Speculation: AVS Proposals/Rumors/Free Agents & Related Topics 2016-17 Part XVII

[dahrougem2]

If a team like Edmonton, even prior to McDavid arriving, is able to entice some NCAA UFA's to sign there then the Avs should not have the trouble they have at closing the deal with some of these players.

Yes, at the end of the day the choice is up to the player but at the same time, there are things that Sakic and Co. can do to ensure the decision made is Colorado. Offering to wave a year off of an ELC, offering an immediate roster spot, things like that which I don't believe for a second this management group believes in doing. We've seen this management group fight with O'Reilly and Barrie with contracts, lose Stastny, and then become inconsistent with Rantanen last season. I don't expect them to offer any kid a year of their ELC sliding. We've seen this management group lose out on Kevin Hayes due to not promising him a roster spot, I don't think they'd promise a spot moving forward, either. Just not how they seem to want to do business.

At the end of the day, a college free agent here or there isn't going to make or break this team but it sure as hell could help. If not the NHL club, then the AHL club because god knows we need help everywhere.

 

[StLAvsFan]

If the Avs wanted to, they could make a very appealing offer for College FAs. There should be lots of roster turnover, and we have a lot of crap players right now. They could offer them an immediate spot on the roster, in a role where they could show some good stuff (I mean for crying out loud, Bednar's got Dutch on the 4th essentially). It burns a year off their contract, and they can solidify their role for next season as well.

What will happen is that the Avs will not guarantee NHL ice time, cause you gotta 'spect the vets y'know?!

And that "respect the vets at all costs" BS is what infuriates me more than any other aspect of how the Avs are run, from the front office down to the locker room. How in the name of God, when you consistently lose 3 out of every 4 games, does a team continue to stick with aging, mistake prone, disinterested veterans over younger guys looking to work hard to make a name for themselves in the NHL? S*** man, it's not like it's gonna hurt you in the standings to bench some lazy vets when you're already in absolute freefall. Professional sports teams are all about RESULTS, as opposed to simply providing a cozy, well-paid, low expectation environment for vets to hang out in while they plan their impending retirement. Dim bulb Sakic doesn't seem to get it though.

 

[Thepoolmaster]

And that "respect the vets at all costs" BS is what infuriates me more than any other aspect of how the Avs are run, from the front office down to the locker room. How in the name of God, when you consistently lose 3 out of every 4 games, does a team continue to stick with aging, mistake prone, disinterested veterans over younger guys looking to work hard to make a name for themselves in the NHL? S*** man, it's not like it's gonna hurt you in the standings to bench some lazy vets when you're already in absolute freefall. Professional sports teams are all about RESULTS, as opposed to simply providing a cozy, well-paid, low expectation environment for vets to hang out in while they plan their impending retirement. Dim bulb Sakic doesn't seem to get it though.

I agree with this to an extent but it's not sakic's decision to bench Tyutin or beauchemin. Could he send them down yes, but likely the Kroenkes don't want to pay tyutin to play in the ahl.

The use of vets like iginla when he was here or beauchemin is on bednar. And even then some of these guys have been dumped for other players in the lineup. Soda has been scratched. Mitchell was waived. Iginla played 4th line minutes (too much pp time though).

The only other thing sakic can do is bring up some young guys. He should do this!! Bigras and Greer. But that doesn't guarantee usage by bednar.

 

[JLo217]

Sakic and Co suck. Can't sign anyone. Looking forward to drafting 4th OVR and not firing Bednar and not signing anyone that can actually help for next season.

Gonna be another useless draft, off-season and next season is already a wash.

 

[StLAvsFan]

I agree with this to an extent but it's not sakic's decision to bench Tyutin or beauchemin. Could he send them down yes, but likely the Kroenkes don't want to pay tyutin to play in the ahl.

The use of vets like iginla when he was here or beauchemin is on bednar. And even then some of these guys have been dumped for other players in the lineup. Soda has been scratched. Mitchell was waived. Iginla played 4th line minutes (too much pp time though).

The only other thing sakic can do is bring up some young guys. He should do this!! Bigras and Greer. But that doesn't guarantee usage by bednar.

For any head coach--GM relationship to work, there has to be very open & honest communication between the two. No doubt, each has his own distinct set of organizational responsibilities, as you allude to, however, I'm of the belief that a rookie coach like Bednar isn't going to disagree much if a Hall of Famer like Sakic pulls him aside and tells him that slugs like FB, Iginla, Comeau, Mitchell, etc...need to get diminished ice time (or get benched) in order to make way for the younger guys in the lineup, plus callups. A veteran coach like Julien, Q, Torts, Boudreau, etc...would probably blow a head gasket if a GM tried that with them, but a guy like Bednar--who's lucky to even have an NHL gig, I doubt he would. That being said, I don't think Sakic would ever even consider doing something like that, because he's shown himself to be about as pro-veteran as any GM I've ever seen, even when those same veterans just go thru the motions game-after-game collecting paychecks for doing next to nothing on the ice...except screwing up. I can guarantee you that a well managed/coached team would never tolerate that BS. Contractual obligations permitting, those kinds of players get hustled out of Dodge ASAP, because they are morale killers of the highest order.

On the flip side, Bednar should've also been offered some "friendly advice" on handling Soderberg, who does NOT respond well to lineup demotion. Strangely enough, Bednar has relished keeping Soda in the doghouse most the season, while coddling all the other goldbrickers. Go figure.

 

[tigervixxxen]

I agree with this to an extent but it's not sakic's decision to bench Tyutin or beauchemin. Could he send them down yes, but likely the Kroenkes don't want to pay tyutin to play in the ahl.

The use of vets like iginla when he was here or beauchemin is on bednar. And even then some of these guys have been dumped for other players in the lineup. Soda has been scratched. Mitchell was waived. Iginla played 4th line minutes (too much pp time though).

The only other thing sakic can do is bring up some young guys. He should do this!! Bigras and Greer. But that doesn't guarantee usage by bednar.

Bednar's usage of the young guys this season has actually been decent, no 5 minutes on the 4th line business that we had seen before. bednar might decide the nightly scratch but there's not a whole lot of leeway when he's given the roster by management. Don't forget another player in this, Billington. Bet he has a lot of say on who and when they come up.

 

[Mighty Makar]

Sakic and Co suck. Can't sign anyone. Looking forward to drafting 4th OVR and not firing Bednar and not signing anyone that can actually help for next season.

Gonna be another useless draft, off-season and next season is already a wash.

Nice avatar. I think we'll be brutal next season, too. I hope we can draft Dahlin.

 

[tucker3434]

We won't be awful next year. The talent at the top of that draft next year could fill a huge hole for us. Those are the years we finish 21st.

Also, just in general, this team is playing so far below its ability, I don't think it's repeatable.

 

[Sea Eagles]

Sakic and Co suck. Can't sign anyone. Looking forward to drafting 4th OVR and not firing Bednar and not signing anyone that can actually help for next season.

Gonna be another useless draft, off-season and next season is already a wash.

But didn't a game like today against The Wings give you hope, mate? I really think we are bringing in very hard workers in Barberio, Andrighetto, Compher, Nieto & others.

I'm so glad Sakic didn't pull the trigger on changes at the deadline to be honest. The reason I say that, is that we could be adding two legitimate top 6 guys this off season and draft in someone like Hischier or Patrick, as well as maybe Tyson Jost.

Also, what about Lindholm's poise (left side D as well) in his first game? Amazing for a 22 year old kid. Nothing flash, but EXACTLY what we needed on the back end. Understand we need a much bigger sample size, but boy, I was impressed.

Also then don't forget, we have Zadorov, Varlamov (hopefully healthy) and Bigras to add in as well. Greer is still kicking butt, and even Grimaldi is doing well.

I've stated from day dot: Stick with it. Duchene & Mackinnon are Avs.

Gabriel Landeskog - Nathan Mackinnon - Nolan Patrick
Tyson Jost - Matt Duchene - Mikko Rantanen
A J Greer - J T Compher - Sven Andrighetto
Blake Comeau - Carl Soderberg - Mikhail Grigorenko
(Matt Nieto, Joe Colborne)

Nikita Zadorov - Erik Johnson
Mark Barberio - Tyson Barrie
Francois Beauchemin - Chris Bigras
(Anton Lindholm)

Semyon Varlamov
Calvin Pickard

These games, albeit we have lost quite a few, are trending upwards workman like, defensively. We even seem to be passing a lot better. Also, to achieve the above roster and group, guess how many moves we need to make? None. No trades...just development.

Have faith everyone. At times this season I felt defeated hockey wise (and felt very up & down). That said, I think good times are ahead.

I hope Landy, Dutchy, Mack remain one club players.

Lastly, look at Zadorov and Lindholm now. Include Barrie. Bigras may be coming. Are we starting to develop defensemen here?

 

[AvalancheFan19]

But didn't a game like today against The Wings give you hope, mate? I really think we are bringing in very hard workers in Barberio, Andrighetto, Compher, Nieto & others.

I'm so glad Sakic didn't pull the trigger on changes at the deadline to be honest. The reason I say that, is that we could be adding two legitimate top 6 guys this off season and draft in someone like Hischier or Patrick, as well as maybe Tyson Jost.

Also, what about Lindholm's poise (left side D as well) in his first game? Amazing for a 22 year old kid. Nothing flash, but EXACTLY what we needed on the back end. Understand we need a much bigger sample size, but boy, I was impressed.

Also then don't forget, we have Zadorov, Varlamov (hopefully healthy) and Bigras to add in as well. Greer is still kicking butt, and even Grimaldi is doing well.

I've stated from day dot: Stick with it. Duchene & Mackinnon are Avs.

Gabriel Landeskog - Nathan Mackinnon - Nolan Patrick
Tyson Jost - Matt Duchene - Mikko Rantanen
A J Greer - J T Compher - Sven Andrighetto
Blake Comeau - Carl Soderberg - Mikhail Grigorenko
(Matt Nieto, Joe Colborne)

Nikita Zadorov - Erik Johnson
Mark Barberio - Tyson Barrie
Francois Beauchemin - Chris Bigras
(Anton Lindholm)

Semyon Varlamov
Calvin Pickard

These games, albeit we have lost quite a few, are trending upwards workman like, defensively. We even seem to be passing a lot better. Also, to achieve the above roster and group, guess how many moves we need to make? None. No trades...just development.

Have faith everyone. At times this season I felt defeated hockey wise (and felt very up & down). That said, I think good times are ahead.

I hope Landy, Dutchy, Mack remain one club players.

Lastly, look at Zadorov and Lindholm now. Include Barrie. Bigras may be coming. Are we starting to develop defensemen here?

Don't forget Meloche!

I am also happy we didn't make a desperate move at the deadline but I still feel one of the three need to move. Personally, I'd trade Duchene for the best package/player available and try a fresh start next year. We should get a good player from this draft and hopefully Bigras, Greer and Jost step in next year and this team looks completely different. I agree we've added some hardworking players and that's exactly what we needed to do. We need to trim the fat as quickly and efficiently as possible. We should be looking to pull a Toronto next year and start as many rookies as possible.

 

[henchman21]

Hope springs eternal

 

[GoNordiquesGo]

But didn't a game like today against The Wings give you hope, mate? I really think we are bringing in very hard workers in Barberio, Andrighetto, Compher, Nieto & others.

I'm so glad Sakic didn't pull the trigger on changes at the deadline to be honest. The reason I say that, is that we could be adding two legitimate top 6 guys this off season and draft in someone like Hischier or Patrick, as well as maybe Tyson Jost.

Also, what about Lindholm's poise (left side D as well) in his first game? Amazing for a 22 year old kid. Nothing flash, but EXACTLY what we needed on the back end. Understand we need a much bigger sample size, but boy, I was impressed.

Also then don't forget, we have Zadorov, Varlamov (hopefully healthy) and Bigras to add in as well. Greer is still kicking butt, and even Grimaldi is doing well.

I've stated from day dot: Stick with it. Duchene & Mackinnon are Avs.

Gabriel Landeskog - Nathan Mackinnon - Nolan Patrick
Tyson Jost - Matt Duchene - Mikko Rantanen
A J Greer - J T Compher - Sven Andrighetto
Blake Comeau - Carl Soderberg - Mikhail Grigorenko
(Matt Nieto, Joe Colborne)

Nikita Zadorov - Erik Johnson
Mark Barberio - Tyson Barrie
Francois Beauchemin - Chris Bigras
(Anton Lindholm)

Semyon Varlamov
Calvin Pickard

These games, albeit we have lost quite a few, are trending upwards workman like, defensively. We even seem to be passing a lot better. Also, to achieve the above roster and group, guess how many moves we need to make? None. No trades...just development.

Have faith everyone. At times this season I felt defeated hockey wise (and felt very up & down). That said, I think good times are ahead.

I hope Landy, Dutchy, Mack remain one club players.

Lastly, look at Zadorov and Lindholm now. Include Barrie. Bigras may be coming. Are we starting to develop defensemen here?

The offense looks good but its still pretty much the same defense and that's the main issue. Edmonton didn't get better simply because of McDavid. They also changed their D a lot over the last two years (Larsson, Sekera, Russel, Nurse, etc...)

 

[CobraAcesS]

The offense looks good but its still pretty much the same defense and that's the main issue. Edmonton didn't get better simply because of McDavid. They also changed their D a lot over the last two years (Larsson, Sekera, Russel, Nurse, etc...)

It's kind of a weird combination right now IMO. Yes the defense is an issue, but a huge part of the issue is the sheer amount of minutes that FB has continued to play. If you remove that and give it to guys that are actually NHL caliber like Zadorov, Barby, and maybe another half decent player, also removing guys like Goloboof. Then you get what should be an improvement on a defense that was at least playoff bubble level last season.

I don't really think we have much choice but to continue to build on defense, and it probably isn't going to be pretty next season on paper regardless.

One of the biggest issues right now is the middle aged (for hockey) bottom half of the forward group that just sucks or simply does not give a ****. These younger players like Compher should help with that. I thought they would clear some players out at the TDL, but the stench was allowed to linger.

 

[ABasin]

But didn't a game like today against The Wings give you hope, mate?

Dude, please don't leave the group.

Nikita Zadorov - Erik Johnson
Mark Barberio - Tyson Barrie
Francois Beauchemin - Chris Bigras
(Anton Lindholm)

Ooof. That defense would get roasted, especially once EJ (inevitably) gets hurt.

 

[AvsGuy]

Nikita Zadorov - Erik Johnson
Mark Barberio - Tyson Barrie
Francois Beauchemin - Chris Bigras
(Anton Lindholm)

Ooof. That defense would get roasted, especially once EJ (inevitably) gets hurt.

Remove Beauchemin and I'd take that over anything we've iced this season

 

[GoNordiquesGo]

Its quite telling when a dumpster pick-up like Barberio, who was dumped by both Bolts and Habs becomes one of our top Dman...

 

[Avalanche]

Dater taking a shot at Chambers.

 

[Balthazar]

Dater taking a shot at Chambers.

To be fair, Dater seems to have been working a lot since he got hired by those BSN guys. Not sure if they pay him well but he's really into it.

I'm not familiar with BSNAvalanche, do they make money offline or they rely only on online clicks and stuff?

 

[tigervixxxen]

I dont think he's referring to Chambers there...

 

[Avs44]

Yeah...I don't think that's Chambers. I don't think that's any of his former colleagues. That is related to his "scandal" I think.

 

[Avalanche]

IDK. They're talking about that Chambers report that Colorado wasn't going to offer Butcher an ELC. Dater's tweet before that one said that the DP only want PC robots now and not real reporters. Also said that DP is now run by morons and then named a handful of good people still there (Chambers wasn't one of them)

 

[Foppa2118]

It's sad that people want to spend so much time trolling another human being online just to make them miserable, and even more unfortunate that Dater can't stop himself from biting hook line and sinker every time, until it blows up into a huge mess. This world is so toxic right now.

I wasn't Dater's biggest fan when he was with the DP, but man does he take a lot of unnecessary crap online. He empowers them every time by feeding into it too. Why does he even engage them? I don't get it.

 

[caley]

It's sad that people want to spend so much time trolling another human being online just to make them miserable, and even more unfortunate that Dater can't stop himself from biting hook line and sinker every time, until it blows up into a huge mess. This world is so toxic right now.

I wasn't Dater's biggest fan when he was with the DP, but man does he take a lot of unnecessary crap online. He empowers them every time by feeding into it too. Why does he even engage them? I don't get it.

He's had a steady war going tonight with some Red Wings blogger where both sides act like children (Blogger suggesting he meet him, Dater making fun of an article with spelling errors and back and forth) and you just want to reach out, turn off his phone and tell him to go to bed. Like, for his own good.

 

[DanishAvsfan]

Yeah, Dater was referring to the incident that got him fired. But he got into a mud slinging contest on twitter. And he took shots at the DP, exempting Frei and a few others. It reflects badly on himself when he smears people. He should know better with his history.

 

[Foppa2118]

He's had a steady war going tonight with some Red Wings blogger where both sides act like children (Blogger suggesting he meet him, Dater making fun of an article with spelling errors and back and forth) and you just want to reach out, turn off his phone and tell him to go to bed. Like, for his own good.

I know, that's what spawned my comment. I clicked on his twitter handle and saw the interaction. So many of these interactions just get so hateful and toxic. I just don't know why people have their priorities so out of balance. I mean that towards both him and the Detroit guy. This **** is not important, let it go.