I don't believe that Barrie could be forced in a deal for Edler or Ehrhoff, he wouldn't be the asset either team would want. Niether team needs an offensive defensemen prospect. Barrie is not that good of a trade asset to fill the defensemen hole in the top 4.... Siemens is the best prospect asset the Avs have for that purpose.
Maybe. I don't think it's quite that clear though. I don't get the impression Buffalo is too discriminating about what they will and won't take in return. They seem to just want all the young players and draft picks they can get.
Not to mention, everyone one on the team is on the block. There's no way to know what their needs are long term. They could end up trading Myers, and have a need for a young offensive d man.
Vancouver seems to be in a similar situation. They seem to want to re-tool on the fly. There's no real telling who'll they'll have going into next season, or what their needs will be. A young offensive blueliner who had some great junior hockey seasons up the road in Kelowna BC, could be of great interest to a team like them.
There is one major difference.... EJ was what? 23? At the time of the trade. Edler is 27 (Almost 28 in April), and Ehrhoff is 31...
Edler... I'd probably include Barrie in a trade for him. Simply because of comparable offensive ceilings, with the added bonus that Edler is a big mobile left handed defender.
I do think he could improve defensively in our system, and with a solid partner like EJ.
Ehrhoff? no ******* way, Barrie could surpass him in just about every aspect of the game within a year or two, especially as he gets older.
Fair enough. I'll disagree on Ehrhoff though. Over the course of a full season, and playing on the same team I don't think Barrie produces that much more offensively, if at all, and is still worse defensively. Even more so in the playoffs. I think that will more or less be the case for at least the next five years, but that's just my hunch. I'm not one to make any firm declarations.
From a hockey standpoint, I'd take either Edler or Ehrhoff over Barrie, particularly Edler. The length of Ehrhoff's contract concerns me a bit though.
Don't think the Avs could get either of those two guys for Barrie though.
No, they couldn't get them alone. I just included Barrie's name in a kind of wishful thinking post, saying I'd give up a lot of assets to get both of them because it would solidify the top four for a long long time, and there'd be no need for a lot of those assets as a result.
I'm personally not that concerned with Ehrhoff's contract. If Buffalo trades him, it's highly likely they'll want to trade for him back at the end of his deal to buy him out and avoid a much more expensive cap recapture penalty.
If his play starts to slip, then his role on the team will diminish and he becomes a risk to retire early since he'll be making peanuts at the end of his deal. If he won't want to retire, he'll be a risk for the Avs to cheaply buy him out themselves. Both of these scenarios are worse than if the Sabres buy them out themselves.
Either way, him not playing well at the end of his deal should almost be of no concern, because they seemingly should have the free option to trade him back to Buffalo at any time.
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