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

[Balthazar]

So now we need to find out about the buyout stuff. If we have grounds to terminate without penalty. Cause it sounds like we can trade him. But honestly who in the hell knows the market around a great player but with Evander Kane-esque baggage.

Forget the buyout, he'd remain on the books for 12 years, literally

 

[PAZ]

I dunno, it feels like next year would be a good time to get Makar that surgery he's need for the last 18 months or so.


I also cant imagine Nuke still being around for the retool personally

I can’t see any team trading for Nuke at this point, and they aren’t going to pay to dump him.

 

[henchman21]

There are zero teams that would trade for Nuke right now. Buyout, termination or stick through it are the only options.

 

[UncleRisto]

not really, cap space is very valuable

No, in fairness, I think the real problem is not getting enough value for the cap space.

Even if they have 18 mil in hypothetical cap space to replace Rants and Nuke, which COULD mean replacing two players with three six million dollar players, I don't give them good odds on hitting on replacement targets sufficiently.

It could happen, but I don't think it will.

 

[Balthazar]

No, in fairness, I think the real problem is not getting enough value for the cap space.

Even if they have 18 mil in hypothetical cap space to replace Rants and Nuke, which COULD mean replacing two players with three six million dollar players, I don't give them good odds on hitting on replacement targets sufficiently.

It could happen, but I don't think it will.

To make room for Rants you need to keep in mind that you lose Drouin for nothing, you swap G for Caleb Jones to save 4M and so on...

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

I can’t see any team trading for Nuke at this point, and they aren’t going to pay to dump him.

Sure, but I'd say they have pretty good grounds for contract termination, or just go the buyout route.
I dont think its a 0% chance he's still here next year, but I'd like to think(hope) he isn't here. I cant imagine the players on the team supporting that move at this point.

 

[ANewHope]

I honestly think you keep Nuke at this point. Odds are shitty no matter what you do. Avs aren't going to re-tool. That would be my first choice but don't think it's realistic at this point. You can't rely on Nuke obviously but him getting past this is really the only way back to being a contender.

I think with the RyJo situation you know the Avs aren't going to be super shady with LTIR. Basically the 1% chance that Nuke/Landy are ready to go and playing at a high level for next year's playoffs is the only hope. That or the Avs know how f***ed we are and actually sell off some pieces and tell Makar/MacKinnon to be ready in a couple of years.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

I honestly think you keep Nuke at this point. Odds are shitty no matter what you do. Avs aren't going to re-tool. That would be my first choice but don't think it's realistic at this point. You can't rely on Nuke obviously but him getting past this is really the only way back to being a contender.

I think with the RyJo situation you know the Avs aren't going to be super shady with LTIR. Basically the 1% chance that Nuke/Landy are ready to go and playing at a high level for next year's playoffs is the only hope. That or the Avs know how f***ed we are and actually sell off some pieces and tell Makar/MacKinnon to be ready in a couple of years.

Nah, you simply cannot rely on Nuke at all at this point. One time in the playoffs was bad enough, but b2b years with a rehab stint in between is simply way too much.


Landy will be back next year and we just gotta hope that he's back at like 90% of what he was before(Which I think there's a real shot of it happening). If you can get that Landy back, they can still build a pretty solid team. Bring Drouin back as well and they've got a legit Top 6 still with some solid bottom 6 pieces.


I'd go back to the vintage 9296 line honestly.

 

[Balthazar]

I honestly think you keep Nuke at this point

Cap-wise the Avs can't do that. They just can't afford it.

If they don't use his cap space they might miss the playoffs, especially if Landy isn't a legit top 6er anymore.

 

[ANewHope]

Nah, you simply cannot rely on Nuke at all at this point. One time in the playoffs was bad enough, but b2b years with a rehab stint in between is simply way too much.


Landy will be back next year and we just gotta hope that he's back at like 90% of what he was before(Which I think there's a real shot of it happening). If you can get that Landy back, they can still build a pretty solid team. Bring Drouin back as well and they've got a legit Top 6 still with some solid bottom 6 pieces.


I'd go back to the vintage 9296 line honestly.

Maybe. Nuke is just such a unicorn. I don't think you can really replace what he does on the ice. Landeskog hasn't played in 2 years. Hoping he'll play at a high level in next year's playoffs is similar to hoping Nuke is available in the playoffs next year IMO.

Really there's no decent options available at this point between the Nuke/Landeskog situation. Team, fans, players all seem to know it at this point. Watching tonight's game was insane. Makes me wonder if some bad news about Landeskog is coming up as well honestly.

Cap-wise the Avs can't do that. They just can't afford it.

If they don't use his cap space they might miss the playoffs, especially if Landy isn't a legit top 6er anymore.

Yeah I didn't see that they have to have space available for him. So they can't just LTIR him? That would be the only possible path. Put him on LTIR until the playoffs. Give him the season to turn around his life. Build a team and hope he's ready to go.

Realistically the Avs are a fringe playoff team unless somebody carries hard or somebody unexpected pops off no matter what they do.

 

[Avs9296]

I honestly think you keep Nuke at this point. Odds are shitty no matter what you do. Avs aren't going to re-tool. That would be my first choice but don't think it's realistic at this point. You can't rely on Nuke obviously but him getting past this is really the only way back to being a contender.

I think with the RyJo situation you know the Avs aren't going to be super shady with LTIR. Basically the 1% chance that Nuke/Landy are ready to go and playing at a high level for next year's playoffs is the only hope. That or the Avs know how f***ed we are and actually sell off some pieces and tell Makar/MacKinnon to be ready in a couple of years.

Don't see how Nuke can come back and face his teammates. Once was bad, twice? Unacceptable. His teammates must be pissed.

 

[Balthazar]

Don't see how Nuke can come back and face his teammates. Once was bad, twice? Unacceptable. His teammates must be pissed.

It's 3 times now. Twice in the playoffs and once in the regular season.

 

[ANewHope]

The downfall of this core has been brutal. Landeskog doesn't play since the cup win but doesn't retire/keeps giving the team hope he might be back. Nuke goes MIA in back to back playoffs. FO ignores the 2C position and holds the defence together for 1.5 years. Avs get a contender again to be missing both Toews/Nuke in the most crucial game of the season.

I think the worst part is the cap didn't destroy it. Everyone knew that was eventually coming and it could have even happened this offseason. The final nail in the coffin came in a year where it didn't even matter tho. Yeah losing Kadri was brutal and it took the FO a season to fix it but it got fixed. No major age regressions either Just terrible.

 

[henchman21]

Don't see how Nuke can come back and face his teammates. Once was bad, twice? Unacceptable. His teammates must be pissed.

This is much more than two times. It is two times in the playoffs, but this is has been an ongoing issue.

 

[ANewHope]

Don't see how Nuke can come back and face his teammates. Once was bad, twice? Unacceptable. His teammates must be pissed.

Good point. Probably not realistic. Just trying to think of what could give the team the highest ceiling possible after the smoke clears. Keeping Nuke does that IMO but probably not practical at this point.

 

[Ncit3]

I have always been a big Mikko Rantanen defender. When he wants to be he is one of the 10 best players in the NHL. With his size, hands, and ability to shoot the puck he should be tickling 50 goals and 110 points easily each season. But the dude is the definition of a passenger. He is Colorado's Mitch Marner. And I am getting tired of this shit, even as someone who would defend him constantly, and I just can't do it anymore.

He has long stretches where he plays completely on talent. Where his effort would make PLD blush and he just disappears. This series has just condensed what Mikko Rantanen is down to a single bullet point.

• Extremely talented winger who puts up points despite his effort.

So what do we do? We need to move on from him. How do we do it? I don't know? Do we chase someone similar age and maybe less skill but more effort? Probably. Do we trade for futures? Probably not. But all I know is we need to do something. I can't take a lazy asshole having the gall to be frustrated when he only gives half effort.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

This is much more than two times. It is two times in the playoffs, but this is has been an ongoing issue.

If I was Nate and Cale, I'd be up in CMac's office telling him that Nuke is done as an Av or they are.

 

[Brett44]

If we still want a chance to win a cup, we must wish LTIR with Landeskog (he will never play like a top 6 at 7M again) and Nichushkin and trade Rantanen, with the space to sign rebuild this team around Mackinnon and Makar.

 

[dahrougem2]

Terminate the mfer and trade Mikko Rantanen for the best possible package. Bring Drouin back. Try to get Cal Ritchie transitioned into the NHL sooner than later. Also try to find a real goalie to hide the very evident warts on this team - especially since Cale Makar forgot how to defend this season.

 

[nammerus]

Watching two of the top 5 players (Mac/Makar) in the game just absolutely quit on the season tonight in front of the home crowd, tells you all you need to know about how far this team can go in the future. There’s no roster move that could ever be made that would make up for the lack of pride. Just an absolutely embarrassing display.

 

[pockets]

If I was Nate and Cale, I'd be up in CMac's office telling him that Nuke is done as an Av or they are.

Same should be said about the entire coaching staff, Rantanen, Georgiev, Manson, and a few others

 

[nammerus]

Same should be said about the entire coaching staff, Rantanen, Georgiev, Manson, and a few others

Cale and Nate don’t have a leg to stand on. Absolutely invisible the last two games, with Nate doing his yearly 2nd round no-show.

 

[lionsDen]

This is much more than two times. It is two times in the playoffs, but this is has been an ongoing issue.

Dude dater is coming for your soul for not giving him credit!! Hack

 

[the_fan]

This team was really done winning when Landy went down. The roots of the Avs demise

 

[cinchronicity]

[MOD]

If Landy does come back next year, can the Avs add another salary slot to Nukes, thus opening up $18M in cap space? If an unnamed player asking for $12M could return a young sniper++, the $13M in savings could get you Mitts (8 x $5.5M) Drouin (8 x $3.5) and LOC (3 x $2M Bridge?) plus about $2M to fatten the wallets for the bottom line and pair. Maybe Trenin is even affordable.

This Nuke situation brings back the understated part of this dialogue: An injury to just 1 key player can end cup hopes immediately. This is especially so if the player suddenly inactive is a star on a top-heavy team, with no bottom-sixers capable of stepping up. And Nuke is a $6.25M player. The damage is worse with a $12.5M player.

Mac - Mitts - Colton ( when LOC is back) - Trenin is not a bad spine with which to try a retool. Quite a few good wings are under contract as well. The Avs would really just need to find an effective, younger Burakovsky.

I have fought this thought for too long, but I think this Nuke thing closes this window. The retool shouldn't have to be a disaster; but numbers need to win, not emotions.