Agree with everything except the how good EJ would look in St. Louis. They don't need another big two-way defenceman, and EJ needed a fresh start. Shattenkirk is the perfect guy to play behind Pietrangelo. Johnson would be a bit wasted playing behind Petro. It really was a win-win deal.
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Which non-playoff bound teams (currently) have defencemen that could play on the top-pairing?
Philly- Coburn would probably have similar success to Hejda.
Carolina- Sekera
Devils- Greene
Ottawa- Methot (borderline)
Washington-No one
Islanders- MacDonald
Florida- Kulikov/Campbell
Buffalo- Erhoff/Myers
Out of all those players, I can only see MacDonald being moved.
Phoenix- Yandle
Dallas- No one
Nashville-Weber
Winnipeg- Enstrom
Calgary- Giordano
Edmonton- No one
I can't see any of those players being moved.
I also can't see a team in a playoff spot trading a good defenceman. If the Avs make a trade, it is going to be something like a 2nd+3rd round pick for a defenceman who is a slight upgrade over Benoit.
The best upgrade the Avs get will be when Hejda and EJ get rest over the Olympic break. EJ hasn't looked the same since he hurt his back. He needs that rest badly so when he comes back Roy can give him and Hejda 25 minutes a night.
For the first part, I agree with what you're saying and yes, he DID need a change of scenery absolutely. I'm just trying to point out that if EJ was still on the Blues, playing with what is largely considered the best D group in the league, I think it would take some of the pressure off and he'd probably have even more points. I also wanted to point out, that if it was Shattenkirk over here with the Avs paired with Hejda instead of EJ, I don't think we have the record we currently have.
As far as the guys mentioned, I think Kulikov makes sense but Tallon is probably going to try to screw us over since, ya know, we didn't bite on their offer back at the draft.
The other guy from that list I find intriguing is Methot, who in my mind would be like bringing in another Hejda as long as he can find his confidence again. He'd be a good fit and would likely cost McGinn
+. (the + being one of our better prospect or a high pick)
Unless the Avs agree to take on a guy who's set to earn a lot more money but isn't playing up to par, I guess something like this could happen:
To Ott:
McGinn,LW
Wilson,D (1 more year remaining at $2.25M)
To Col:
Methot,D
Greening,LW (new contract starts next year at $2.65M/yr for 3 yrs *yikes*)
+picks & prospects on either side to round it out
...allows Bryan Murray to save face on giving that horrible contract to Greening and they get the piece they've been after for some time (banging winger with size). [I'm only putting this in as I've heard a multitude of Sens fans being fed up and dissatisfied with Greening, I'm not really sure if he's more valuable than that]
The other guy on the list that would be a great fit here would be Giordano but I expect Burke want a monstrous return which is unlikely to happen. I mean, we can give them a "Bouwmeester" type of return, no problem
but I think he'll want to rip us off badly, especially after the Tanguay-Sarich-SoB-D.Jones debacle of a trade.
