Confirmed with Link: [COL/TOR] Colin Smith & 2016 4th Rd Pick For Shawn Matthias

[Drury_Sakic]

I love how everyone wants to extend him now. Wait it out. His cost is not going to skyrocket unless he has a monster playoffs and the avs win a round or two. I would rather take that risk than signing him without as much of a trial as possible. Sakic and Roy's biggest mistakes have come from re-signing guys too soon.

 

[McMetal]

I doubt that Mathias even wants to re-sign right this minute. He may want to try to finish the season strong and test UFA again rather than lock himself down.

 

[hoserthehorrible]

I love how everyone wants to extend him now. Wait it out. His cost is not going to skyrocket unless he has a monster playoffs and the avs win a round or two. I would rather take that risk than signing him without as much of a trial as possible. Sakic and Roy's biggest mistakes have come from re-signing guys too soon.

I think there's a lot of people stating Matthias fits well on the Avs and if the money and term is right then he should be signed to a contract but I don't recall too many, if any, people saying we should sign Matthias to an extension right f'in now.

 

[AMDZen]

I love how everyone wants to extend him now. Wait it out. His cost is not going to skyrocket unless he has a monster playoffs and the avs win a round or two. I would rather take that risk than signing him without as much of a trial as possible. Sakic and Roy's biggest mistakes have come from re-signing guys too soon.

If I remember correctly, both Stuart and Berra were signed without ever playing a single game. Those were mistakes

Soda was also signed before he had played and was a great decision. Matthias is not like any of these situations though because he has already played a few games and is clearly a fit already. Sign him now or after the season makes no difference to me, but I would sign him regardless of time frame. Cost and term are the only questions in my mind

 

[freeboy]

well, he is definitely needed and wanted here

 

[AslanRH]

Unlikely Boeds or Matthias or any UFA are re-signed until the end of the Avs season.

If the Avs miss, it will be another year of Deck Chair Shuffle Board.

 

[JLo217]

Give him 3 years and a bit less then Comeau perhaps?

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

I see zero reason to go anywhere above 2 years. The Avs need to learn to not go overboard with term on these depth players.

 

[cgf]

I see zero reason to go anywhere above 2 years. The Avs need to learn to not go overboard with term on these depth players.

Term and Salary.

 

[Foppa2118]

I see zero reason to go anywhere above 2 years. The Avs need to learn to not go overboard with term on these depth players.

That's kind of the old Avs approach to undervaluing bottom six depth, that saw other teams sign the good 3rd liners they were interested in, while they were forced to take leftovers like Kobasew or Kevin Porter, or play guys like McLeod or Brandon Yip higher than they should.

Term with a good cap hit isn't such a bad thing. They can still play lower in the depth cart and not be that overpriced comparatively, and possibly still find a trade partner if they need to. It's the term with a large cap number that gets them in trouble.

 

[Pokecheque]

I must say I was not at all a fan of this acquisition, but so far, I'm largely impressed. I have no idea if they're going to retain him beyond this season but regardless it was a wise pickup.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

That's kind of the old Avs approach to undervaluing bottom six depth, that saw other teams sign the good 3rd liners they were interested in, while they were forced to take leftovers like Kobasew or Kevin Porter, or play guys like McLeod or Brandon Yip higher than they should.

Term with a good cap hit isn't such a bad thing. They can still play lower in the depth cart and not be that overpriced comparatively, and possibly still find a trade partner if they need to. It's the term with a large cap number that gets them in trouble.

Just because the Avs have signed crap depth players in the past doesn't mean they should go overboard with term or price now. There's an in between, after all. Matthias hasn't had a contract longer than 2 years since his ELC (3 diff contracts), and has been inconsistent throughout his career. No reason to go longer than a year or two.

 

[Pokecheque]

The problem with the Avs is that they undervalued role players at all levels of the organization. They failed to develop enough good support players, and what few they did succeed in developing/acquiring they let walk or used as trade bait. I'm confident the current regime is trying very hard to change this.

I don't think the market's gonna be huge for Shawn Matthias, so I think the Avs could retain him for reasonable $$$. But yes if someone decides to go big on the FA market, let him go.

 

[cgf]

I wouldn't be upset with going to 3 years to bring Matthias back this summer...if he was taking less than Malkin money. Wouldn't want anything over 3 years; but with his age & tendency to get hot in March, I'd be ok with going all of the way to 3 as long as the money was right.

 

[Foppa2118]

Just because the Avs have signed crap depth players in the past doesn't mean they should go overboard with term or price now. There's an in between, after all. Matthias hasn't had a contract longer than 2 years since his ELC (3 diff contracts), and has been inconsistent throughout his career. No reason to go longer than a year or two.

I agree they shouldn't go overboard, but I don't think three years at a reasonable price for someone like Matthias is in that category. His game is well rounded enough to contribute in some fashion, even if his play slips. Obviously fight for two years, but at a certain point you have to concede on something to get the right players.

I think they would be fine in this case if they didn't sign him, because they have Soda and Comeau as good 3rd liners, but personally I never liked that unwillingness to spend or sign anything other than a great deal for the bottom six, the Avs had. It was part of PL's "recipe" that trickled down to EL.

It worked when they had multiple HOFers at the top of every position pre cap era when there was less parity, but especially once the cap came into play they used absolute crap for far too long in the bottom six.

Same with their approach to the blueline, they refused to spend in dollar or trade to fix the problem because they undervalued it's importance, but that's another issue.

 

[tigervixxxen]

I know the argument is you can always find a bottom 6 guy so why marry yourself to one. But I think the issue is more finding good ones and ones that fit well in the team. There needs to be the happy medium of not overpaying guys but I don't think a revolving door helps the team either. There's something to be said for keeping a team together and starting off each year with 1/3 new roster isn't a recipe for starting a year off with a good push.

 

[Ivan13]

Our top 6 is filled with mostly one dimensional offense first players, so the intelligent thing would be to level that out by having a bottom six that you can trust in defensive situations. Ideally you get a shutdown 3rd line you can throw out there against any line and not worry they will get annihilated.

 

[Avs_19]

He's too inconsistent to lock up for three years. If that's what he wants and someone is willing to give it, best of luck to him. Don't give late 20's/early 30's players, who don't really excel at something, three-year contracts.

 

[ABasin]

Smith has 10 points in 10 games with Toronto's AHL team.

 

[The Kingslayer]

Smith has 10 points in 10 games with Toronto's AHL team.

Cute.

 

[McMetal]

Smith has 10 points in 10 games with Toronto's AHL team.

That's not surprising given that it's a much better team than the Rampage.

 

[tigervixxxen]

He was the best offensive player after Rantanen on the Rampage. I don't mind so much he was traded than they decided they were done with him.

 

[McMetal]

He was the best offensive player after Rantanen on the Rampage. I don't mind so much he was traded than they decided they were done with him.

Do you think he has much of a chance to break into the NHL? He always struck me as the kind of player who can light it up in the minors but would have trouble translating his game to the big leagues.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

He was the best offensive player after Rantanen on the Rampage. I don't mind so much he was traded than they decided they were done with him.

It probably didn't mean they were done with him, just that he's the guy the leafs wanted. I'm sure they would have traded someone like Hishon/Gormley/Siemens instead of they could but he was likely who they wanted.

 

[tigervixxxen]

They were done with him in the fact that they obviously aren't bringing him back. If it was a take your pick or the Leafs asked for him doesn't matter, still they gave up their best offensive AHL player. He never would have had a real NHL shot here, I get that but the team still has to fill out an AHL squad and not like they have a ton of forwards coming in. On another team, sure I think he can get a shot.