring in Mittelstadt and have Ritchie shortly behind him (god only knows what they get from Kovalenko), even if Mikko walks that's something you can work with while still having a very good defense for as long as Toews can avoid father time.

It makes for a shorter retool. Ritchie is the critical path, but if Mittelstadt can truely handle 2C duty in Colorado than it shouldn't put them too far back next season.

 

[Bender]

Just for reference, the Avs could add a guy like Cozens at $7.1M by trading Byram and FacePuncher and even keep RYJO and still be cap compliant :

Not suggesting they specifically do this (though MacDermid is going to be a UFA) and their target is more likely Mittelstadt anyways but it just shows that they have the ability to make moves this TDL.

 

[The Moops]

Not that it’s anything groundbreaking but Elliott Friedman is on NHL radio right now and says he thinks we’ll add a 2C and a D-man

If we get a 4C we'll be "lucky"

 

[Freaky Styley]

I would prefer to keep Bo and trade Sammy, but I can understand why Bo would have to be the piece going to get the 2C they covet. I guess I can see them targeting another veteran D-man for this playoff run, if one of Bo/G is dealt, but they have Malinski, Behrens, and Gulyayev waiting in the wings. Getting a D-man with term doesn’t make much sense.

I also hate the idea of trading Ritchie at this time. He appears to be the Avs best F draft pick in years, and has a real upside. Holding onto him could extend their window if and when they have to let one of their big forwards go for cap purposes. Trade your 1sts the next couple years, trade Olausson, trade Foudy, etc., but hold onto Ritchie.

Exactly. Hypothetically, they get Mittlestadt.

Next year, we run Mackinnon -Mittlestadt - Colton. Year following we can do MacKinnon - Mittlestadt - Ritchie, with Colton on LW OR with Ritchie centering the 4th line to ease him in. Definitely shores up C depth for the next 3 years of Colton's deal, and if we can find fillers on D until the guys you mentioned are ready.

I think Malinski's emergence has made the thought of dealing Bo a lot easier for management. I really can't wait for Gulayayev to join this team and have Makar as a mentor. Pick him up in keeper leagues if you have the chance.

 

[Freaky Styley]

If we get a 4C we'll be "lucky"

I could be wrong but I think management is envisioning RyJo as the 4C for the rest of this season. Easier to dump him in the offseason if they want and I don't think they want to pay the price to dump him now. There's precedent for this with EJ.

I hope RyJo can keep up his play from the last few games. I'm not delusional to think it will happen, but progress is progress and credit where it's due. I didn't realize he had surgery a calendar year ago, so that kind of explains why we might be seeing an uptick now. Hopefully this becomes more of the norm and not an outlier. Plus, with his playoff pedigree, him and Parise on the 4th line provide a bit of an X factor in the post season. Put Kovalenko on that line and it's a huge upgrade on what we are throwing out there now.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

Exactly. Hypothetically, they get Mittlestadt.

Next year, we run Mackinnon -Mittlestadt - Colton. Year following we can do MacKinnon - Mittlestadt - Ritchie, with Colton on LW OR with Ritchie centering the 4th line to ease him in. Definitely shores up C depth for the next 3 years of Colton's deal, and if we can find fillers on D until the guys you mentioned are ready.

I think Malinski's emergence has made the thought of dealing Bo a lot easier for management. I really can't wait for Gulayayev to join this team and have Makar as a mentor. Pick him up in keeper leagues if you have the chance.

They also have Behrens that is most likely ready although I am not keen on having two Girards on the left side. Hanzel is doing very well also on a very, very weak team in the WHL but in his case he needs time in the AHL to get a shot at an NHL spot. Guly has another year before he can come over IIRC.

 

[Freaky Styley]

They also have Behrens that is most likely ready although I am not keen on having two Girards on the left side. Hanzel is doing very well also on a very, very weak team in the WHL but in his case he needs time in the AHL to get a shot at an NHL spot. Guly has another year before he can come over IIRC.

Ya we will see Behrens first. But with Malinski and G ahead of him there's only so many undersized D a roster will have.. I still see him as trade bait, although we will have to replace JJ sooner than later. I see him slotting in as the #7 D most nights, which mean he might be better off over-cooking in the AHL

 

[JH21]

I mentioned him awhile back, people didn't like it.

All I'm gonna say is that his 2yrs remaining lines up perfectly with Ritchie stepping in to be the 2C (because you just KNOW that is exactly what management is banking on)

Exactly. Hypothetically, they get Mittlestadt.

Next year, we run Mackinnon -Mittlestadt - Colton. Year following we can do MacKinnon - Mittlestadt - Ritchie, with Colton on LW OR with Ritchie centering the 4th line to ease him in. Definitely shores up C depth for the next 3 years of Colton's deal, and if we can find fillers on D until the guys you mentioned are ready.

I think Malinski's emergence has made the thought of dealing Bo a lot easier for management. I really can't wait for Gulayayev to join this team and have Makar as a mentor. Pick him up in keeper leagues if you have the chance.

Sean Behrens is also probably NHL ready next year as well and can do the things Girard does.

Girard 5'10, 170
Behrens 5'10, 177
Gulayayev 5'10, 171

I juat don't think it's feasible to have three undersized puck movers, even if they are elite puck movers, on the same group.

Malinski is no physical beast either at 5'11, 190 neither is Byram at 6'1, 190.

Size isn't everything but come playoffs when it gets dirty we need a few guys like Manson to clean things up as well as some big bodies for the PK as well.

I think Byram can handle the physically a bit better but you'd always have to worry about his concussions.

Out of the two, Byram is probably the better player but needs more minutes on the top pair while Girard is more valuable to us because our team relies on the defense so much to create offense. Byram probably gets us a better return but it would suck to trade him. He has so much potential but may never realize it here.

 

[Freaky Styley]

Sean Behrens is also probably NHL ready next year as well and can do the things Girard does.

Girard 5'10, 170
Behrens 5'10, 177
Gulayayev 5'10, 171

I juat don't think it's feasible to have three undersized puck movers, even if they are elite puck movers, on the same group.

Malinski is no physical beast either at 5'11, 190 neither is Byram at 6'1, 190.

Size isn't everything but come playoffs when it gets dirty we need a few guys like Manson to clean things up as well as some big bodies for the PK as well.

I think Byram can handle the physically a bit better but you'd always have to worry about his concussions.

Out of the two, Byram is probably the better player but needs more minutes on the top pair while Girard is more valuable to us because our team relies on the defense so much to create offense. Byram probably gets us a better return but it would suck to trade him. He has so much potential but may never realize it here.

I agree, if Behrens is in the plans it makes a lot more sense to trade Sammy G. I just think the org is really happy with his play right now and a little sour on Byram. And like you said, Bo is worth more on the market. I'd be more than happy to sell Sammy high though and keep Bo, it's just up to whether other teams see the value in that.

 

[Bill Peckerskull]