Have you watched Ross Colton this year? He’s not good defensively and half the year he was learning how to play the centre ice position because he only did it sparingly in Tampa. Quite frankly, Ritchie is probably a more natural C than Colton.
Ritchie is not some tiny kid that needs three years to put on size. He was 6’2 190 on draft night. He’d probably be up to 6’2 200 by next season.
Lehkonen is an identity player. Manson is the only one with size on the defence. Rantanen is core. What makes you think I think those guys are more likely to go than Girard, or Colton?
Ritchie is a complete unknown at the NHL level. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that he doesn’t even play C in the NHL. Plus his game is *not* suited for 3C/bottom 6 duty. His game is suited for Top 6 duty.
And, again, it’s been pointed out that the Avs have been trying to build the proper depth at C for so long. They finally acquired a guy who can be that 3C, signed him to a decent term deal, with a NTC kicking in on 7/1/24, and they play in a market that’s already a little hard to get guys here without overpaying. He’s going to be here next year.
As for your other questions: there’s no one to replace what G does right at this moment. You can say Behrens but he doesn’t play the same type of game that G does. Their similarity pretty much begins & ends with their size.
Manson being a physical presence, while true, can be more easily replaced for a cheaper hit.
I’m not advocating for trading Lehky, but he’s got a high enough cap hit and could return a good package without taking salary back. Again, no one is saying we’d be HAPPY to see him go.
Mikko is the move if Colorado doesn’t want to trade Manson & Lehky because he would get an even bigger return, allow them to replenish pipeline assets, likely get a contributor on an ELC/cheap contract, and even good draft capital. Not to mention his cap allows for the depth up and down the lineup to be maintained.
But again, it would hurt to trade him. That’s the point—the guys who are most likely to go all come with the notion that it will HURT to trade them