Mantha + a smalll add to get a good D signed affordably to term? I can see it. Mantha needs to be extended, Girard already is.
It's not crazy.
AA for Girard, that's insanity and I'd personally drive AA to the airport to make that trade happen.
But Seider for Jost and Nieto? **** no. That's about as appealing to me as AA for Girard is to you.
The value of the two positions they play would factor in here pretty significantly as well IMO.
Winger versus Dman, the winger always has more value. Considering both guys play pretty similar roles relative to the positions they play(Girard a Top 4D and borderline Top pairing guy, Mantha a Top 6 forward bordering on 1st line winger)... Girard would hold the slightly higher value simply because the Dman always does compared to the winger. Then you factor in the contracts, with Girard locked up for 7(!) more years on what will undoubtedly be a fantastic, steal of a contract likely for the entire duration, and it sways the value even further.
Personally, and I'm sure lots of Avs fans will disagree with this... But personally I would argue Girard carries more value to the Avs than Byram right now. G is a legit Top 3 Dman already and IMO playing himself into being a Top pairing level guy over his last 25 games or so(He's finally adding some real consistency to his high quality of play). With a 7 year deal locked in that hasn't even started yet until next season. That's a ridiculously valuable player in a cap era league. Girards contract is only going to cost the Avs slightly higher than 6% of our cap next year, in year 1 of the deal. By year 3 or 4 of his contract it could be as low as just 5.5% roughly... for maybe a Top pairing, 22+ minute a night defender...
Byram has all kind of value off his potential no question. But there's also a realistic possibility his ultimate upside ends up being what Girard already is(A good 2/3), with a chance of him being even lower than that, and a chance he winds up a legit #1 as well.