Confirmed Trade: [COL/NYI] Brock Nelson (50%), William Dufour for Calum Ritchie, Oliver Kylington, cond. 2026/27 1st-round pick, cond. 2028 3rd-round pick

[WolfgangPuck]

NYI did well Ritchie is a great prospect
Seems like an over pay for a rental
Avs getting an extension from Brock?

 

[JoeSakic13]

Name them.

Off the top of my head:

Barron to Montreal
Newhook to Montreal
Timmins to Arizona
Helleson to Anaheim

 

[SI90]

Obviously 92, it's 29 backwards and no one on the Avs have wore that number in 3 years

Painful to see what’s happening with Lando. Can’t wait to watch his special that follows him through this crazy situation

 

[Alex Jones]

What's so great about Ritchie? Barely above 1.5 ppg in the OHL as a D+2. Picked in a range of the draft that rarely produces impact NHLers.

Seems like the typical 1st + good but non-elite prospect + roster player return that we see every year for the top deadline rental.

Good frame, sees the ice well, good hand eye coordination. Definitely has some bust potential as imho his skating will be at best below average at the NHL level and he doesn't always play engaged enough in terms of drive/physicality.

Upside two way 2nd line playmaking center that controls the pace of play with his intelligence and distribution. IDK maybe a 25g-40a upside.

Downside he can't think the game at a high enough level to overcome his lack of skating/physicality and he spends a few years bouncing around different teams before heading to Europe.

 

[IslesNorway]

Seems a good deal for both sides. A 1st and decent prospect for a UFA is fine.

 

[JoeSakic13]

Seems a good deal for both sides. A 1st and decent prospect for a UFA is fine.

Not to mention the conditional 3rd is a condition I don’t think any Avs fans would be upset with. Somehow that one isn’t even until 2028.

 

[Coffee]

Name them.

Periferal is a old timer poster who has never had trouble calling out BS

 

[Alex Jones]

I hate trading away firsts but we probably should have traded away Olausson or Kaut earlier. Its a pure tear down when Mack slows down/retires and no amount of low first round picks is gonna help with that.

Both Kaut and Olausson lost value quickly. Olausson had a horrible D+1 year down in juniors scoring less than a PPG. Kaut went straight to the AHL and scored 17 goals in 2 seasons, both went nowhere very fast. Wouldn't have been tradable for much.

 

[thefutures]

Win win. Isles needed to sell badly

 

[BKarchitect]

Expensive…I think Ritchie is gonna be a good one. But scoring a touchdown tonight and adding Big Brock is pretty satisfying. His size and goal scoring chops have made him my choice from day one. He’s gonna form one hell of a center punch with MacK.

 

[biturbo19]

Brock Nelson is a good player, but that's an absolute coup for the Isles. Cal Ritchie is a darn good prospect with a ton of upside, plus a 1st...for a guy who is awkwardly too old to sign to the sort of long-term extension that he'd have wanted with the Isles already up to their eyeballs in questionable long-term commitments.

 

[duckpuck]

"Lehkonen is great but Justin Barron is going to be sick, man!" - Habs fans circa 2022

"I think Alex Newhook just didn't get enough chances in Colorado. Steal." - Habs fans circa 2023

"Getting Drew Helleson really makes our prospect pool so much deeper, great trade by Verbeek" - Anaheim fans circa 2022

Every time we trade one of our prospects it's like Colorado has given up some golden goose. None of them pan out because our draft scouts are shit.

Off the top of my head:

Barron to Montreal
Newhook to Montreal
Timmins to Arizona
Helleson to Anaheim

Helleson has played well for the ducks this year and exceeded expectations. He's had a better year than the guy he was traded for.

I'd say he's panned out better than you'd expect for the 47th pick in a draft.

 

[OilersFanatics505]

Helleson has played well for the ducks this year and exceeded expectations. He's had a better year than the guy he was traded for.

I'd say he's panned out better than you'd expect for the 47th pick in a draft.

Ducks have that low of expectations? 7 points?

 

[RoyIsALegend]

Lehkonen - MacKinnon - Necas
Drouin - Nelson - Nichushkin

 

[shello]

Avs got their 2C, and if it gets them another Cup then its worth whatever future assets they lost in the process. You gotta take full advantage of every season you have this core(essentially MacK+Makar) together/healthy in their primes like they are right now.

Agreed. Funny how Tampa gets praised for selling futures but the Avs don’t. The time to win is now, not bet on a guy in the OHL who may be good one day

 

[Mike C]

Agreed. Funny how Tampa gets praised for selling futures but the Avs don’t. The time to win is now, not bet on a guy in the OHL who may be good one day

Especially when the opposite of maybe is maybe NOT

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

Great trade by Lu Bega.

 

[duckpuck]

Ducks have that low of expectations? 7 points?

Unlike Edmonton, the duck fans prefer d-men who play defense. So we don't evaluate them based on points.
Helleson is not (and has never been) billed as an offensive defenseman. Sort of similar to the guy he was traded for Josh Manson.

Helleson has played well, shown some additional upside, and he's doing just fine for a second round draft pick.

 

[Coffee]

Lehkonen - MacKinnon - Necas
Drouin - Nelson - Nichushkin

That top 6 is not messing around

 

[frightenedinmatenum2]

Timing free agency for 34 years old is going to be the new trend with older NHLers.

Brock Nelson probably looked at the Stamkos, Tanev, and Marchessault contracts and figured he could get something similar in terms of a big money team signing him to a contract that is destined for LTIR. Basically, he gets his 3 year contract with another 3 fake years tacked on to the end, and he isn't subject to the 35+ rules.

 

[majormajor]

I would not have done this from the Avs perspective - Ritchie is too close to being NHL ready and profiles as a steady Brock Nelson type of player actually, and he can give you that on efficient RFA deals for many years (during the Mackinnon+Makar window) rather than shipping Ritchie + 1st for a Nelson rental. I think if they put a couple firsts on the table they could have moved Mittelstadt for a good 2C on a good deal with term.

 

[Ncit3]

Ducks have that low of expectations? 7 points?

He's also not outperformed Manson.

I would not have done this from the Avs perspective - Ritchie is too close to being NHL ready and profiles as a steady Brock Nelson type of player actually, and he can give you that on efficient RFA deals for many years (during the Mackinnon+Makar window) rather than shipping Ritchie + 1st for a Nelson rental. I think if they put a couple firsts on the table they could have moved Mittelstadt for a good 2C on a good deal with term.

NHL ready as what? A bad 3rd liner? He looked bad in the stints he's gotten.

 

[SI90]

 

[HUSH10]

It's fine.

A late first
A 3rd if they win the cup
And Ritchie.... who's kinda had a down year this year. Not that impressive at the WJC, and hasn't light up the OHL as much as he did last year. Better to trade him than a D prospect.

He was 1.6 PPG last year and is 1.63 PPG this year. How can you say he's having a down year?

 

[a mangy Meowth]

He was 1.6 PPG last year and is 1.63 PPG this year. How can you say he's having a down year?

Because typically you don't stay at the same production when you're a full year older.... that's usually a bad sign