Confirmed with Link: Avs Sign Oliver Kylington to 1-Year Deal (1x$1.05)

[expatriatedtexan]

We should know Landy situation when season starts, and Nuke is suspended until November so…

again...we'll know by November (unless we fully believe that Nuke is good to go and then he tells us to f*** off again in the spring).

That's plenty of time for CMac to formulate a plan to execute by the deadline. The thing is he should have certainty this year...before the holiday freeze. He'll have as much opportunity to make a move in January through the deadline as he would right now, this instant. In fact, he might find more willing partners later on.

I just have a feeling that we underestimate how much Girard does to to allow our bottom 9 not play the entire game in our own defensive zone.

 

[the_fan]

again...we'll know by November (unless we fully believe that Nuke is good to go and then he tells us to f*** off again in the spring).

That's plenty of time for CMac to formulate a plan to execute by the deadline. The thing is he should have certainty this year...before the holiday freeze. He'll have as much opportunity to make a move in January through the deadline as he would right now, this instant. In fact, he might find more willing partners later on.

I just have a feeling that we underestimate how much Girard does to to allow our bottom 9 not play the entire game in our own defensive zone.

If we had Landy, loss of Nuke wouldn’t hurt as much in the last 2 playoffs. Not having both is just too much to over come. We gonna need at least one of the back for good without anymore f*** ups or injuries

 

[NOTENOUGHRYJOTHINGS]

Uh yes he did. The Flames were an AHL roster plus Kylington, Weegar, Andersson, and the Kadri/Zary line when Kylington came back. And he didn't play with Weegar or Andersson, even though any sane couch would have played Kylington - Weegar as their top pair.

You guys got a heckuva defenseman, perfect stick, incredible skating defensively, good with the puck, and really good vision.

Weaknesses are that his coaches in Calgary (which for 100% of his time here including the AHL has always included Ryan Huska who never stopped treating him like an 18 year old in the AHL) have outside of one year (2021-22) always misused him on the ice. Kylington - Manson will be a good second pair, and Manson will be the weak point. The only reason it isn't a first pair is because you guys have the best first pair in the league right now.

Kylington isn't going to be on the second pair. The only time he should be on your second pairing is if you're tanking for first overall. Or trying to win a championship in a second tier league in Europe.

 

[Freaky Styley]

The bottom pair is soft right now, but I'd imagine that the plan is to add a big RHD at the deadline who can complement Kylington and roll into the playoffs with:

Toews - Makar
Girard - Manson
Kylington - RHD
DeHaan - Brännström

I think there's still a chance we could add LHD in the event Girard is moved. It would take Kylington really playing well and a combination of him and Brannstrom replacing G's talents.

However, the UFA tough-guy class is pretty thin on either side. It will be interesting to see how they approach it and if they target someone with term, especially if G is moved and the unreliabilty of Manson long-term. It's an obvious weakness that needs addressing and won't be filled internally.

Borgen is another guy to keep an eye on, or McNabb depending on what happens in Vegas. There's not a lot of bruisers on the back end out there.

Another Kraken I'd take a look at is Kamie Oleksiak, given Seattle's transition period and his age/contract status. I wonder if he could be had a year before going UFA. All in all, David Savard seems like the best candidate but he'll be hot property.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Thats one tiny and soft Dcore, the depth is good though. A physical RD is a must at the deadline if they want to accomplish something in the playoffs.

 

[RoyIsALegend]

This guy kind of sucks and is more of the same with what we've got on the bottom pairing.

CdH is the only one with a bit of snarl and defensive ability, but he's a walking bandaid.

Not getting my hopes up for this signing.

 

[Mac Attack]

Nah. We can’t make any big trades for forwards without knowing if Val and Landy are coming back or not. If they are coming back, we dont need to trade Girard for a top 6 forward, but even if one of them isn’t coming back, we gonna need a top 6 winger

Rant, Lehk, Drouin, Landy/Val. We only need one to come back for a full top 6.

 

[the_fan]

Rant, Lehk, Drouin, Landy/Val. We only need one to come back for a full top 6.

True, but having both back will give us enough depth that we wouldn’t need another forward. Maybe just a 4C

 

[Balthazar]

This guy kind of sucks and is more of the same with what we've got on the bottom pairing.

CdH is the only one with a bit of snarl and defensive ability, but he's a walking bandaid.

Not getting my hopes up for this signing.

Sorry to bring the bad news but CdH is also butter soft.

I've not analyzed the lineups of all 32 teams yet but I think it's safe to assume that we have the tiniest and softest defense in the league and it's likely not close at all.

If Manson gets injured our most physical dman is Makar.

 

[henchman21]

If Manson gets injured our most physical dman is Girard.

Fixed.

 

[the_fan]

The d core doesn’t really have to be overly physical for the team to have success now days. Panthers didn’t really have a physical D core and they won the cup. Guys like Forsling, Montour, Ekblad etc.. aren’t physical players.

We won the cup in 22 without having a physical d core. Our most physical d-man was Manson just like he will be again this year

 

[henchman21]

The d core doesn’t really have to be overly physical for the team to have success now days. Panthers didn’t really have a physical D core and they won the cup. Guys like Forsling, Montour, Ekblad etc.. aren’t physical players.

We won the cup in 22 without having a physical d core. Our most physical d-man was Manson just like he will be again this year

Forsling had the lowest hits per 60 of any of the Florida defense at 3.80 last season (only guy below 4 for them... Mikkola was over 7, Mahura and Kulikov over 6. Only Manson and CDH are above that and are the only ones above 3. Florida is about 3-4 levels higher than the Avs in physicality on defense.

 

[the_fan]

Forsling had the lowest hits per 60 of any of the Florida defense at 3.80 last season (only guy below 4 for them... Mikkola was over 7, Mahura and Kulikov over 6. Only Manson and CDH are above that and are the only ones above 3. Florida is about 3-4 levels higher than the Avs in physicality on defense.

Yeah but what are we talking about here? Hits or being overly physical like punishing the opposition with heavy hits? Because you throw an average body check, that’s gonna count as a hit, and any player can do that.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

The d core doesn’t really have to be overly physical for the team to have success now days. Panthers didn’t really have a physical D core and they won the cup. Guys like Forsling, Montour, Ekblad etc.. aren’t physical players.

We won the cup in 22 without having a physical d core. Our most physical d-man was Manson just like he will be again this year

They don't have to be overly physical but they have to be able to handle teams that are. That's the problem with our D group. You can develop a system that doesn't require your dmen to be big, aggressive and physical, but your players must still be able to handle it when other teams do play this way, and that's where our problems lie. Most of our dmen require a more physical player in order to allow them to do what they do and we've only got one Manson to split amongst every Dman not named Makar.

 

[the_fan]

They don't have to be overly physical but they have to be able to handle teams that are. That's the problem with our D group. You can develop a system that doesn't require your dmen to be big, aggressive and physical, but your players must still be able to handle it when other teams do play this way, and that's where our problems lie. Most of our dmen require a more physical player in order to allow them to do what they do and we've only got one Manson to split amongst every Dman not named Makar.

I think we just need one right handed big d-man. We had that with EJ in the cup run and that’s what we’re missing. That shouldn’t be hard to get anytime during the season before the trade deadline or at the deadline

 

[expatriatedtexan]

I think we just need one right handed big d-man. We had that with EJ in the cup run and that’s what we’re missing

I agree, that's why I was hoping the Avs would pick up a 5-6 dman that was more like Manson and less like Girard. But as folks have pointed out to me, those do not exactly grow on trees and even a mediocre to decent one would likely cost more than we can spend in terms of both assets as well as cap space.

 

[henchman21]

Yeah but what are we talking about here? Hits or being overly physical like punishing the opposition with heavy hits? Because you throw an average body check, that’s gonna count as a hit, and any player can do that.

Even not counting hits, it is just an easy thing to point to... Florida was one of the most physical teams in the league last year. They beat up and ground teams into a pulp. Forsling is closer to Manson in physicality than anybody else on the Avs... and he was their softest (and best) defensemen.

As we look across the league, Avs will be one of the 5 softest defenses. It may not be a big deal, especially in the regular season where you don't get matched up against a Vegas for a series. But they are quite soft. CDH is not anywhere near the realm of JMFJ, EJ, Englund, etc... he's not even in the Graves realm who is a bit soft himself.

FTR I don't think this will impact their effectiveness for the vast majority of the regular season. Playoffs it'll be about matchups... and the Avs will probably have to overpay for a physical RD.

 

[the_fan]

I agree, that's why I was hoping the Avs would pick up a 5-6 dman that was more like Manson and less like Girard. But as folks have pointed out to me, those do not exactly grow on trees and even a mediocre to decent one would likely cost more than we can spend in terms of both assets as well as cap space.

We don’t need a top 4 guy. We need a bottom pair RD. I don’t think a 3rd pair d-man would cost too much at the trade deadline. Maybe we wouldn’t even need one. I mean all we need is a veteran EJ type as #6. And I mean EJ in 22 not right now because right now EJ is pretty much end of his career

 

[henchman21]

We don’t need a top 4 guy. We need a bottom pair RD. I don’t think a 3rd pair d-man would cost too much at the trade deadline. Maybe we wouldn’t even need one. I mean all we need is a veteran EJ type as #6. And I mean EJ in 22 not right now because right now EJ is pretty much end of his career

Avs absolutely need a PK guy who is physical and ideally a right shot. That's a 2nd + 3rd sort of deal at the deadline.

 

[Avs9296]

The d core doesn’t really have to be overly physical for the team to have success now days. Panthers didn’t really have a physical D core and they won the cup. Guys like Forsling, Montour, Ekblad etc.. aren’t physical players.

We won the cup in 22 without having a physical d core. Our most physical d-man was Manson just like he will be again this year

'22 we had JJ and EJ as well who are more physical than anyone we have now besides Manson.

 

[Mac Attack]

True, but having both back will give us enough depth that we wouldn’t need another forward. Maybe just a 4C

Both back (and playing like they have in the past) would be the dream and would make us a top tier contender this year

 

[Richard88]

Avs absolutely need a PK guy who is physical and ideally a right shot. That's a 2nd + 3rd sort of deal at the deadline.

Or Kovacevic for a 4th

 

[RoyIsALegend]

Sorry to bring the bad news but CdH is also butter soft.

No, he’s not. You must be thinking of somebody else.

He’s not a head hunter but certainly plays the body and has every season of his career.

 

[henchman21]

Or Kovacevic for a 4th

Full season deals are actually (a lot) cheaper than deadline deals especially in areas with shortages.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Full season deals are actually (a lot) cheaper than deadline deals especially in areas with shortages.

So this is why we haven't traded Mikko yet. His value will be higher at the deadline?