Rumor: 2023-2024 Trade Rumors and Free Agency: Off-season is in full swing

[NateTheGreat]

Malgin produced at a typical third line pace last season and was effectively a waiver wire pickup (traded for Dryden Hunt).

My point is that fringe NHLers that can fill a role (NAK's physical game and low event hockey, Malgin's complementary scoring) can be found during the season, and it's not the end of the world that we aren't locking ourselves into this or that fringe NHLer when we aren't sure how the new acquisitions will settle.

We lost in round one last year with Malgin. Not that I’m saying it’s all his fault but we had fringe NHLers playing non fringe NHLer roles. I’m fine with using waivers for filling fringe roles. The problem is this roster needs more than that.

I’m not fond of the idea of putting a heavy burden on our top guys right from the beginning of the season all because the front office decided they wanted to maintain flexibility instead of attempting to find a solution out of fear of it not working out.

I won’t be surprised if/when the Avs claim a player on waivers, I’ll be shocked if that player satisfies our needs of another top 9 forward.

 

[Foppa2118]

Waiver wire pickups should not be something a contending team is relying on to complete their roster. It’s wild to me that so many are mentioning that as a means to improving the team.

First you’d be relying on another team to discard a useful player, then relying on other teams not to claim him.

Any waiver pickup throughout the season is most likely a stop gap for the regular season and shouldn’t be in your top 12 come playoff time.

What is the last impactful waiver pickup the Avs have made? Even if you’ve had one or two in the past, it’s far from a guarantee that you hit on another one. I’d hate for that to be looked upon as a strategy by the front office.

Not quite fair though to expect waiver pickups to be impactful players. If they were that impactful they wouldn't have been put on waivers.

But the Avs have found some guys that were solid pickups in lesser roles via waivers, and used wavier pickups to trade for guys that were solid.

Nieto and Nemeth were both solid in 4th line and bottom pair roles when they were first brought in. Wagner was a solid 4C years ago when they first picked him off waivers. NAK was a solid bottom sixer for the Cup team. They claimed Dryden Hunt and then traded him for Malgin who was solid on the third line.

It's definitely part of their team building strategy. They evaluate where the holes are in the lineup, either after camp or the first month of the season, and then usually made a solid waiver pickup for a guy that fits the team well in November or so.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

How many of these ridiculously off base evaluations on these player cards does it take for people to realize they shouldn't be used as object proof of how good/bad a player is?

$7.1M for Compher is bat shit crazy.

I can't imagine a single Avalanche fan that has watched him play would support that kind of contract. $5.1M already feels like a bit too much, though it won't be as bad when the cap rises.

I think it is perfectly alright to use these evaluations when they fit your narratives and say they are crap when they don't.

 

[NateTheGreat]

Not quite fair though to expect waiver pickups to be impactful players. If they were that impactful they wouldn't have been put on waivers.

This is the point. The players you listed are all 4th line/bottom pair guys who weren’t asked to be anything more than that except Malgin when we had our worst playoff finish in years.

It’s unreasonable to expect one of Cogs/LOC/Meyers/Olofsson/waiver pickup to play on our third line and perform well.

Sign someone. Trade for someone. Be proactive. Don’t hope for another team to help you out for free.

 

[Foppa2118]

This is the point. The players you listed are all 4th line/bottom pair guys who weren’t asked to be anything more than that except Malgin when we had our worst playoff finish in years.

It’s unreasonable to expect one of Cogs/LOC/Meyers/Olofsson/waiver pickup to play on our third line and perform well.

Sign someone. Trade for someone. Be proactive. Don’t hope for another team to help you out for free.

It would be unreasonable to go into the playoffs expecting guys like that to play on the 3rd line, but we're about 7 months away from the trade deadline.

Starting the regular season that way and then evaluating what they need to do is fine. They don't need to assemble their playoff roster in July/August.

We're mostly upset they're missing a true 3rd line RW, which is one of the easier roles to fill via trade. Not to mention we know Kovalenko will be coming over later in the year and is a perfect fit for 3RW.

The reason this approach didn't work last year, is because for whatever reason they changed plans and didn't follow through with bigger deadline additions. Fair to criticize that part, but the first part about being a bit patient, and evaluating what you need to do during the season is fine.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

It would be unreasonable to go into the playoffs expecting guys like that to play on the 3rd line, but we're about 7 months away from the trade deadline.

Starting the regular season that way and then evaluating what they need to do is fine. They don't need to assemble their playoff roster in July/August.

We're mostly upset they're missing a true 3rd line RW, which is one of the easier roles to fill via trade. Not to mention we know Kovalenko will be coming over later in the year and is a perfect fit for 3RW.

The reason this approach didn't work last year, is because for whatever reason they changed plans and didn't follow through with bigger deadline additions. Fair to criticize that part, but the first part about being a bit patient, and evaluating what you need to do during the season is fine.

We are running out of time.

 

[Mighty Makar]

I’m starting to hate this f***en fanbase.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

I’m starting to hate this f***en fanbase.

Only Starting?

 

[the_fan]

I’m starting to hate this f***en fanbase.

What took you so long?

 

[Foppa2118]

I think people forget this is how the Avs have to build their roster.

You either keep star players like Nate, Cale, Mikko, and Landy on big contracts, and then bring in guys on cheap contracts hoping to get good value for them. Or you don't keep your stars.

Lots of people seem upset with potentially playing guys like Wood or LOC on the 3rd line instead of the 4th line. Or that they spent around $1.6M on two players like Oloffson and Meyers instead of just one guy like Pius Suter. Or that they may be planning a waiver pickup.

They have to do it this way. If you're a good team you'll eventually be top heavy, or you'll have depth but not many stars. Can't really have it both ways for more than a year or two, but if you have a team with stars, you always have a chance if things come together during a particular season.

That's why they gave a guy like Wood 6 x $2.5M. That's going to be a good value for a bottom sixer like him when the cap is $92M. Also why they wanted to get some term with Colton at $4M, so they don't have to worry much about 3C the next few years, and he only cost 4.79% of the cap similar to JTC's $3.5M that was 4.29%. Also why they're hoping to get good value out of Drouin for near league minimum.

Also why they need to make sure what they have in guys on ELC's like Jost and Newhook. Also why CMac said earlier in the off season they need some guys on ELC's like Malinski and OO to make the team. Also why they rely on waiver pickups for usually league minimum players.

They have these ways of building their team, (PL would call it his recipe) and it's what led to having a dominant Cup team, so they keep doing it.

The cap % they spend on 3C. The cap % they spend on their 1G that's smaller than other teams. They utilize waivers every year. They believe a fast team is to their advantage at altitude, do when they realize they need to get bigger/grittier to be tougher to play against, they add bigger/gritter players that can skate well, so they don't sacrifice their speed advantage. They believe their blueline depth is key to their success and can make up for less depth at forward, so they keep Toews and Girard in the mix as long as possible.

We got to enjoy another Stanley Cup because they did things like pick up NAK off waivers instead of overpay for a guy in the off season that would have limited their deadline cap space. Hopefully some of these other moves will prove to be good value and maybe we're lucky it will lead to us enjoying another.

 

[Frenchy]

The only reason I’m alright with filling a hole or 2 via waivers is because of the pro scouting.

what was our best and latest waivers pick up ?? Matt Nieto and Chris Wagner ?? am i missing someone ?

 

[forsbergavs32]

what was our best and latest waivers pick up ?? Matt Nieto and Chris Wagner ?? am i missing someone ?

Probably Nieto, with NAK up there

 

[Frenchy]

Probably Nieto, with NAK up there

oh i forgot about NAK ! Too bad that we couldnt fit him under that cap , he was an honest player on the ice. Anyway you were correct about our pro scouts , i trust them more than our amateurs scouts.

 

[Foppa2118]

oh i forgot about NAK ! Too bad that we couldnt fit him under that cap , he was an honest player on the ice.

Also Nemeth in 2017. He was fine in a lesser role during his first stint. Also picked up Dryden Hunt last year and then traded him for Malgin.

 

[Frenchy]

Also Nemeth in 2017. He was fine in a lesser role during his first stint. Also picked up Dryden Hunt last year and then traded him for Malgin.

i will watch more games this season , i used to remember this sorts of things

 

[Foppa2118]

i will watch more games this season , i used to remember this sorts of things

I get it. My obsession with watching every game becomes more and more of a burden as I get older. DVR functionality with NHL.tv and ESPN is critical for me.

Sometimes I have to just go mia from HF and hockey twitter for a while, because I'm trying to get caught up on a backlog of games I got behind on and didn't want the results spoiled.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

The only reason I’m alright with filling a hole or 2 via waivers is because of the pro scouting.

Even then it's a pretty awful direction to go in. Best case scenario realistically is you find a #13 forward or #7D upgrade, they've never done any better and with where we are likely to be in the standings any sort of Tolvanen type will get claimed long before us. That's not going to move the needle for us this year tbh, just like it hasn't any year before.


They need to get a legit solution for the Top 9 and pay the assets to do so. Or else we'll end up repeating the same mistakes of last year.

 

[Frenchy]

I get it. My obsession with watching every game becomes more and more of a burden as I get older. DVR functionality with NHL.tv and ESPN is critical for me.

Sometimes I have to just go mia from HF and hockey twitter for a while, because I'm trying to get caught up on a backlog of games I got behind on and don't the results spoiled.

The first reason is that i wasnt the admin of this section the past few years , so i had to focus on other teams . The second reason , i got older and you have no idea how many time i fell asleep in my lazyboy watching the game

 

[CobraAcesS]

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[Avaholic29]

This is the point. The players you listed are all 4th line/bottom pair guys who weren’t asked to be anything more than that except Malgin when we had our worst playoff finish in years.

It’s unreasonable to expect one of Cogs/LOC/Meyers/Olofsson/waiver pickup to play on our third line and perform well.

Sign someone. Trade for someone. Be proactive. Don’t hope for another team to help you out for free.

The season is still 60 days away and the deadline waaay after that… want to give it some time maybe?

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Until Tatar signs I agree it's not something to be overly concerned with... Just worth discussing at the moment more than anything.


If Tatar signs and not with us however, then we're in prettt ugly shape quite frankly.


Josh Bailey actually would be another solid bet for the Avs to make. So two guys left available.

 

[Mighty Makar]

What about Parise?

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

What about Parise?

I believe it was reported that it's either NYI or retirement for him.


I think he'd be a great fit on the 4th line but I don't think he has Top 9 abilities in him anymore.

 

[NOTENOUGHRYJOTHINGS]

Malgin produced at a typical third line pace last season and was effectively a waiver wire pickup (traded for Dryden Hunt).

My point is that fringe NHLers that can fill a role (NAK's physical game and low event hockey, Malgin's complementary scoring) can be found during the season, and it's not the end of the world that we aren't locking ourselves into this or that fringe NHLer when we aren't sure how the new acquisitions will settle.

Physical game and low event hockey is something no one on the fourth line could do against Seattle.

As long as the bottom 6 can do literally anything positive it's a step up.

Score or hit or play defensively or even just face punch. Having half your forwards get caved in nightly isn't sustainable for a long cup run. The top guys will get too worn down.

 

[NateTheGreat]

The season is still 60 days away and the deadline waaay after that… want to give it some time maybe?

“Why do today what you can put off till tomorrow?” is a fine motto until something unexpected comes up.

For example an injury happening to one of our top 8 forwards forcing us to ice two 4th liners in our top 9.

I’ll give it some time, I just hope nothing bad happens before it’s too late. Go Avs Go baby.