Rumor: 2024 Trade Rumors and Free Agency Thread: Post Deadline

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

Girard could win the Smythe and people would still cry about his durability or how Bo would have been better

If G wins the Conn Smythe I’m starting the petition to have his number retired

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Girard could win the Smythe and people would still cry about his durability or how Bo would have been better

He certainly has his detractors. It's a shame he got injured our cup year because I'm pretty sure him not being with the boys vs Tampa is the only reason why folks don't forgive him for the Vegas loss. Everyone's gotten over how MacKinnon, Rantanen and Makar got absolutely stuffed in several games as well.

 

[Foppa2118]

I honestly don't see much criticism of Girard here anymore, and the little there is, it's mostly fair IMO. Maybe there's more on the main board or on Twitter that I'm not seeing though.

There isn't enough to say for sure G will falter in the playoffs this year. It's very possible that he can turn the page, stay healthy, and play well for multiple rounds.

But there is enough to say it will be a big test for him, and that we don't know for sure how it will turn out.

He didn't play very well in the Vegas series. Then the year after he got a devastating injury from a clean hit. Then the year after that last season, he only had 2 assists in 7 games, and didn't really do enough to eliminate the concern from the previous two playoff runs. He also only has 2 goals in 51 playoff games.

If he stays healthy though, and plays better offensively and defensively, IMO he'll alleviate most if not all concern from his past performances. If he stays healthy and manages to win the Smythe, he'd obliterate all concerns, and there'd be nothing left for anyone to say really.

 

[Pokecheque]

Girard could win the Smythe and people would still cry about his durability or how Bo would have been better

Yep.

He certainly has his detractors. It's a shame he got injured our cup year because I'm pretty sure him not being with the boys vs Tampa is the only reason why folks don't forgive him for the Vegas loss. Everyone's gotten over how MacKinnon, Rantanen and Makar got absolutely stuffed in several games as well.

And the Vegas loss narrative has been so blown out of proportion it’s almost a total lie. How soon those people forget that both Graves and Nemeth were far, far worse, Sammy wasn’t healthy, and it’s kinda hard to play effective defense when your f***ing goalie is giving up slow rollers from the blue line to Nick goddamn Holden.

 

[Richard88]

Girard could win the Smythe and people would still cry about his durability or how Behrens would have been bigger and better

Ftfy

 

[Foppa2118]

Yep.


And the Vegas loss narrative has been so blown out of proportion it’s almost a total lie. How soon those people forget that both Graves and Nemeth were far, far worse, Sammy wasn’t healthy, and it’s kinda hard to play effective defense when your f***ing goalie is giving up slow rollers from the blue line to Nick goddamn Holden.

Graves and Nemeth were bad, and Grubauer gave up some soft goals, but Sammy was a combined -9 in the last 4 losses against Vegas, and made a fair amount of mistakes himself.

I just re-watched the goals in those last 4 losses (yuck), and on top of what I remember to be him rushing some passes under pressure that resulted in too many turnovers, he was the main guy at fault for 6 goals against in those 4 losses, and played a factor in a 7th not blocking a pass on a 2 on 2.

That doesn't mean that series, or his injury the year after should define him, but I feel like it's pretty much an objective fact that he didn't play well in that Vegas series.

 

[Iceberg]

We have Walker now who save for last game has been much better than 2024 Byram so far IMO.

And you're extrapolating that this year's regular season Byram wouldn't get better, that he, at 22 yo, couldn't find his game and play at the level he played in the Playoffs two years ago?

And if G goes down again, and Walker moves up, we have Jones/Malinski in the lineup... Not ideal.

 

[Iceberg]

I thought we were wasting a year? If were wasting a year whats the point of playing in the playoffs?

It's a wasted year because we could've done more to go for the Cup. We won't get there with the team we have now.

Still, i would rather lose in the first round than not make it at all.

I spent a decade watching this team wasting many years as they embraced f***ing Duchene as the stupid face of the franchise.

Girard could win the Smythe and people would still cry about his durability or how Bo would have been better

That would be such a great story, i love G, hope he can prove me wrong and elevate his game this year.

 

[Pokecheque]

Graves and Nemeth were bad, and Grubauer gave up some soft goals, but Sammy was a combined -9 in the last 4 losses against Vegas, and made a fair amount of mistakes himself.

I just re-watched the goals in those last 4 losses (yuck), and on top of what I remember to be him rushing some passes under pressure that resulted in too many turnovers, he was the main guy at fault for 6 goals against in those 4 losses, and played a factor in a 7th not blocking a pass on a 2 on 2.

That doesn't mean that series, or his injury the year after should define him, but I feel like it's pretty much an objective fact that he didn't play well in that Vegas series.

I never said he was good in that series, he obviously wasn’t—merely that some players were worse and that he was a lot more hurt than the Avs would ever admit. But yet some on this forum are so fixated on his one performance in that series to the point of ridiculousness.

And I’d blame bad goaltending for a least a few of those goals against.

 

[John Mandalorian]

I honestly don't see much criticism of Girard here anymore, and the little there is, it's mostly fair IMO. Maybe there's more on the main board or on Twitter that I'm not seeing though.

There isn't enough to say for sure G will falter in the playoffs this year. It's very possible that he can turn the page, stay healthy, and play well for multiple rounds.

But there is enough to say it will be a big test for him, and that we don't know for sure how it will turn out.

He didn't play very well in the Vegas series. Then the year after he got a devastating injury from a clean hit. Then the year after that last season, he only had 2 assists in 7 games, and didn't really do enough to eliminate the concern from the previous two playoff runs. He also only has 2 goals in 51 playoff games.

If he stays healthy though, and plays better offensively and defensively, IMO he'll alleviate most if not all concern from his past performances. If he stays healthy and manages to win the Smythe, he'd obliterate all concerns, and there'd be nothing left for anyone to say really.

Girard is a very frustrating player. And it’s not just his size.

 

[JH21]

The truth is we should keep both Lehky and Drouin while we move on from the more expensive wingers like Landy and Rantanen.

so you’re goal is to get rid of all our star players and our locker room leaders and become a team full of average depth players?

Ya, that should work

 

[AslanRH]

It's a wasted year because we could've done more to go for the Cup. We won't get there with the team we have now.

This take is like betting the field.
Odds are always going to be in your favor.

 

[NorthernAvsFan]

Girard’s been good since coming back from rehab. Manson’s been better this year, than last. It’s not the best second pair in the playoffs, but those guys can get the job done.

 

[Richard88]

An approach to the cap crunch situation that I haven't seen discussed here much is to go short term (2-3 years) with Mittelstadt to keep his AAV at $5m or less.

Doing that would mean that you can have a cap compliant 22 man roster without having to trade anyone this offseason, as shown by the roster below (capfriendly roster linked below for reference as well).

* denotes $775k contract

Lehkonen - MacKinnon - Rantanen
Landeskog - Mittelstadt $5m - Nichushkin
Wood - Colton - LOC
Cogliano* - Wagner* - Kovalenko
Parise*

Toews - Makar
Girard - Manson
JJ* - Malinski
Jones*

Georgiev
Annunen

Making cap work without trading anyone - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Create your own team. Trade, sign, recall, reassign, and buyout players as though you were your favourite teams general manager.

www.capfriendly.com

Fwiw CMac recently spoke highly of Ritchie as a 2C option in the future which suggests he may be comfortable going short term with Mittelstadt if it helps keep his caphit down during contending years.

CMac also said on DNVR when asked about Drouin coming back "dont get attached to players as there's a cap", which is as clear of an indication you'll get that he won't be re-signed. Same can probably be inferred about Walker.

All in all that seems like a pretty reasonable expectation for what CMac may look to do this off-season, barring any unforeseen developments.

 

[BobRossColton]

Obviously keep mittelstadt
I think we'll keep one of duhaime/trenin
Probably gauge Walker's cost after playoffs

 

[Iceberg]

This take is like betting the field.
Odds are always going to be in your favor.

Sure, but there is always the chance we get eliminated and Girard plays really well nevertheless. Maybe this is the year.

 

[Miri]

Girard could win the Smythe and people would still cry about his durability or how Bo would have been better

Its those pesky Bolorado fans

 

[Richard88]

An approach to the cap crunch situation that I haven't seen discussed here much is to go short term (2-3 years) with Mittelstadt to keep his AAV at $5m or less.

Doing that would mean that you can have a cap compliant 22 man roster without having to trade anyone this offseason, as shown by the roster below (capfriendly roster linked below for reference as well).

* denotes $775k contract

Lehkonen - MacKinnon - Rantanen
Landeskog - Mittelstadt $5m - Nichushkin
Wood - Colton - LOC
Cogliano* - Wagner* - Kovalenko
Parise*

Toews - Makar
Girard - Manson
JJ* - Malinski
Jones*

Georgiev
Annunen

Making cap work without trading anyone - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Create your own team. Trade, sign, recall, reassign, and buyout players as though you were your favourite teams general manager.

www.capfriendly.com

Fwiw CMac recently spoke highly of Ritchie as a 2C option in the future which suggests he may be comfortable going short term with Mittelstadt if it helps keep his caphit down during contending years.

CMac also said on DNVR when asked when asked about Drouin coming back "dont get attached to players as there's a cap", which is as clear of an indication you'll get that he won't be re-signed. Same can probably be inferred about Walker.

All in all that seems like a pretty reasonable expectation for what CMac may look to do this off-season, barring any unforeseen developments.

Further to my post above, here's an AGM roster for 2025/26 with Mittelstadt signed at $5m X 2-3 years and Rantanen at $12.5m.

2025 - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Create your own team. Trade, sign, recall, reassign, and buyout players as though you were your favourite teams general manager.

www.capfriendly.com

Clearly the cap situation is workable without having to trade anyone, so long as one is comfortable going short term with Mittelstadt to keep his AAV down. If the aim is to maximize the teams chances of a cup the next two years (which would involve not losing any key/core pieces via trades) then biting the bullet and going short term on Mittelstadt would be a decent move.

Fwiw a 2 year deal for Mittelstadt would line up with Manson's $4.5m coming off the books. A 3 year deal would line up with the expiring of Lehkonen and Coltons deals. So plenty of flexibility there if and when the time would come to re-sign Casey as an UFA.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

Further to my post above, here's an AGM roster for 2025/26 with Mittelstadt signed at $5m X 2-3 years and Rantanen at $12.5m.

2025 - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Create your own team. Trade, sign, recall, reassign, and buyout players as though you were your favourite teams general manager.

www.capfriendly.com

Clearly the cap situation is workable without having to trade anyone, so long as one is comfortable going short term with Mittelstadt to keep his AAV down. If the aim is to maximize the teams chances of a cup the next two years (which would involve not losing any key/core pieces via trades) then biting the bullet and going short term on Mittelstadt would be a decent move.

Fwiw a 2 year deal for Mittelstadt would line up with Manson's $4.5m coming off the books. A 3 year deal would line up with the expiring of Lehkonen and Coltons deals. So plenty of flexibility there if and when the time would come to re-sign Casey as an UFA.

I just can't see Mitts signing for 5M. He is going to be turning 26. He will want to get paid. IMO he doesn't sign for anything less than 6.5M unless he has a very average rest of the season, and I doubt that happens on this team.

 

[Muffin]

Girard could win the Smythe and people would still cry about his durability or how Bo would have been better

So would Jack Johnson. Oh thought we’re talking about scenario that’ll never happen.

 

[missionAvs]

And you're extrapolating that this year's regular season Byram wouldn't get better, that he, at 22 yo, couldn't find his game and play at the level he played in the Playoffs two years ago?

And if G goes down again, and Walker moves up, we have Jones/Malinski in the lineup... Not ideal.

It's much safer to take the literally last 2 seasons of play that Byram had stalled on with us than a few playoff series back in 22 as the more likely scenario. Also, the whole Jones/Malinski in the lineup scenario if Walker goes down due to injury would have existed if we had just kept Byram as well. We now have a more balanced top 4 with 2 lefty LD and 2 right RD. Not even counting the bottom pair here since that's not the issue. We now also have the added benefit of a MacK-MittelJost center combo in the top 6. Surely, you understand that the nature of this trade was to give up on Byram's future "potential" in exchange for a supreme area of weakness in 2C and a guy that's literally been markedly better this season in Walker no? That's not even mentioning that we somehow also got rid of RyJo during this whole ordeal.

 

[The Moops]

It's much safer to take the literally last 2 seasons of play that Byram had stalled on with us than a few playoff series back in 22 as the more likely scenario. Also, the whole Jones/Malinski in the lineup scenario if Walker goes down due to injury would have existed if we had just kept Byram as well. We now have a more balanced top 4 with 2 lefty LD and 2 right RD. Not even counting the bottom pair here since that's not the issue. We now also have the added benefit of a MacK-MittelJost center combo in the top 6. Surely, you understand that the nature of this trade was to give up on Byram's future "potential" in exchange for a supreme area of weakness in 2C and a guy that's literally been markedly better this season in Walker no? That's not even mentioning that we somehow also got rid of RyJo during this whole ordeal.

Bo stans still coping that he couldn't outplay a guy who was going through addiction problems this year

 

[henchman21]

The idea of Byram >>>> the actuality of Byram.

 

[AslanRH]

For folks wanting/clamoring to win now, there sure is a lot of consternation over the Avs choosing the player who was performing better now.

 

[henchman21]

The #1 issue with Byram is all of his defensive potential has been basically going to waste. He has the raw skill set (though IQ is a question) to be a high end defensive guy... but he just insists on trying to play like Erik Karlsson, with less talent. All offense and who gives a crap about defense. Right now, I find it to be a complete waste of a talented player. The sooner he learns he's more of a dude than the man... the better his career will turn out.