Rumor: AVS Proposals/Rumors/Free Agents & Roster Moves (related topics)

[CobraAcesS]

Frans is a Selke level defender... I'm not joking there. One of the very best two way centers in the game and is extremely underrated. I'd take Frans over Soda every single day of the week, I'd actually say Frans would be the ideal #2C here right now.

I said replaceable... not necessarily in free agency. Soda will be a #2 or #3... For those spots the Avs may have Duchene, Jost, Grigo, Compher, Colborne (I don't like that option at all, but it is one), and potentially Beaudin. Duchene would obviously be the #2 pick, but #3 could be any of them. Jost easily has more potential and could be better year 1. Compher could round into being a very effective #3 by next season.

Soda doesn't have much foot speed to begin with, if that drops off over the next couple years, he won't be able to keep up. I don't worry about most of his game or injuries... I worry about pacing. I like Soda, but if I'm choosing between Soda and Picks, I choose Picks.



There will be better players than Grigo exposed (off the top of my head, look at Tampa). Hell, there might be better players on the Avs exposed (Soda).

Soda may be better now, but as you yourself have pointed out, there are reasons to be cautious. Grigorenko is 22, and 6'3", and size helps even if hes not physical. Hes also getting better at face-offs, and proving to have a hell of a nose around the net.

I'd take him long term over Soda right now looking at the future.

 

[henchman21]

Soda may be better now, but as you yourself have pointed out, there are reasons to be cautious. Grigorenko is 22, and 6'3", and size helps even if hes not physical. Hes also getting better at face-offs, and proving to have a hell of a nose around the net.

I'd take him long term over Soda right now looking at the future.

Long term, sure take Grigo (though I think there will be much better long term options)... short term Soda is one of the only top 6 centers that could be available. Depends on on the outlook of Vegas for the first 2 years. I'd personally put Grigo 4th on the forwards list behind Soda, Comeau, and Colborne on the list for Vegas.

 

[tigervixxxen]

I have a really hard time coming to grips with that being the case with a expansion team whose options for young forwards with upside are going to be limited.

Maybe in trade value, but in a draft where the team is picking 30 times out of a fairly weak pool. If he continues in his current trajectory, there will be more than enough tape on him to disprove any perception like that. I'd imagine Vegas will be scouting all 30 teams heavily with a list of possibles all year as well.

I don't want to lose Grigo either but he's a more valuable to us sort of player. His reputation is horrid, it's going to take an eye popping performance (like 50+) points for him to raise his value. So of we can protect him of like to but I do agree the risk of him getting picked is low. Plus he won't be under contract, that's going to make it tougher for Vegas to use one of their 10 uncontracted slots on him.

 

[Avs44]

And Rieder now requests a trade...it will be fascinating to see how Gaudreau / Kucherov / Lindholm / Risto play out here as well.

 

[henchman21]

I'd like Rieder on this team... and I wouldn't be afraid of an offer sheet there.

 

[agentblack]

Someone should fire up the Oprah meme

 

[Avs_19]

I like Rieder. Good player. They apparently want $2.5M/yr on a two-year deal and the Coyotes are offering $2.2M/yr. There's not much of a gap there.

I wonder who will request a trade next.

 

[henchman21]

Darren Farris is a colossal moron, so that is why this little amount is going public and requesting a trade.

 

[Avs44]

Darren Farris is a colossal moron, so that is why this little amount is going public and requesting a trade.

Sounds like a testy player too. Didn't he already request a trade off the Oilers?

 

[Balthazar]

They have to pick three goalies, and they have a cap quota to fill. Unless Varly is garbage this next year, I think Las Vegas would be jumping at the opportunity to get him. Worst case scenario...you have a mediocre starting goalie for two years as you build a team? Best case scenario...you get a brilliant goalie who gets you a few wins / can be traded down the road for futures. There's basically zero risk, since LV will have zero problems with the cap.

Fair enough. However, if it turns out that Varly does have decent value on the market because of a short contract I'd rather trade him this year and get whatever we can get back instead of going through all the "take a free pick and select Soda instead of a goalie" shenanigans.

 

[Balthazar]

Not sure if it was posted already but here's a NBC article on Trouba...

Colorado Avalanche: After a couple of disappointing seasons the Colorado Avalanche are now entering the post-Patrick Roy era. They still have a promising group of young forwards that should be the foundation of a playoff team, but they still have some major question marks and holes on their defense. Until those get addressed it is going to continue to be a struggle for the team to return to the postseason. The downside here for Trouba would be that, like the Jets, the Avalanche do have a couple of right-shot defensemen on their team (Tyson Barrie and Erik Johnson), and they do have a ton of money invested in them. If Trouba’s goal is to go to a team that doesn’t have a surplus of right-shot blue liners so he can get a bigger role this might be a problem. But there is also an argument to be made that Trouba is already better than both of Colorado’s guys, and at the very least, better than Johnson.


http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2016/09/26/four-teams-that-would-make-sense-for-jacob-trouba/

 

[Bender]

Not sure if it was posted already but here's a NBC article on Trouba...

Colorado Avalanche: After a couple of disappointing seasons the Colorado Avalanche are now entering the post-Patrick Roy era. They still have a promising group of young forwards that should be the foundation of a playoff team, but they still have some major question marks and holes on their defense. Until those get addressed it is going to continue to be a struggle for the team to return to the postseason. The downside here for Trouba would be that, like the Jets, the Avalanche do have a couple of right-shot defensemen on their team (Tyson Barrie and Erik Johnson), and they do have a ton of money invested in them. If Trouba’s goal is to go to a team that doesn’t have a surplus of right-shot blue liners so he can get a bigger role this might be a problem. But there is also an argument to be made that Trouba is already better than both of Colorado’s guys, and at the very least, better than Johnson.


http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2016/09/26/four-teams-that-would-make-sense-for-jacob-trouba/

LOL...media people are hilarious...I guess that's why they WRITE about sports instead of actually the ones making the decisions. Trouba's a very good young player but the hype on him right now is ridiculous. He's got great potential and could someday be better than EJ but that time certainly has NOT come yet. (Unless he took some MAJOR steps during the summer ) Put it this way, if he was better than EJ, with Buff + Enstrom & Myers...it's a WONDER how they could possibly finish so poorly??? Gimme a ****ing break!

Just because EJ didn't fare particularly well in the World Cup (no one from that craptacular US team looked right or particularly good to me) it doesn't mean that he's a bad d-man that is regressing daily. Yet the media see that and set EJ's level where they think it's at, based on a 2 week tournament with a poorly assembled roster. I guess John Carlson is regressing too because he looked pretty bad too.

 

[tigervixxxen]

EJ's reputation had never fully rebounded. He's that meh top pairing guy if you have to type of reputation.

 

[Avs_19]

I don't see the argument for Trouba being better than Barrie. I think EJ is better than him right now as well but it might be fair to say Trouba is a more value asset because of his age and next contract. He'll probably get overpaid but you'll have him for all of his prime years. I wouldn't trade Trouba for EJ if I were the Jets.

It's weird between EJ and Barrie. I like both of them and even though I'd trust EJ more in critical situations, I'd still take Barrie if I could only pick one of them.

 

[Balthazar]

EJ's reputation had never fully rebounded. He's that meh top pairing guy if you have to type of reputation.

His name regularly came up when people were bashing Tortorella/Lombardi for the poor decisions regarding Team USA's roster (even before the tournament). EJ does have meh rep and isn't seen as a top dman.

 

[shadow1]

Erik Johnson is committed to the team and they're committed to him. He's not a sexy player but he can go head to hear with the Kane's and Seguin's of the division. Trouba has more long term appeal but it's a pipe dream that they trade Johnson in the first year of his 7 year contract extension.

If it becomes a question as to who is starting in net ~20 games into the season, the Avs need to move their surplus in net for help elsewhere on the roster.

Random prediction: I could see the Flyers goaltending imploding this season.

 

[Balthazar]

I wouldn't trade Trouba for EJ if I were the Jets.

They won't. I'm pretty sure the Jets (or any team) would rather pay Trouba 7M/year for the next 7 years (age 23-29) than paying EJ 6M/year for the next 7 years (age 29-35).

 

[AllAboutAvs]

Jets don't need EJ anyway. I predict EJ will have a great season under Bednar/Pratt.

 

[Bender]

His name regularly came up when people were bashing Tortorella/Lombardi for the poor decisions regarding Team USA's roster (even before the tournament). EJ does have meh rep and isn't seen as a top dman.

Tortorella is a dinosaur and a 'scream first ask questions later' coach. He's essentially become the modern day Mike Keenan and that kind of stupid coaching hasn't worked in 10-15 years. The Blue Jackets are going nowhere with that idiot at the helm. (lol...let's have the Sedins blocking shots...great idea, genius)

Of course Trouba is more valuable than EJ, when you consider that he's still only 22 years old and has practically his whole career ahead of him. While he has more value, he's still not better than Erik Johnson yet. EJ has ups and downs but we've seen him play some fantastic hockey not too long ago.

Hopefully, a better overall hockey system allows him to prove to people what he can do. It's literally one of my biggest pet peeves that people only take into consideration what's been going on for the last 6 months to a year and completely ignore everything else that's been accomplished in the past. I remember 2-3 years ago debating the best d-men in the NHL with some people and I had Doughty in my top-5 even though he had gone through a tough stretch...a few people scoffed and said "Doughty??...no way..not anymore"...

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Enstrom doesn't have much left in the tank, and it's not like the overall size of the d-corps takes some massive hit with Myers and Byfuglien already there and Morrissey on the way up.

That's how Chevy likes his team though. BIG. Engstrom is only 3 years older than EJ. He still has a lot of hockey left in him.

Unless, he gets shipped out too I doubt they'll be targeting a guy like Krug.

Trouba will be better than EJ IMO. Beyond that, EJ isn't far from starting to regress (especially with his injury issues). EJ beyond 30-31-32 is a scary proposition.

So a combination of Trouba hitting his stride by next season and EJ starting to regress. Trouba > EJ.

Troubs is like EJ with a brain.

Hell he was a whole lot of meh, last year. TBH.

Intersting so many players have requested trades this past year. The stigma might be finally wearing off. Let's see if this pair actually follows through on it.

 

[Balthazar]

Tortorella is a dinosaur and a 'scream first ask questions later' coach. He's essentially become the modern day Mike Keenan and that kind of stupid coaching hasn't worked in 10-15 years. The Blue Jackets are going nowhere with that idiot at the helm. (lol...let's have the Sedins blocking shots...great idea, genius)

Of course Trouba is more valuable than EJ, when you consider that he's still only 22 years old and has practically his whole career ahead of him. While he has more value, he's still not better than Erik Johnson yet. EJ has ups and downs but we've seen him play some fantastic hockey not too long ago.

Hopefully, a better overall hockey system allows him to prove to people what he can do. It's literally one of my biggest pet peeves that people only take into consideration what's been going on for the last 6 months to a year and completely ignore everything else that's been accomplished in the past. I remember 2-3 years ago debating the best d-men in the NHL with some people and I had Doughty in my top-5 even though he had gone through a tough stretch...a few people scoffed and said "Doughty??...no way..not anymore"...

TBH I'd take EJ over Trouba if my team had a ≤ 2 years winning window.

 

[Avs71]

Haha, EJ with a brain. 30 games into Trouba in Colorado, people would be asking if the Avs have another "all tools, no toolbox" player. And why did they give up so much for a guy who is on pace for only 30 points. It would be eerily similar to the EJ trade all over again.

Trouba has been the one young defenceman I have wanted on the Avs since he came into the league, because he has that mean streak, but he is getting seriously overhyped. I don't see a ceiling on him in his prime much higher than the level EJ is now.

I would also put 0 stock into how EJ looked at the WCH. For a guy who is used to playing 24 minutes a night, it would be a completely different game and mind set only playing half as much.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

I like how people are now undervaluing EJ for his WCH performance, but somehow Trouba's less than spectacular showing at the same tournament is overlooked. EJ is easily a better defender right now (and likely for the next 2-3 years) than Trouba. Trouba still has potential, but he's another toolsy player and we still need to determine if he has the toolbox to go with it.

 

[UncleRisto]

I think Trouba is overvalued because of his great rookie season. Since then he's definitely stagnated a little so it remains to be seen whether he can be the player everyone already thinks he is.

 

[Freudian]

It's a shame that this off-season, when there seems to be good young players potentially available, Avs have no cap space.

But given the caliber of players involved, you'd probably have to pay hundred cents on the dollar for them. I'm not sure I'd be that eager to give up Bigras, Rantanen or Jost for good young players.

I don't think Gaudreau, Lindholm or Ristolainen are going anywhere. Rakell, Rieder and Trouba could probably be had.