Around the League - 2024-2025 Part II

[TMLBlueandWhite]

He's gone from Colorado because they wanted him gone. Could be for a myriad of reasons, but what's striking is that they have moved from three paid superstars to two, and seem to be content building around 1D/1C, in a pretty bold way.


You have to think the due diligence is already done on that.

Did they have permission to speak to him first?

It really should have been a sign and trade like Florida did with Tkachuk. Or at minimum have an agreement in place first like Vegas did with Stone. Tulsky has put himself in the same position Treliving did after trading for Huberdeau and Weegar.

Pay up or lose big.

 

[IPS]

Inferior and less successful organizations like the Avs trade away their elite talent.

Successful and superior organizations like the Leafs retain their elite talent no matter what the cost.

 

[Peasy]

Crazy stuff. Nice to see some gms have actual guts instead of just keeping status quo and hoping for the best. They have a clear culture in Colorado that is to be followed, here we let the inmates run the asylum.

Tulsky hasnt even been a GM for a year and he already changed the state of contracts by opening up the use of deferrals and has made arguably the biggest trade splash in a long time.

See what can happen when you don't constantly re-use the same gms over and over again and you actually promote someone with not just a pure hockey background and they "know" the game because they played it.

 

[SprDaVE]

We'll see how better/worse the Avs are by taking this chance. Any sort of regression and I think they will get a lot of heat.

 

[Peasy]

Gunna be interesting to see how both Mack's and Rant's production is like away from each other.

 

[Nineteen67]

This is why Utah didn’t name the team before the season, which is exactly what I figured was holding it up.
Now, should the NHL go after Stanley?

 

[TheShape]

A bold move for sure, and that front office has earned the benefit of the doubt.

But, such a move also can easily blow up.in their faces if they spend the next few years struggling. They lost a pretty significant piece

Avs were losing that piece anyway, they were never going to "win" a hockey trade involving Rantanen but they secured themselves another PPG player in Necas under cost control + some cap savings to spend elsewhere.

Making your team clearly worse is awesome? Interesting

No player is bigger than the team, guy priced himself out. Highly doubt the Avs are done here.

 

[Menzinger]

Avs were losing that piece anyway, they were never going to "win" a hockey trade involving Rantanen but they secured themselves another PPG player in Necas under cost control + some cap savings to spend elsewhere.

No player is bigger than the team, guy priced himself out. Highly doubt the Avs are done here.

They could have extended him. It was their choice to go the trade route.

They may have made the right call (and maybe not). But they also lost the best asset in the deal so far

 

[Jojalu]

Gunna be interesting to see how both Mack's and Rant's production is like away from each other.

I am very curious.

I think Mack is the superior player, but he had 4 meh years until Rantanen showed up on the scene.

A lot assume Rantanen was a Mack merchant so it will be very interesting.

I expect both guys will see their numbers drop a little. They just seemed to be perfect for each other

 

[Menzinger]

The NHL should also take notes that it's a much more exciting league when teams are able to make big moves. They happen far into rarely these days because of how restrictive the cap and free agency are

We'll see how better/worse the Avs are by taking this chance. Any sort of regression and I think they will get a lot of heat.

The bit about not really negotiating much is pretty interesting. I'll have to do a deeper dive into his analytics

 

[SprDaVE]

The NHL should also take notes that it's a much more exciting league when teams are able to make big moves. They happen far into rarely these days because of how restrictive the cap and free agency are



The bit about not really negotiating much is pretty interesting. I'll have to do a deeper dive into his analytics

They knww from their early convo's his number and with the season he's having, that number wasn't gonna go down. Still weird not to have any sort of dialogue through the season, especially since he was opened to talk about it. I guess they couldn't pass up getting some value since Carolina was in close talks to get Miller from Vancouver.

 

[TheShape]

They could have extended him. It was their choice to go the trade route.

They may have made the right call (and maybe not). But they also lost the best asset in the deal so far

That's a two way street, sounds like Rantanen's camp overshot. Colorado's captain in Landeskog went public when he was next up for a contract and this front office called his bluff. They've played hardball with Duchene, O'Rielly, Landeskog, moved off a top prospect in Byram etc. Had Rantanen came in at Mack's number, I'm sure he'd have an 8 year extension in place right now. He's their 3rd best player, looking for Draisaitl money. There was a line in the sand and history has shown Sakic doesn't mess around.

 

[All Mod Cons]

Damn, Brodie's fall off has been especially dramatic.

He's been absolutely awful for some time now. He reminds me a lot of Justin Holl

 

[Menzinger]

That's a two way street, sounds like Rantanen's camp overshot. Colorado's captain in Landeskog went public when he was next up for a contract and this front office called his bluff. They've played hardball with Duchene, O'Rielly, Landeskog, moved off a top prospect in Byram etc. Had Rantanen came in at Mack's number, I'm sure he'd have an 8 year extension in place right now. He's their 3rd best player, looking for Draisaitl money. There was a line in the sand and history has shown Sakic doesn't mess around.

All of this is true, and I don't disagree with the sentiment/team position either.

But there's also no denying they they made a choice to lose a prime asset while trying to be competitive while their best player is still in his peak/prime.

I think having s consistent team philosophy/position on stuff like this is likely for the best. But it'll take a bit of time to evaluate if the right call was made here

 

[Sypher04]

All of this is true, and I don't disagree with the sentiment/team position either.

But there's also no denying they they made a choice to lose a prime asset while trying to be competitive while their best player is still in his peak/prime.

I think having s consistent team philosophy/position on stuff like this is likely for the best. But it'll take a bit of time to evaluate if the right call was made here

Also, I don't believe for a second that if he was asking for $14 million that he would chosen to stick to that. $14 million on the open market at 7 years would be $98 mil. Divide that over the 8 years that only the Avs could offer and it’s $12.25 million. They would have eventually come to terms well under 13 million I bet.

This to me appears to be a very poor decision

Especially with them not knowing what Landeskog will be like after he finally is able to return

 

[Sypher04]

No player is bigger than the team, guy priced himself out. Highly doubt the Avs are done here.

Nobody thinks they are, but doesn’t change the fact they’ve weakened their team significantly. I reject the idea that’s awesome for them.

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

I don't see how this was a panic move.

A deal like this isn't worked out overnight. There were probably multiple offers from several teams. The Av's just went with the best one is all.

I doubt very much anyone in Colorado is losing sleep over this tonight.

A panic move would have netted them something like what Dubas got for Guentzel. Now that's selling low. This was a shrewd move by the Avalanche to maintain control over the dressing room.

Including player salaries.

The Av's believe they have the formula for success. Given the success they've had they might just be right. Regardless what becomes of Rantanen now I think Colorado did well for themselves.

Getting such a good return on a guy you were willing to walk away from is fantastic management.

 

[VanW27]

All of this is true, and I don't disagree with the sentiment/team position either.

But there's also no denying they they made a choice to lose a prime asset while trying to be competitive while their best player is still in his peak/prime.

I think having s consistent team philosophy/position on stuff like this is likely for the best. But it'll take a bit of time to evaluate if the right call was made here

Realistically there's no way to know. If the Avs regress, well they might have regressed even more with a 14 million Rantanen.

If Rantanen shows he's worth 14 with Carolina or wherever going forward thats great, but what if him signing for 14 with the Avs means Makar asks for 16 instead of matching MacKinnon?

 

[ToneDog]

Also, I don't believe for a second that if he was asking for $14 million that he would chosen to stick to that. $14 million on the open market at 7 years would be $98 mil. Divide that over the 8 years that only the Avs could offer and it’s $12.25 million. They would have eventually come to terms well under 13 million I bet.

This to me appears to be a very poor decision

Especially with them not knowing what Landeskog will be like after he finally is able to return

Nothing has changed. He can still get that 8th year and Canes probably willing to give him more than the 12.6m Sakic refused to move off. Guessing Canes are willing to go to Matthews money before making the trade. If not, July 1st will be more interesting.

 

[Menzinger]

Realistically there's no way to know. If the Avs regress, well they might have regressed even more with a 14 million Rantanen.

If Rantanen shows he's worth 14 with Carolina or wherever going forward thats great, but what if him signing for 14 with the Avs means Makar asks for 16 instead of matching MacKinnon?

Makar may ask for 16 regardless. The cap is rising and so will salaries.

The way I see it, is Mac's turning 30 soon, he's a the top of his game, but how many more seasons will that last? Strategically I think the team needs to do what they can in the short term.

Having a favorable/balanced cap structure is definitely a good thing. But it also doesn't necessarily win hockey games

 

[Sypher04]

Realistically there's no way to know. If the Avs regress, well they might have regressed even more with a 14 million Rantanen.

If Rantanen shows he's worth 14 with Carolina or wherever going forward thats great, but what if him signing for 14 with the Avs means Makar asks for 16 instead of matching MacKinnon?

There is zero chance imo that Makar is taking MacKinnon money in 2 years when he is a UFA. None whatsoever. The cap should be like $20+ million higher by then vs when Mac signed.

 

[ToneDog]

Realistically there's no way to know. If the Avs regress, well they might have regressed even more with a 14 million Rantanen.

If Rantanen shows he's worth 14 with Carolina or wherever going forward thats great, but what if him signing for 14 with the Avs means Makar asks for 16 instead of matching MacKinnon?

That is forward thinking. Too bad our GM at the time did not see past his nose when he signed Tavares.

 

[Sypher04]

Nothing has changed. He can still get that 8th year and Canes probably willing to give him more than the 12.6m Sakic refused to move off. Guessing Canes are willing to go to Matthews money before making the trade. If not, July 1st will be more interesting.

Yes, I know. My point was about Colorado’s ability to negotiate with Rantanen prior to dealing him.

Also we don’t know that Sakic ever offered to match the MacKinnon deal. Seems unlikely to me.

 

[Sypher04]

Inferior and less successful organizations like the Avs trade away their elite talent.

Successful and superior organizations like the Leafs retain their elite talent no matter what the cost.

Colorado having won a couple years ago doesn’t in any way validate this as the right path for them going forward

 

[ToneDog]

Yes, I know. My point was about Colorado’s ability to negotiate with Rantanen prior to dealing him.

Also we don’t know that Sakic ever offered to match the MacKinnon deal. Seems unlikely to me.

Friedman has said Ranta is asking for the Draisaitl deal. If Sakic won't go more than MacKinnon, there is nothing to negotiate. Hard to believe Sakic won't pay a guy who helped win him a Cup but the Leafs are happy to overpay Marner more than MacKinnon who has won them f*** all.