Week of No Mercy for Mercenary Moose Mon vs CHI Tues MIN Fri CGY Sun vs DAL

[The Merchant]

I don't think that's true. If he wanted to stay, he would have taken then $11.75M x 8 deal CMac offered, instead of screwing over Carolina, and ultimately forcing himself to Dallas for just $250k more per year.

It depends on what you want to believe, considering there's been so much conflicting information. Imo, I believe a deal was nearly done over the summer, but Mikko's agent f***ed him over by telling him to hold off as he was working the Draisaitl deal...CMac got frustrated and decided to get a haul for him after seeing him float around all season and after Mikko took it into his own hands by meeting in person and essentially caving, CMac traded him days later after already making up his mind. Ultimately there's no clear "good guy" in this whole mess. I have no doubt Mikko wanted to remain an Av and at the end of the day his agent is the biggest piece of shit in it all. Just sucks it ended up the way it did with him back in the division.

 

[katfude]

Got some free last minute tickets to tomorrow's game. Not sure if I'm gonna boo or not. Might cheer at first then boo. The guy got us a cup, but also betrayed us by signing with Dallas. I get wanting revenge on the franchise that traded you, but that decision wasn't up to us fans. My view point is while chasing his revenge, he's discarded and betrayed us. So I don't think I should be too loyal. I'm in full on waffle mode here.

Same boat. I'm going as well. I think i won't cheer or boo. Cold shoulder. I'll cheer the thank you video and boo if he scores, probably

 

[LOFIN]

"I was willing to be flexible."

Ahhh yes, Mikko. Flexible just like the last time you had a contract to negotiate with the Avs and almost held out.

"Flexible" to sign for 12M per in Dallas when all reports suggest the Avs were at 11.6M and that still wasn't good enough.

"Flexible."

Lol. About as flexible as Patrice Brisebois.

He didn't choose between 11.6 with Colorado, and 12M with Dallas. It really shouldn't be that hard to comprehend, but apparently it is.

 

[dahrougem2]

He didn't choose between 11.6 with Colorado, and 12M with Dallas. It really shouldn't be that hard to comprehend, but apparently it is.

We know you'll defend Mikko until the death of you.

Obviously, he could have signed for what Colorado offered and didn't. That is a choice. Like you said though, shouldn't be that hard to comprehend.

 

[LOFIN]

We know you'll defend Mikko until the death of you.

Obviously, he could have signed for what Colorado offered and didn't. That is a choice. Like you said though, shouldn't be that hard to comprehend.

I've been saying for a while, that Mikko probably outplayed his hand.

He still didn't choose between 11.6 and 12M, which you continue to imply.

It's also a choice to be a daft idiot. Feel free to continue making it.

 

[TatteredTornNFrayed]

I forget who recently reported that this offseason, his response to questioning was I don't get involved with the negotiations, I just leave it to my agent to take care of it. That's pretty much the same story I remember from 2019, and that went right up until the start of the season, and I think the Avs caved for more than they originally wanted to that time. I feel this time, the Avs wanted this figured out this past summer, and Mikko just kept to the plan of 'I'll let my agent deal with it.' So they didn't reach agreement, and allowed this to continue into this season, Avs still hoping to get a deal before the TDL. But they had decided this time, they were NOT going to let it go past that, and I think they correctly saw that Mikko and his agent were perfectly willing to keep 'negotiating' beyond the TDL, because they knew their leverage only increased in that case, as they try to play other teams offers to put pressure on the Avs to increase their offer. They wanted to stay 'flexible'.

In this interview, I think he used the phrase at least half a dozen times that he told Avs front office he would be "flexible". But what does that even mean, and what was the tone and the context? Are you willing to accept what the Avs say they are able to offer, or not?

I got the sense from that interview he feels a bit sheepish about how it went down, and doesn't want the fans to think less of him, but realizes he played a big part in what happened, because he knows he didn't just tell the agent to accept the best deal. So he keeps repeating that he told the Avs he would be "flexible".

But if you are not telling your agent that you want to accept their offer, and you let him continue 'dealing with it', then say you want to be "flexible" probably comes off mostly as, 'I want to keep my options open.'

So the Avs suspected their offer was not going to be accepted even if they waited to the TDL, if it still hadn't been accepted since last year, and they got a trade offer they thought was fair value, and said we are not going to let this get to the point of him potentially walking. They knew if they continued to wait, Carolina probably makes the trade with someone else, and the Avs are left with a potentially weaker position.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Man, this place has been unstable lately. And no, I'm not referring to myself or any other posters.

Anyways, just watched Guerilla Sports interview with Mikko...

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Mikko multiple times says he told the front office face to face that he would be flexible and then a few days later was traded. I'm confused. Is he trying to say he was going to be flexible and sign a deal before the TDL with the Avs? Or that he wanted to be flexible and as @TatteredTornNFrayed said, keep his options open?

I didn't get the idea that his flexibility bent enough to bring him into the arc of the Avalanche's reality.

 

[dahrougem2]

I've been saying for a while, that Mikko probably outplayed his hand.

He still didn't choose between 11.6 and 12M, which you continue to imply.

It's also a choice to be a daft idiot. Feel free to continue making it.

The problem is everyone besides you gets it.

I'm not sure about the idiot part, but something tells me you aren't the smartest guy on this forum above everyone else. You can keep trying, though.

 

[LOFIN]

The problem is everyone besides you gets it.

I'm not sure about the idiot part, but something tells me you aren't the smartest guy on this forum above everyone else. You can keep trying, though.

Did Mikko have the ability to choose between 11.6 with Colorado and 12M in Dallas, yes or no?

 

[RoyIsALegend]

Did Mikko have the ability to choose between 11.6 with Colorado and 12M in Dallas, yes or no?

He had the chance to choose between 11.6m with the Avs or chasing his agent’s sweet whispers of 14m from somebody else.

He chose the latter and got played. The world saw Mikko without MacK is not Draisaitl and is not worth 14m.

He took 12m from Dallas likely for two reasons; it’s a good fit and his agent probably told him it’s close to the best he would get as a free agent anyways.

 

[lionsDen]

Mikko besides scoring was fairly useless not to mention took some dumb ass penalties.

I’d like to see the avs add a winger who can score this summer doubt it though

 

[Mooserton]

Mikko besides scoring was fairly useless not to mention took some dumb ass penalties.

I’d like to see the avs add a winger who can score this summer doubt it though

Kaprizov 2026

 

[dahrougem2]

Did Mikko have the ability to choose between 11.6 with Colorado and 12M in Dallas, yes or no?

He had the choice of 11.6M with Colorado or "more" money elsewhere. There was so obviously a choice it blows my mind how you aren't able to understand this.

 

[Balthazar]

It's crystal clear that Mikko expected CMac to come back with a bigger number as part of the negotiation game. That's why he felt like he got blindsided with the trade.

It's also crystal clear that CMac never intented to play that game with him, more than likely because he knows that he isn't worth the money despite the numbers.

Never forget that unlike most people around the league, CMac saw Rantanen play every day. He knows full well how bad he was playing.

 

[hockeyfish]

You all just need to move on.

 

[lionsDen]

Kaprizov 2026

I’d be over the moon.

 

[The Kingslayer]

What the hell happened to this site lol. Anyways, last night everyone not named the bottom 6 was complete cheeks. Wedgie was great again. Tomorrow just beat fat ass.

 

[the_fan]

Kaprizov 2026

Can he play center?

 

[LOFIN]

He had the choice of 11.6M with Colorado or "more" money elsewhere. There was so obviously a choice it blows my mind how you aren't able to understand this.

No he didn't. We are talking about what he could ACTUALLY do. He could only sign in Colorado at that point, and he only had the Colorado number on the table.

You are implying, that Mikko was fighting over 400k (on top of what the tax difference might be). That's just factually wrong. If both parties truly wanted, the deal would've been done. Mikko wasn't desperate to stay, he wanted to stay but wasn't about to beg CMac to sign him to a massive discount. And CMac clearly wanted Necas+Drury instead of Mikko once that became available for him.

It's crystal clear that Mikko expected CMac to come back with a bigger number as part of the negotiation game. That's why he felt like he got blindsided with the trade.

It's also crystal clear that CMac never intented to play that game with him, more than likely because he knows that he isn't worth the money despite the numbers.

Pretty much this. I think once Necas became available to them, they were going to make the trade no matter what. Well, unless Mikko had suddenly came up and said "I don't need a raise, give me the exact same contract as I currently have". CMac really liked Necas, and saw an opportunity to get him and Drury for cheaper, and it would be mostly a lateral move on the ice because Necas really fits the system (we will see about the playoffs though). Mikko saw how this team almost let Landeskog to free agency, and though that he would have the same leverage. At the very least, until TDL was mere days away. Instead the Avs pulled the trigger 1.5 months "early".

I think there is one turning point/faulty party here, and that's Mikko's agent last summer. Mikko and the Avs almost had a deal done, then the agent got the Draisaitl contract done and they started pushing for more money. After that, it has just been a series of "unfortunate" actions by both parties that lead to the divorce. And "unfortunate" in quotes because in the end the Avs might be better, and Mikko got more money and a desirable landing spot too.

 

[BoxOfChocolates]

I'm mostly indifferent to these last 15 games (don't see their position changing much).

But I really need the boys to pull through with a shit kicking tonight

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Friedman said on his Wednesday XM hit that Mikko’s last ask to Colorado was 13M. After that request he went in and made it clear that he was willing to be flexible but the indication was that it still wasn’t going to be anywhere close. He said specifically that he thinks if Mikko said he’d be willing to sign for 12 on the nose, that a deal would have been done.

So yeah maybe Mikko said he was willing to be flexible but he still was being ridiculous.

As for the reaction today I hope he gets cheered hard for his tribute. Dude is one of the greatest Avs ever and played an integral part in winning that mug. But once the tribute is done and he gets the response he’s deserved, it needs to switch to boos. That’s sports. And that’s what you should expect now that you’re a Dallas f***ing Star.

 

[AvsMakar08]

Friedman said on his Wednesday XM hit that Mikko’s last ask to Colorado was 13M. After that request he went in and made it clear that he was willing to be flexible but the indication was that it still wasn’t going to be anywhere close. He said specifically that he thinks if Mikko said he’d be willing to sign for 12 on the nose, that a deal would have been done.

So yeah maybe Mikko said he was willing to be flexible but he still was being ridiculous.

As for the reaction today I hope he gets cheered hard for his tribute. Dude is one of the greatest Avs ever and played an integral part in winning that mug. But once the tribute is done and he gets the response he’s deserved, it needs to switch to boos. That’s sports. And that’s what you should expect now that you’re a Dallas f***ing Star.

Thanks for the information.

 

[forsbergavs32]

What the hell happened to this site lol. Anyways, last night everyone not named the bottom 6 was complete cheeks. Wedgie was great again. Tomorrow just beat fat ass.

Your avatar broke the board

 

[Ceremony]

You all just need to move on.

I think you know that's not going to happen.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

Friedman said on his Wednesday XM hit that Mikko’s last ask to Colorado was 13M. After that request he went in and made it clear that he was willing to be flexible but the indication was that it still wasn’t going to be anywhere close. He said specifically that he thinks if Mikko said he’d be willing to sign for 12 on the nose, that a deal would have been done.

So yeah maybe Mikko said he was willing to be flexible but he still was being ridiculous.

As for the reaction today I hope he gets cheered hard for his tribute. Dude is one of the greatest Avs ever and played an integral part in winning that mug. But once the tribute is done and he gets the response he’s deserved, it needs to switch to boos. That’s sports. And that’s what you should expect now that you’re a Dallas f***ing Star.

Mikko is good and all but I am glad we didn't pay those amounts for him.