Confirmed with Link: Avs sign Miles Of Wood to 6-year deal × $2.5M AAV

[The Abusement Park]

I just can't find it in me to bash Wood for making 2.5M when he shows up and plays hard every night.

Not when we are paying Nuke how much? Landy how much? Drouin how much? Lehky how much? Georgiev...not how much, but why?

When you are paying these guys that much to not play, that is the problem. Not Wood at 2.5 bouncing between the 2nd and 4th line. Especially when fully healthy he's been mostly a 3rd line player for us, even if folks would prefer for him to be on the 4th.

You can sign guys who work hard and score 25pts for ~900k though. That’s the issue.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

All the issues compound. I'd simply argue that as your better players start getting paid what they are worth or close to it, you simply can't afford to overpay elsewhere. In the cap world, contract efficiency is king. When you have it, you can build a fantastic team. When you don't, you rely on your top guys somehow still out performing and staying healthy. I'm not saying Wood is the largest issue with the team, he's clearly not. I am saying he is an issue though.

I truly do understand the point of view. And you aren't dogging Wood, just point out that he's over-paid. But I simply can't even do that when he's showing up busting his ass every freakin' night for us. Yes he only does pretty much two things: Skate fast in a straight line and hit anything that is in that straight line... but he's earned Bednar's trust to do so and he's able to eat a lot of minutes that would be going to even more Parkers, Meyers, Kivi, Ivans.

Basically, I'm content to say we are paying him a bit of a premium for actually showing up when others don't. Consider it a durability award, which is funny because his leg (knee?) and speed were the concerns when we signed him as he was coming off surgery at the time.

 

[Ceremony]

You can sign guys who work hard and score 25pts for ~900k though. That’s the issue.

How come we never do this then

 

[expatriatedtexan]

You can sign guys who work hard and score 25pts for ~900k though. That’s the issue.

You might be able to find them...but have the Avs?

 

[henchman21]

You might be able to find them...but have the Avs?

LOC has been that guy. Cogs was close (19 point guy, though I'd argue his value is very much elsewhere and makes up for the lack of 6 points). ERod was much better than that and was 2m. NAK was. Nieto was. The Avs have had good sucess finding these sorts of guys.

 

[Pokecheque]

You might be able to find them...but have the Avs?

Point taken, but it's still way too much to pay a 4th liner, especially for a team that has cap issues galore.

I'd like him a lot more of his forechecking were more effective, but too often he's chasing the play and guys are getting past him.

 

[Vaslof]

I get it but I still find it super-weird that the Avs got into a bidding war in the first place, they usually (and rightfully so) avoid those like the plague.

We could offer higher term than most teams, because we've got like 3 years or something left in the tank. You could rotate around the 1M guys and hope they work out, but it does make sense to have an anchor in the bottom six. Now whether Wood is the guy or not is another discussion.

 

[The Abusement Park]

LOC has been that guy. Cogs was close (19 point guy, though I'd argue his value is very much elsewhere and makes up for the lack of 6 points). ERod was much better than that and was 2m. NAK was. Nieto was. The Avs have had good sucess finding these sorts of guys.

Technically Nuke was that guy was well.

 

[Tommy Shelby]

LOC has been that guy. Cogs was close (19 point guy, though I'd argue his value is very much elsewhere and makes up for the lack of 6 points). ERod was much better than that and was 2m. NAK was. Nieto was. The Avs have had good sucess finding these sorts of guys.

Which makes the Wood signing even more puzzling. Someone with a lot of say in the Org must have had a pretty big stiffy for him

 

[Pokecheque]

We could offer higher term than most teams, because we've got like 3 years or something left in the tank. You could rotate around the 1M guys and hope they work out, but it does make sense to have an anchor in the bottom six. Now whether Wood is the guy or not is another discussion.

He's very clearly not, that guy is Logan O'Connor.

I just think the Avs have gotten waaaaay too wrapped up in this whole notion of being "tougher to play against" which also applies to acquisitions like Duhaime and Trenin. Contrary to what some on here might believe, I do think it's important to have grit in your lineup, but if that grit really needs to apply in disrupting plays and winning puck battles. Wood doesn't do either of those things particularly well because he can't really read/anticipate at a high enough level.

Now what confuses me even further is that up front they overdid it on one-dimensional tough guys, but then on the back end they got considerably softer. Just...very weird.

 

[MarchessaultCantRead]

Problem is… Wood is probably an AHL level player in a couple years.

Can’t the Avs just buy him out for cheap if that’s the case?

 

[henchman21]

Can’t the Avs just buy him out for cheap if that’s the case?

It's like 830k or so... so like a 4th liner. Given that he'd have to be replaced in the lineup and say at ~900k. The net savings would be in the 800k range.

 

[Pokecheque]

Can’t the Avs just buy him out for cheap if that’s the case?

Avs are the most reluctant team in the league when it comes to buyouts. Didn't any of the amnesty buyouts when they were options, and only really did it when they absolutely had to (example: getting rid of Francois Beauchemin so that they didn't have to waste a protection spot on him at the Vegas expansion draft).

But just in case you're curious, if the buyout were to happen this summer...

If it happens in two years...

Either way, Avs are paying over $1 million in 2027 and 2028 for a guy to play elsewhere. Would they do it, and does it make that big a difference at that point? I don't know, but I'm guessing they really don't want to.

 

[henchman21]

Those numbers point to it not being bought out. A basic 900k roster player and the 1.2m hit puts the total at ~2.1. So.. only 400k of savings. They'll just live with him deteriorating and would rather hope his bionic hip gives out.

 

[Avs_19]

I did not expect saying Wood and his contract suck to be a controversial take!

 

[Tommy Shelby]

Just attach a pick and ship him off to San Jose for Grundstrom

 

[henchman21]

Just attach a pick and ship him off to San Jose for Grundstrom

He's got a 6 team no trade list. I'm sure his agent would either pick the 6 worst tax situations, or if a deal was looking likely, the 6 least cap strapped teams. In either case, San Jose is likely on that list. It is never impossible to move guys with enough attached, but it likely won't be super easy if he regresses like expected.

 

[Balthazar]

Avs are the most reluctant team in the league when it comes to buyouts. Didn't any of the amnesty buyouts when they were options, and only really did it when they absolutely had to (example: getting rid of Francois Beauchemin so that they didn't have to waste a protection spot on him at the Vegas expansion draft)

Don't forget cap circumvention with Orpik buyout.

 

[RoyIsALegend]

He's got a 6 team no trade list. I'm sure his agent would either pick the 6 worst tax situations, or if a deal was looking likely, the 6 least cap strapped teams. In either case, San Jose is likely on that list. It is never impossible to move guys with enough attached, but it likely won't be super easy if he regresses like expected.

It’s probably 6 Canadian teams, let’s be serious.

 

[Pokecheque]

Don't forget cap circumvention with Orpik buyout.

Well...that was a means to get what they thought was a legit starter (turns out, it wasn't).

I think I'm still way more bitter about Grubauer not working out than Georgiev.

 

[henchman21]

It’s probably 6 Canadian teams, let’s be serious.

I'd bet they comprise most... but San Jose and Anaheim could be two of them. Two bad teams with bad tax situations (though weather may outweigh lower taxes in Calgary and Edmonton).