Alex Newhook on the Avs

[AvsFan29]

Newhook has had a great world juniors so far. Do you think he makes the Avs for the end of the season/playoffs?

I can see him easily slotting in on the wing in a 3/4 line role. He’s got high hockey IQ, and a nose for the net.

What do you think?

Click to read more...

 

[MaKarter]

Come on @maxpenguins6630, indulge in some Newhook love.

 

[McMetal]

Probably in some capacity. What role he has will likely depend on injuries and how well he plays, but on some level yes, he's likely to get some games in unless they're very healthy and BC goes deep in the NCAA Frozen Four.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

He should make the team and will probably be an immediate improvement over Jost, Donskoi or Compher.

 

[AvsFan29]

He should make the team and will probably be an immediate improvement over Jost, Donskoi or Compher.

That’s what I’m thinking as well. Although I don’t expect all of them to be around after the trade deadline if they don’t take major steps forward.

 

[AvsFan29]

Probably in some capacity. What role he has will likely depend on injuries and how well he plays, but on some level yes, he's likely to get some games in unless they're very healthy and BC goes deep in the NCAA Frozen Four.

The frozen four ends April 10th.

We play 13 games after April 10th, plus playoffs.

 

[Balthazar]

Judging by the cap situation and how they handled Kaut in the last playoffs, Avs won't want to burn an ELC year IMO.

Newhook's ELC will be very important down the line.

 

[AvsFan29]

Judging by the cap situation and how they handled Kaut in the last playoffs, Avs won't want to burn an ELC year IMO.

Newhook's ELC will be very important down the line.

It wouldn’t hurt to burn a year considering we have a flat cap. It’ll make his next contract cheaper.

 

[McMetal]

The frozen four ends April 10th.

We play 13 games after April 10th, plus playoffs.

Huh, must be a different schedule this year. Makar went all the way to the championship and didn't join us until partway through round one.

 

[Balthazar]

It wouldn’t hurt to burn a year considering we have a flat cap. It’ll make his next contract cheaper.

We see right now with Makar that it likely won't make his next contract significantly cheaper and I'm sure that Sakic would love to have one more year of ELC.

 

[AvsFan29]

Huh, must be a different schedule this year. Makar went all the way to the championship and didn't join us until partway through round one.

NHL playoffs don’t start until May 11th this year. They started April 10th the year Makar joined us in the first round.

 

[AvsFan29]

We see right now with Makar that it likely won't make his next contract significantly cheaper and I'm sure that Sakic would love to have one more year of ELC.

It will make his contract cheaper for sure. It’s one less year to negotiate with. What if he won a Norris in his 3rd year? Lol

 

[McMetal]

NHL playoffs don’t start until May 11th this year. They started April 10th the year Makar joined us in the first round.

Ah hell, yes, of course. My brain got the months wrong, that's why. Brain fart.

 

[Avs_19]

Newhook has had a great world juniors so far. Do you think he makes the Avs for the end of the season/playoffs?

I can see him easily slotting in on the wing in a 3/4 line role. He’s got high hockey IQ, and a nose for the net.

What do you think?

It might be tough for him to crack the lineup if the Avs are as good as everyone expects them to be but what you suggest there is a plausible scenario. If he does join the team and actually play then I see him at wing in the bottom six to start.

I don't think the Avs will be playing any games with his contract. You can get away with that with players already signed to their ELC but I don't recall it happening with a top prospect in college. If he wants to sign and burn a year then that's probably what happens. I believe the Avs already tried to sign him last year but he made the decision to return to school so I see them trying to bring him in as soon as his college season is over.

 

[AvsFan29]

It might be tough for him to crack the lineup if the Avs are as good as everyone expects them to be but what you suggest there is a plausible scenario. If he does join the team and actually play then I see him at wing in the bottom six to start.

I don't think the Avs will be playing any games with his contract. You can get away with that with players already signed to their ELC but I don't recall it happening with a top prospect in college. If he wants to sign and burn a year then that's probably what happens. I believe the Avs already tried to sign him last year but he made the decision to return to school so I see them trying to bring him in as soon as his college season is over.

If he’s the real deal, it might be to our advantage to burn a year while the cap is flat. It also gives him less experience to negotiate with.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Judging by the cap situation and how they handled Kaut in the last playoffs, Avs won't want to burn an ELC year IMO.

Newhook's ELC will be very important down the line.

They may not have a choice. If Newhook is using leverage to get the contract signed then that’s what the Avs will have to do is sign right away and burn the year.

I seem to recall a contenders don’t play kids right away/in the playoffs rule that doesn’t apply to Newhook somehow.

It’s truly going to come down to how much hardball Newhook and his camp want to play. If he has a great spring at BC he’s going to hold all the cards. If the Avs have any say they could sign him for 2021-22 and send him to the Eagles on a PTO.

Avs also don’t seem to care about Barron having an ELC that can slide since they have 4 days to get that done. Guess it only applies to Kaut.

 

[Richard88]

Burning a year of Newhook's ELC means that he'll be up for his next contract in 2023 at the same time as Mackinnon and Kaut, and possibly also Byram. Fortunately the Johnson, Graves, Compher, and Donskoi contracts expire then so it should be manageable, but an extra year of Newhook on an ELC would be really handy.

With the clock ticking on the cup window though any decision will likely centre around whether or not Newhook can help the team in the playoffs. This season is probably the teams best chance of winning a cup given that it's before Makar/Landeskog/Grubauer get raises that more than likely means we have to lose Saad to UFA next offseason.

There's also no denying that the team's biggest need is a 3C and that's a role that Newhook would fit perfectly in if he's up to the task, giving us as complete a lineup as you're ever going to see in a cap league.

Landeskog ----- Mackinnon ------ Rantanen
Burakovsky ------- Kadri ----------- Saad
Nichuskin ------ Newhook -------- Donskoi
Calvert ---------- Bellemare ------- Compher
(Jost/O'Connor/Kaut)

Toews --- Makar
Girard --- Johnson
Graves --- Cole
(Byram/Timmins/Gilbert)

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Nope, won't be on the team.


I dont think he's quite ready. That said, he could play hardball and force a contract given the NCAA/NHL rules.


And I guess the Avs could always have a lot of injuries to deal with... But right now he just isn't ready yet.

 

[Richard88]

Nope, won't be on the team.


I dont think he's quite ready. That said, he could play hardball and force a contract given the NCAA/NHL rules.


And I guess the Avs could always have a lot of injuries to deal with... But right now he just isn't ready yet.

Perhaps I didn't emphasize it enough, but it's a reasonably sized "if" at this stage...

snip

There's also no denying that the team's biggest need is a 3C and that's a role that Newhook would fit perfectly in if he's up to the task, giving us as complete a lineup as you're ever going to see in a cap league.

I agree that it's more likely that Sakic tries to save an ELC year if possible. The 2021/22 season is also the ideal time for Newhook to join from the perspective that it gives him one year as Kadri's understudy before Kadri hits UFA in 2022.

From a cup contending perspective it probably also makes more sense to go out and get an experienced 3C at the deadline to put us over the top, rather than expecting a rookie to have a Makar-like impact in the playoffs right off the bat.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

There should be better options to improve depth for the status of contender the Avs are. Danault, Hall, Palmari, Stastny, Anisimov etc should be their targets. I’d bet Alex takes an AHL contract, plays the end of the season out with the Eagles and signs his ELC during the summer. Of course if he plays out of his mind in the AHL and looks like a sure fire upgrade for the Avs they could always give him his ELC this year but I don’t expect that. Having Mackinnon, Byram and Newhook all due for an extension in the same summer is just too much.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Perhaps I didn't emphasize it enough, but it's a reasonably sized "if" at this stage...



I agree that it's more likely that Sakic tries to save an ELC year if possible. The 2021/22 season is also the ideal time for Newhook to join from the perspective that it gives him one year as Kadri's understudy before Kadri hits UFA in 2022.

From a cup contending perspective it probably also makes more sense to go out and get an experienced 3C at the deadline to put us over the top, rather than expecting a rookie to have a Makar-like impact in the playoffs right off the bat.

???

I didn't even read your post when I made mine.

 

[Richard88]

There should be better options to improve depth for the status of contender the Avs are. Danault, Hall, Palmari, Stastny, Anisimov etc should be their targets. I’d bet Alex takes an AHL contract, plays the end of the season out with the Eagles and signs his ELC during the playoffs. Of course if he plays out of his mind in the AHL and looks like a sure fire upgrade for the Avs they could always give him his ELC this year but I don’t expect that. Having Mackinnon, Byram and Newhook all due for an extension in the same summer is just too much.

This years deadline is pretty good for rental centers.

Teams like Buffalo, Anaheim, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Ottawa should be out of the playoff picture by the deadline so one would expect that names like Staal, Getzlaf, Bonino, Johansson, Stepan, Zajac, Anisimov, and Rowney will be available.

Teams like Edmonton, Montreal, Winnipeg, and Calgary are no playoff locks either, so Nugent-Hopkins, Danault, Stastny, and Ryan might be available too.

Carolina and NYI are also in really tough divisions so that might present a couple of options like Martinook or Cizikas if they're far enough out of the picture.

 

[Richard88]

???

I didn't even read your post when I made mine.

Apologies, I thought you were responding to my post. Never mind, as you were

 

[ANewHope]

Nope, won't be on the team.


I dont think he's quite ready. That said, he could play hardball and force a contract given the NCAA/NHL rules.


And I guess the Avs could always have a lot of injuries to deal with... But right now he just isn't ready yet.

He's played like 3 games in how many months? At the end of last year he looked pretty good. Just as good as any of the other guys in his draft. Be interesting to see what steps he takes this year.

I think you have to see him play some more to see if he's actually ready. Feels like any other answer is just a hot take based on what you want to happen.

 

[henchman21]

If Newhook plays with the Avs this season, I doubt it will be at center full time. Center is hard position to step into and learn systems quickly regardless. Add to that being young and adjusting to the NHL level, at the height of the playoff push... not likely to happen unless it is at #4C and incredibly sheltered. I could see him at wing and trying to inject some skill into the lineup, especially when the inevitable injury hits.