Proposal: Ducks/Avs/Isles

[WhatTheDuck]

To Anaheim:

G Alexandar Georgiev (3.6M UFA)
C JG Pageau (1 yr @ 5M)
Avs 1st 2026 (top 10 protected)

To Colorado:

G John Gibson (Ducks retain ~23% [1.5M], NYI retain ~ 17% [1M] = 2 years @ 3.9M to Avs)

To NYI:

F Frank Vatrano (3.6M UFA)
Avs 3rd 2025

The Avs likely should make a goalie move with Georgiev well into a second straight year of very up and down results. There's obviously some risk in Gibson but for the cost of what should be a late first + third rounder, I feel confident the Avs would receive much more consistent goaltending and at a very reasonable cost of $3.9M for two more seasons.

While I have some hesitance to see the Ducks deal from this position of strength - I think there are more signs pointing to moving Gibson vs keeping him as long as enough value is out there. Dostal has shown enough that he needs to be the center of our goaltending focus right now, in terms of getting him exactly the number of starts he needs. The second goalie does not need to be on a 6.4M salary for multiple more seasons, and I think it's fairly obvious that we'd be doing right by Gibson's career by moving him to a team with more pressing ideas of contending. In a perfect world, Georgiev rebounds enough in a lower pressure environment to have value by deadline day, the Ducks can give him around 30-50% of the starts in the mean time and see what happens. I have faith in this scouting staff to uncover another Stolarz/Hiller to push Dostal next year. The Avs 2025 first is tied up in another conditional deal, hence the 2026 instead. While it's not ideal to wait a year, this draft isn't looking super strong and we are adding a valuable potential trade chip for the next time a star talent comes available.

The inclusion of Vatrano and Pageau may seem odd on the surface. Frank is an impending UFA who I personally don't see locking up with term. Nor do I see him fetching a great return now as a rental, even if his scoring comes back around as expected. Rather than moving him for a 2nd at the deadline, include him in a deal to bring back something we really need. Pageau is a consummate 3C, fast and tenacious plus a faceoff ace. Currently being used out of place as a top 6 winger. Has traditionally produced at a similar clip to Vatrano outside of Frank's big year. Would help tremendously in the faceoff circle and defensively for this year and next, areas the Ducks badly need to improve in order to put their young players in a better position.

The Isles seem in need of a shakeup, off to a disappointing start. Rather than use Pageau on the wing, they swap in Vatrano coming off a 37 goal year. They potentially save 4M in cap space for next year (unless using it to keep Frank) and gain a pick for their trouble of eating a small chunk of Gibson's salary (1M per). If they are not interested in the veteran forward portion of the deal, really any team with retention space would work as Team C, eating some salary for a pick. I don't see Anaheim eating a huge amount on both Gibson and Fowler's contracts next year if moving them, so I think a third team may be necessary to take some of the bite.

Thoughts?

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[Lonewolfe2015]

Paying the Ducks a 1st for Gibson at 23% retention seems steep relative to the expected impact he'd have. Everything looks like the Avs front office would rather keep Georgie than pay a high price to upgrade to Gibson. I'd roll the dice for a 2nd, but not a 1st.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

Paying the Ducks a 1st for Gibson at 23% retention seems steep relative to the expected impact he'd have. Everything looks like the Avs front office would rather keep Georgie than pay a high price to upgrade to Gibson. I'd roll the dice for a 2nd, but not a 1st.

I do see your point, but the Avs are getting Gibson around 40% total retention and down to a very reasonable number. Do they waste another year of this core hoping George figures it out, or bank on something better than Gibson coming along for less than 4M in the off season? It feels like they have everything else in that lineup, I'd roll the dice myself but again I understand there's risk involved.

There has to be a balance struck somewhere that gives Anaheim enough incentive to eat the amount of money necessary and deal from a position of strength that I think they are truly otherwise content to sit on. A (presumably) late 2nd just doesn't move the needle enough to bother in my opinion.

 

[PAZ]

Conditional 1st for 40-50% retained Gibson i'd consider, but not a straight up first to gamble on Gibson.

 

[ryan callahan]

Extremely well thought out deal. I think all 3 teams win here. Colorado gets their goalie, ANA sheds some salary and gets a pick back and NYI gets an ok volume scorer for the retention. Only part that wouldn't work is Vatrano I think. Anaheim wouldn't give him up that easy I think (even though his value is very low right now).

 

[WhatTheDuck]

Conditional 1st for 40-50% retained Gibson i'd consider, but not a straight up first to gamble on Gibson.

I assume you mean performance based conditions?

 

[PAZ]

I assume you mean performance based conditions?

IMO performance makes sense but you rarely see those type of deals.

It would have to be Avs make it to the Semi/WCF and Gibson plays x amount of games. If Gibson can provide at minimum a .900-.905 SV% it's hard to see the Avs not making it there.

 

[BKarchitect]

Edit: Did not see that JGP had an extra year…hmmm. Never mind lol.

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

I do see your point, but the Avs are getting Gibson around 40% total retention and down to a very reasonable number.

Right. But that costs an additional 3rd to get that 40%. Avs will need that 3rd at the deadline for another rental probably on D.

Gibson probably doesn't make them a contender anymore than Georgie or Annunen does. So why burn a 1st?

 

[BKarchitect]

How his Gibson looked since returning? The starts look promising. Is he moving and athletically looking like he’s still got some juice left in the tank?

Are the Ducks better as a team defensively than I think? lol. Can’t score but Dostal is crushing everybody in GSAA and if Gibson is back to being a 0.915% goalie….

 

[ryan callahan]

How his Gibson looked since returning? The starts look promising. Is he moving and athletically looking like he’s still got some juice left in the tank?

Are the Ducks better as a team defensively than I think? lol. Can’t score but Dostal is crushing everybody in GSAA and if Gibson is back to being a 0.915% goalie….

Cronin is in the doghouse of the Ducks fanbase but his system isn't even bad. The team as a whole gives up very few high danger chances from what I could see when I watched them. They just suck at possession so they give up a very high volume of shots.

 

[DJN21]

Genuinely asking are the islanders okay with using a retention slot for only 17% to facilitate this?

 

[BKarchitect]

Genuinely asking are the islanders okay with using a retention slot for only 17% to facilitate this?

I think the OP is probably factoring in Pageau’s $5 million off the books in 25-26 as part of some financial flexibility that is also being “acquired”.

But yeah, when I look at the Isles roster, if they do end up actually rebuilding - there’s a lot of guys there that probably need heavy retention to have any kind of market.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

Right. But that costs an additional 3rd to get that 40%. Avs will need that 3rd at the deadline for another rental probably on D.

Gibson probably doesn't make them a contender anymore than Georgie or Annunen does. So why burn a 1st?

At the end of the day, it's a 1st + 3rd for Gibson at 3.9M. I don't think the third is the part of the deal that should be anyone's make or break on the whole concept. I may even have overshot on a 3rd being the cost to eat 1M x 3 pro rated for this year. Ultimately would come down to your final point there, whether the Avs think swapping out George for Gibson at a similar cap hit, is enough of an improvement to justify a significant price.

 

[DJN21]

I think the OP is probably factoring in Pageau’s $5 million off the books in 25-26 as part of some financial flexibility that is also being “acquired”.

But yeah, when I look at the Isles roster, if they do end up actually rebuilding - there’s a lot of guys there that probably need heavy retention to have any kind of market.

Kinda what I thought but not familiar enough with an opposing team to make a direct statement. I feel like they might be better off keeping that retention spot and possibly using it to add more value/flexibility down the line.

 

[BKarchitect]

At the end of the day, it's a 1st + 3rd for Gibson at 3.9M. I don't think the third is the part of the deal that should be anyone's make or break on the whole concept. I may even have overshot on a 3rd being the cost to eat 1M x 3 pro rated for this year. Ultimately would come down to your final point there, whether the Avs think swapping out George for Gibson at a similar cap hit, is enough of an improvement to justify a significant price.

It’s the kind of value I wouldn’t love as an Avs fan and yet - if the Avs are in position to make a real run in a couple of months, it’s also the kind of deal that I would use your logic to make sensible and worth it.

We gave up a 1st and Timmins for one year of Kuemper. This does not seem out of that ballpark.

Need more runway for Gibson to show his play/health this season first though, IMO.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

Kinda what I thought but not familiar enough with an opposing team to make a direct statement. I feel like they might be better off keeping that retention spot and possibly using it to add more value/flexibility down the line.

Yeah I can see just leaving the Pageau/Vatrano portion aside and Team C can be whoever is willing to do business. I just saw some potential added balance there and happen to be a long time JGP guy.

 

[Djp]

To Anaheim:

G Alexandar Georgiev (3.6M UFA)
C JG Pageau (1 yr @ 5M)
Avs 1st 2026 (top 10 protected)

To Colorado:

G John Gibson (Ducks retain ~23% [1.5M], NYI retain ~ 17% [1M] = 2 years @ 3.9M to Avs)

To NYI:

F Frank Vatrano (3.6M UFA)
Avs 3rd 2025

The Avs likely should make a goalie move with Georgiev well into a second straight year of very up and down results. There's obviously some risk in Gibson but for the cost of what should be a late first + third rounder, I feel confident the Avs would receive much more consistent goaltending and at a very reasonable cost of $3.9M for two more seasons.

While I have some hesitance to see the Ducks deal from this position of strength - I think there are more signs pointing to moving Gibson vs keeping him as long as enough value is out there. Dostal has shown enough that he needs to be the center of our goaltending focus right now, in terms of getting him exactly the number of starts he needs. The second goalie does not need to be on a 6.4M salary for multiple more seasons, and I think it's fairly obvious that we'd be doing right by Gibson's career by moving him to a team with more pressing ideas of contending. In a perfect world, Georgiev rebounds enough in a lower pressure environment to have value by deadline day, the Ducks can give him around 30-50% of the starts in the mean time and see what happens. I have faith in this scouting staff to uncover another Stolarz/Hiller to push Dostal next year. The Avs 2025 first is tied up in another conditional deal, hence the 2026 instead. While it's not ideal to wait a year, this draft isn't looking super strong and we are adding a valuable potential trade chip for the next time a star talent comes available.

The inclusion of Vatrano and Pageau may seem odd on the surface. Frank is an impending UFA who I personally don't see locking up with term. Nor do I see him fetching a great return now as a rental, even if his scoring comes back around as expected. Rather than moving him for a 2nd at the deadline, include him in a deal to bring back something we really need. Pageau is a consummate 3C, fast and tenacious plus a faceoff ace. Currently being used out of place as a top 6 winger. Has traditionally produced at a similar clip to Vatrano outside of Frank's big year. Would help tremendously in the faceoff circle and defensively for this year and next, areas the Ducks badly need to improve in order to put their young players in a better position.

The Isles seem in need of a shakeup, off to a disappointing start. Rather than use Pageau on the wing, they swap in Vatrano coming off a 37 goal year. They potentially save 4M in cap space for next year (unless using it to keep Frank) and gain a pick for their trouble of eating a small chunk of Gibson's salary (1M per). If they are not interested in the veteran forward portion of the deal, really any team with retention space would work as Team C, eating some salary for a pick. I don't see Anaheim eating a huge amount on both Gibson and Fowler's contracts next year if moving them, so I think a third team may be necessary to take some of the bite.

Thoughts?

Thid looks like

Ana-NYI
Pageau with 2 yrs for vatrano with 1 yr and FC

Ana-COL
Gorgiev+ protected 1st
For Gibson ( with retention)

Colorado pays a 2nd for a team to retain $1M this yr and future yrs.m of Gibson

This deal makes no sense involving the isles

 

[PAZ]

Thid looks like

Ana-NYI
Pageau with 2 yrs for vatrano with 1 yr and FC

Ana-COL
Gorgiev+ protected 1st
For Gibson ( with retention)

Colorado pays a 2nd for a team to retain $1M this yr and future yrs.m of Gibson

This deal makes no sense involving the isles

Depends if Isles are trying to compete. Vatrano is an upgrade over Pageau and they won't be using their retention slots anyways. Pageau has negative value as his cap hit, so the fact they get an upgrade + 3rd is a pretty good value.

Now if they're on the fence about competing or rebuilding that's another story, but as long as they're in the mindset of trying to compete it makes sense.

 

[miscs75]

Genuinely asking are the islanders okay with using a retention slot for only 17% to facilitate this?

Not with Romanov and Dobson both needing raises this summer.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

Depends if Isles are trying to compete. Vatrano is an upgrade over Pageau and they won't be using their retention slots anyways. Pageau has negative value as his cap hit, so the fact they get an upgrade + 3rd is a pretty good value.

Now if they're on the fence about competing or rebuilding that's another story, but as long as they're in the mindset of trying to compete it makes sense.

Yeah that was my thinking. For the role in which they are currently using Pageau (1st line RW and 1st PP), Vatrano should be a better fit with the superior scoring ability he's demonstrated. If the fit isn't there or if they just need the cap space for RFAs, they gain 4M cap space for next year, at the cost of just having that last year of 1M retention.

But that part of the deal was the most flimsy or least necessary and any team with retention spots works in the Isles place if leaving that part out.

 

[miscs75]

Yeah that was my thinking. For the role in which they are currently using Pageau (1st line RW and 1st PP), Vatrano should be a better fit with the superior scoring ability he's demonstrated. If the fit isn't there or if they just need the cap space for RFAs, they gain 4M cap space for next year, at the cost of just having that last year of 1M retention.

But that part of the deal was the most flimsy or least necessary and any team with retention spots works in the Isles place if leaving that part out.

Barzal and Duclair are both out. The lines (outside of Nelson/Palmieri/Tsyplakov) got thrown into a tornado basically. Without Duclair, Vatrano would have made sense.

 

[Djp]

Depends if Isles are trying to compete. Vatrano is an upgrade over Pageau and they won't be using their retention slots anyways. Pageau has negative value as his cap hit, so the fact they get an upgrade + 3rd is a pretty good value.

Now if they're on the fence about competing or rebuilding that's another story, but as long as they're in the mindset of trying to compete it makes sense.

Then the dikes nerd yo hive out more.
.as I've said before tea m.j s dont di pass through on multiple year contracts..only expiring ones.

 

[Shane Diesel]

So the Avs give up a first and take on a higher cap hit for a player that has been one of the worst starters in the league the past five seasons and probably isn't any better than Georgiev?

Gross.

 

[John Mandalorian]

Hard to see the Avs trading a first in this scenario. Gibson is too risky.