Does Patrick Roy re-sign Paul Stastny for next year?

[tigervixxxen]

It's not being greedy. I wouldn't blame Staz one bit if he wants to walk. He is a professional athlete and he deserves to be paid for his talents. He will have made it to UFA for the first time in his life, he earned that right by playing for seven seasons. He also has the right to decide if he wants to keep his current role with the Avs which will always be a defensive center or if he'd like to explore other options maybe as more of an offensive center on another team. It is the worst argument possible to say he made enough money in his previous contracts so he should be thrilled with whatever offer the Avs can throw at him. Maybe he thinks he was overpaid for his production, who knows but that's completely irrelevant. Stastny is going to want to be paid what he's worth moving forward. Maybe that's not 6.6 but it is going to matter what the market dictates.

I could see Stastny staying if the Avs offer close to market. He does have an important role on the team that really nobody else except ROR can fill (and I like ROR using his talents as a top winger). The problem is if the Avs have a legitimate shot at the playoffs this season it is going to be difficult to ship Stastny off at the deadline even if they know there is great risk to losing him for nothing in the offseason.

 

[bromando]

Really hope we can keep this top 9, and especially hope we can keep this center strength we have. If I were to order the top 9 in terms of who we should keep, Staz is right in the middle:

1.Duchene
2.Mack
3.Landy
4.Ror
5.Staz

After 5 it gets hard for me. Probably

6.PAP
7.Downie (Although come playoff time, Downie would be super valuable)
8.McGinn(Wanted him at #7, but think Downie rounds out our forwards a little bit better)
9.Tanguay(Don't want him gone by any means and feel weird putting him at #9, but that's how it worked out...think his role on the team is/will be pretty huge as a vet so perhaps he should be higher)

Edit: More on subject, with Staz in the top 5, I don't mind paying him well. I think he's stepped his game up this year and has been way more important to us than he gets credit for. Personally, I'm fine with 5.5-6 on him and ROR.

 

[Sheet]

Really hope we can keep this top 9, and especially hope we can keep this center strength we have. If I were to order the top 9 in terms of who we should keep, Staz is right in the middle:

1.Duchene
2.Mack
3.Landy
4.Ror
5.Staz

After 5 it gets hard for me. Probably

6.PAP
7.Downie (Although come playoff time, Downie would be super valuable)
8.McGinn(Wanted him at #7, but think Downie rounds out our forwards a little bit better)
9.Tanguay(Don't want him gone by any means and feel weird putting him at #9, but that's how it worked out...think his role on the team is/will be pretty huge as a vet so perhaps he should be higher)

Edit: More on subject, with Staz in the top 5, I don't mind paying him well. I think he's stepped his game up this year and has been way more important to us than he gets credit for. Personally, I'm fine with 5.5-6 on him and ROR.

If he takes 5.5 I guarantee he likely gets signed. That's a deal for a center who can produce (I know he hasn't been. We know he can though) and is solid defensively. He can play #1C just fine, he's been through the lows.. I think we're going to see a new paulywalnuts this year.

I'm not on board with a lot of other fans that want to put RoR back on wing and Mack here and change the pepsi center to the cocacola center and play craig billington in net. Our forward crew is working really well right now. Duchene and RoR are clicking, why swap it? Macks not PPG after 10 games as the youngest kid playing right now? Must be a bust. Lets try him at wing. That won't mess anything up for sure.

Yeah, our D is pretty ****. We need a better D. Unless we move Duchene or RoR or insert any other young talent that is not even an option, we're not getting anything in the way of D. Off season for that.

We should do what we can how we can to get Paul back at a reasonable contract/term. He's definitely better offensively then he's shown. And he's definitely one of our best two way anyway. 5.5 is a steal.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Speaking of Stastny, listen to Roy's presser today in the media thread. Dater tries to (poorly) ask him about Stastny's future. Roy pretty much says having too many centers is a good problem to have and you have to build the foundation of the team from there. Not really a definitive answer but he speaks pretty highly of Stastny. I think ultimately the situation is going to be he won't get traded and they'll try to offer him a market value (or very slightly under) deal.

 

[henchman21]

Speaking of Stastny, listen to Roy's presser today in the media thread. Dater tries to (poorly) ask him about Stastny's future. Roy pretty much says having too many centers is a good problem to have and you have to build the foundation of the team from there. Not really a definitive answer but he speaks pretty highly of Stastny. I think ultimately the situation is going to be he won't get traded and they'll try to offer him a market value (or very slightly under) deal.

Yep. That is my guess right now. Roy is always speaking highly of Stastny and his leadership, and for the first time in years, Stastny seems happy as a player.

Really if Stastny can be kept (along with ROR, Downie, and McGinn), the Avs don't need a great defensive core. They just need a solid one, and that is really only a 2/3 defensemen away. If the 1st round pick is in play, that could position could be filled without giving up a top 9 forward piece and stay under the cap.

 

[Faltorvo]

If you look around the league, the list of teams in need of a #1 or a highend #2 is pretty darn long.

Truth be told, this is a real tough one to call, if he hits the open market.

Would he not be the highest skilled C to ever hit the open market at age 27?

Now that it's harder to mitigate cap hits, well.

Guys like
Getz
Perry
Suter
Weber
Parise
Kessel

are all pulling in like 60m cash in their first 7 years of their deals. So ballpark 8.5m per.

Even at 6.5m per cap hit, he would be running about 2m per less(14m total), even then thats one heck of a gap in pay ,compared to talent.

 

[Drury_Sakic]

Keeping Stastny around gives the Avs options.

I don't think it is completely improbable that Mac will/can eventually play wing.

O'Reilly-Duchene-Mac
or
Lando-Stastny-Mac

would both make stellar lines in a season or two.

Stastny could also potentially play wing at some point, though from the limited samples of that we saw under Sacco, I do not like what we saw from Paul on the wing.

It will all probably come down to if Stastny is willing to stick around if he eventually gets phased into a full time 3rd line center...and if his desire to stay keeps him affordable.

Unless one of the guys become completely unreasonable in their demands, the Avs should not have any problem keeping Lando, Duchene, O'Reilly, Stastny, Mac, McGinn, PAP, Tanguay, and Downie under contract for the next 4-5 seasons if they desire. The only real wildcard in that list is Downie. He is the type of player that someone could go completely nuts on and try and offer 5+ million per out of stupidity.

 

[Foppa2118]

It's not being greedy. I wouldn't blame Staz one bit if he wants to walk. He is a professional athlete and he deserves to be paid for his talents. He will have made it to UFA for the first time in his life, he earned that right by playing for seven seasons. He also has the right to decide if he wants to keep his current role with the Avs which will always be a defensive center or if he'd like to explore other options maybe as more of an offensive center on another team. It is the worst argument possible to say he made enough money in his previous contracts so he should be thrilled with whatever offer the Avs can throw at him. Maybe he thinks he was overpaid for his production, who knows but that's completely irrelevant. Stastny is going to want to be paid what he's worth moving forward. Maybe that's not 6.6 but it is going to matter what the market dictates.

I could see Stastny staying if the Avs offer close to market. He does have an important role on the team that really nobody else except ROR can fill (and I like ROR using his talents as a top winger). The problem is if the Avs have a legitimate shot at the playoffs this season it is going to be difficult to ship Stastny off at the deadline even if they know there is great risk to losing him for nothing in the offseason.

I wouldn't either. I don't really know how Staz fits in with the future of this team, but depending on how the Avs feel, there could be at least a $1M difference per year between what the Avs might offer and what another team might on the open market once the cap goes up next year. If you're comparing say a 5 year deal, that's $5M bucks. That's a huge chunk of change.

 

[PAZ]

I wouldn't either. I don't really know how Staz fits in with the future of this team, but depending on how the Avs feel, there could be at least a $1M difference per year between what the Avs might offer and what another team might on the open market once the cap goes up next year. If you're comparing say a 5 year deal, that's $5M bucks. That's a huge chunk of change.

He did get a big payday with his last contract and hasn't lived up to it last few years. While he isn't 100% to blame for his production, it is true he has been a bit overpaid. I guess we'll see if he likes the Avs enough to take a small paycut and if he considers he didn't live up to his last contract.

That being said, there should be quite a few big name FA's this year that might not get resigned. This year's FA crop should be pretty good, which might lowers Stastny's value. On the other hand, not too much in the center catagorythat might hit FA. The only ones I would consider that are worth looking at are Derek Roy, David Legwand, Olli Jokinen, and Dave Bolland. Not much of a list besides Roy.

 

[MvpKinnon]

I wouldn't either. I don't really know how Staz fits in with the future of this team, but depending on how the Avs feel, there could be at least a $1M difference per year between what the Avs might offer and what another team might on the open market once the cap goes up next year. If you're comparing say a 5 year deal, that's $5M bucks. That's a huge chunk of change.

I would lock Stastny 5y/5M without any hesitation

 

[Foppa2118]

He did get a big payday with his last contract and hasn't lived up to it last few years. While he isn't 100% to blame for his production, it is true he has been a bit overpaid. I guess we'll see if he likes the Avs enough to take a small paycut and if he considers he didn't live up to his last contract.

Yea but that doesn't really matter at this point. He was overpaid before, but that doesn't mean he has to take $1M less per year to make up for it if someone is willing to pay him more. Like I said before, on a long term deal, that adds up to a lot of money.

I would lock Stastny 5y/5M without any hesitation

I meant the difference could be $1M a year, so over five years, that's $5M.

I really don't know how I feel about keeping Staz at $5M. It's not a bad price in a vacuum, but I don't know if it's a good price on the Avs for him. The three centers are working ok now, but MacKinnon also isn't being played the way he will in the future. Combine that with the fact Staz isn't playing a big offensive role himself, and putting up points, and what does Staz look like on the Avs at $5M when Nate takes on that bigger offensive role?

 

[Bender]

I would lock Stastny 5y/5M without any hesitation

Yeah, I would do that too.

What I would NOT do, however, is keep him if he is still unsigned to an extension beyond the trade deadline in the *hopes* that he re-signs with us.

Much in the same way that Dallas lost Brad Richards for absolutely nothing.

This is a 'bigger picture' thing in my opinion and I don't care if we're in 1st place in the West at trade deadline time, if he's not extended, you have to get as much as you can for him.

 

[PAZ]

Yea but that doesn't really matter at this point. He was overpaid before, but that doesn't mean he has to take $1M less per year to make up for it if someone is willing to pay him more. Like I said before, on a long term deal, that adds up to a lot of money.



I meant the difference could be $1M a year, so over five years, that's $5M.

I really don't know how I feel about keeping Staz at $5M. It's not a bad price in a vacuum, but I don't know if it's a good price on the Avs for him. The three centers are working ok now, but MacKinnon also isn't being played the way he will in the future. Combine that with the fact Staz isn't playing a big offensive role himself, and putting up points, and what does Staz look like on the Avs at $5M when Nate takes on that bigger offensive role?

You're only looking at the financial side of things.

Stastny will still factor in a lot of other things like friends, family, city, current team, team direction, etc. While his last contract won't be a major factor, he would still take it into consideration if he wanted to stay in Denver.

Also, it's working out quite well for the Sharks right now with Thornton, Couture, and Pavelski.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Yeah, I would do that too.

What I would NOT do, however, is keep him if he is still unsigned to an extension beyond the trade deadline in the *hopes* that he re-signs with us.

Much in the same way that Dallas lost Brad Richards for absolutely nothing.

This is a 'bigger picture' thing in my opinion and I don't care if we're in 1st place in the West at trade deadline time, if he's not extended, you have to get as much as you can for him.

I agree it's a waste of assets to let Stastny walk for nothing but if the playoffs are a realistic chance I don't see the team giving up on that either. They may even become buyers at the deadline. It's going to be a really tough call becuase the team needs to build for the future but they also need the playoff experience to truly contend in the future as well and should do what they can to make the playoffs. With Roy big on this everyone has their role approach I think it's less likely we see Stastny traded becuase it leaves a big hole on the team that probably couldn't be fully addressed until the offseason. Obviously the smart thing is to have an open dialogue with Stastny and see what he wants and what the options are.

 

[tigervixxxen]

You're only looking at the financial side of things.

Stastny will still factor in a lot of other things like friends, family, city, current team, team direction, etc. While his last contract won't be a major factor, he would still take it into consideration if he wanted to stay in Denver.

Also, it's working out quite well for the Sharks right now with Thornton, Couture, and Pavelski.

He's also going to take into consideration his role and that Duchene and MacKinnon are the future at center for the team. Maybe Stastny likes being the defensive center and he has a big role on this team. But as Foppa pointed out MacKinnon is not going to be playing a sheltered 14 minutes a couple years from now. I do see the Avs as trying to roll three scoring lines in the future so it is not as big of an issue as some teams but still something has to give becuase there are not enough minutes to give everyone top 6 ice time. Maybe it will all work out and that would be great but there are a lot of factors here.

 

[Bender]

I agree it's a waste of assets to let Stastny walk for nothing but if the playoffs are a realistic chance I don't see the team giving up on that either. They may even become buyers at the deadline. It's going to be a really tough call becuase the team needs to build for the future but they also need the playoff experience to truly contend in the future as well and should do what they can to make the playoffs. With Roy big on this everyone has their role approach I think it's less likely we see Stastny traded becuase it leaves a big hole on the team that probably couldn't be fully addressed until the offseason. Obviously the smart thing is to have an open dialogue with Stastny and see what he wants and what the options are.

I understand what you are saying however, the team will get that playoff experience with or without him and I don't believe he's the difference between making us a contender or not, at least not this year. If we're on the playoff bubble at the deadline then I'd still do it because while making the playoffs would be nice for the team, I'd much rather have a 1st round pick + a good prospect because those 2 guys+ will be around for a good 7-8 years (or could be used to fill other holes down the road) rather than keep Stastny for possibly only 1 round and then walking away.

A lot of teams make this mistake, you need to keep building and adding to your core group...letting good assets walk and getting nothing for them sets you back. We played 6 games versus the Sharks 4 years ago and only 5 guys from our current roster benefitted from that (Dutchy, ROR, Staz, Wilson and McLeod).

The Avs could in all reality ship him off for a 1st+ good prospect + maybe even more and then turn around and perhaps acquire a veteran player from a team that's out of it for help down the stretch.

My preference is to lock him up long term (I'd even give him the same deal as Zajac) but if he's not open to that then we need to get some good assets back in exchange imo.

 

[Foppa2118]

You're only looking at the financial side of things.

Stastny will still factor in a lot of other things like friends, family, city, current team, team direction, etc. While his last contract won't be a major factor, he would still take it into consideration if he wanted to stay in Denver.

Also, it's working out quite well for the Sharks right now with Thornton, Couture, and Pavelski.

No I'm not ignoring them. To me it's a common misconception that a player will take a paycut to have those things, because it's ignoring the possibility that the player might think he could have them somewhere else too, and be $5M richer (in this example).

The temptation to go to free agency is a big factor too. Someone could throw a ridiculous contract your way, and you'll never know about it until you hit your UFA status.

As for the Sharks analogy, they're at a much different point with their organization than the Avs are. They've been cup competitors for years, and Pavelski and Couture's $6M deals don't go into effect until next year, when Thornton and Marleau's deals expire. The Avs don't have that kind of timing after this year.

 

[ChrisNI]

It depends if he wants money over a possible cup.

He could go to the market and get paid what he's worth but runs the risk of only having a few teams offer him the money and say end up in Buffalo playing for sucko in a "rebuild".

I know they aren't rebuilding it's hypothetical, in saying he could get paid greatly but forever be on a rebuilding team and never really have a shot at the cup OR he could stay for a pay cut and stick with the Avs who are definitely on the up and have a real shot at the cup and getting his name in the history books probably sooner rather than later.

Then again he could pull an Alfredsson and go get more money on a cup contender!

It's a hard call and I'm glad I don't have to make it. I think I'd take the paycut and go for the glory as this team is looking fantastic BUT I'd leave my decision until nearer the deadline to see if we 'fall back to earth' or we really are the real deal.

 

[avsfan89]

It really depends on how Roy can sell his idea of Stastny's future to stasnty himself.

Stas' offensive production has stalled but has continuously gotten better at defending and shutting down opposing scoring lines.

I see him as a Travis Zajac type player now who has skill but is all around defensively responsible.

Zajac makes 5.75 if I recall properly, would Stas be worth it? Hey Pavelski is perfectly fine being a no.3 C because on SJ the 3rd line is still somewhat a scoring line. Maybe Colorado will always run with 3 scoring lines too.

 

[cgf]

I sure hope we do. Our top 9 allots us the opportunity to do something special and roll 3 legit top lines, keeping them all together is our best chance to maintain that advantage while putting everyone in a position to flourish with a versatile and well balanced forward core.

I do still hope that one day we try an O'Reilly - Stastny - Landeskog shutdown line, but keeping those 9 together is the most important thing, with those forwards and our goalies our D doesn't need to be great, just solid, and we're not far from having a very solid defensive corps. with a lot of young talent in play.

Down the road Staz may need to be open to trying his hand on the wing if we decide to load up our top 6 around Dutchy and MacK, with Landy, O'Reilly, Staz and Parenteau/Tanguay/Downie/McGinn/Sgar, but I don't see why we shouldn't try to be revolutionary in our tactics for now with the rolling 3 lines thing, especially as MacK becomes more and more reliable in his own zone.

 

[tigervixxxen]

I think we know Buffalo would be one team that doesn't have a shot to sign Stastny as an UFA. (He must have wanted to jump off a cliff when that rumor linking him with Miller came up). Anyway, there are a lot of decent teams in the league, I'm sure a halfway legitimate contender would be interested in Stastny.

I guess what I'm saying is I personally wouldn't let Stastny walk away for nothing but I have a feeling Roy wants to bet on his team and keep them together. No Stastny isn't the key piece to contending but he has a big role on the team this season, one that would leave a pretty big hole to move him. Of course who knows what the team will look like in 4 months or what options are out there. Hopefully they've had a discussion with Stastny by then and have a direction.

 

[cgf]

I think we know Buffalo would be one team that doesn't have a shot to sign Stastny as an UFA. (He must have wanted to jump off a cliff when that rumor linking him with Miller came up). Anyway, there are a lot of decent teams in the league, I'm sure a halfway legitimate contender would be interested in Stastny.

I guess what I'm saying is I personally wouldn't let Stastny walk away for nothing but I have a feeling Roy wants to bet on his team and keep them together. No Stastny isn't the key piece to contending but he has a big role on the team this season, one that would leave a pretty big hole to move him. Of course who knows what the team will look like in 4 months or what options are out there. Hopefully they've had a discussion with Stastny by then and have a direction.

I think all of our pieces are crucial to contending because it's having a top 9 so deep, versatile, and balanced, that gives us something special, so Staz is a key piece. He may not be quite as crucial as Landeskog, Duchene, MacKinnon and O'Reilly, but he's still a massive part of what can separate our team from the rest. And I've said many times over this summer that the talent we have could prove revolutionary if we have an intelligent enough coach, and Roy seems to be smart enough so far, so continuing to allot him the benefit of having 3 top lines, is something that can catapult our team to levels of success beyond what our total talent level may equal.

 

[Drury_Sakic]

Avs do not necessarily have to trade Stastny for prospects/picks though. I could see several situations where they trade him to a team for a #2 or #3 D man and a third line player.

If it does come down to wanting a bigger role and cash for Stastny, Buffalo makes a ton of sense to trade with for the Avs.

Myers or Ehrhoff would be huge adds for the Avs for Stastny. Maybe get the Sabres to throw in someone like Steve Ott for the playoff push.

Avs Get:
Myers (would be my choice for the long term upside)
Ott

Sabres Get:
Stastny
Elliott
Hishon
Conditional 1st 2015 if Stastny does not re-sign



O'Reilly-Duchene-Downie
Lando-Mac-PAP
McGinn-Mitchell/Ott-Tanguay
McLeod-Ott/Mitchell-Bords

Hejda-Johnson
Benoit-Myers
Wilson-Guenin

Working Barrie and Malone as the depth players.

For the playoffs you probably look to add a 3rd or 4th line center at the deadline to allow thug buddy Bords to sit and run a 4th line of McLeod-Mitchell-Ott if you get the right 3rd line player.

Swap PAP to play with Mac for the speed factor. Tanguay plays on the 3rd line which is asked soak some of the shutdown time. In certain situations, i.e. a close playoff game where the Avs are looking to hold a lead rather than score a goal, you can shift O'Reilly down to the 3rd line for face-offs and pop Tanguay or McGinn up to the 1st line, though I would try to keep the 1st line intact as much as possible.

Myers IMO suffers a bit from the same thing that EJ does/did, trying to live up to unrealistic expectations. Put him on a 2nd pair with Benoit, who seems to be a steadying unspectacular force on the ice, and let him relax. Wilson and Guenin make a solid 3rd unit.

In the offseason the Avs have options. Trade Barrie for a better long term option as the 3rd line center. Re-Sign Ott or Mitchell if they can take the role on over a 2-3 year span. See if Malone develops into the player he can be. Sign a UFA...


All that said, it sucks that Paul is not signed for one more season past this..... I would much rather be facing the choice of keeping him or letting him go after seeing a full season and a half of Mac. He has some growing to do still and I do fear breaking him if you push too hard early.

 

[cgf]

That's so much worse than holding onto staz and getting an oldie to slot in next to EJ and QB'ing our PP. I want us to keep them all up front, regardless of how good MacKinnon becomes, because that forward core is so deep it's special, especially in the cap era.

 

[Drury_Sakic]

A follow up to that thought...

I do also believe that the Avs COULD go all in at the deadline and get one of Myers or Erhoff WITHOUT trading Stastny or a roster player.

If Colorado is sitting in a top 3 spot in the conference at the trade deadline, there are several reasons to go all in this year.

Several teams are on slight downward trends this year. If the Avs are still in the top 3 out west come the deadline, goaltending will have remained consistently strong and the Avs could be in a position to make a legitimate playoff push if they can address the defensive depth issue.

Myers, and to a slightly lesser extend Erhoff, are both long term buy ins. If you have to give up a few picks and a prospect or two to get it done without giving up a major piece of the current roster, it won't be a bad thing.

Last of all. As Roy says, "Why not us".


Ultimately, if Stastny is ok with signing a 4-5 year deal at around 5 million per with the expectation/potential of becoming the teams full time 3rd line center in 2-3 years, I would keep him. However, if Paul wants more than that for his role and money, I would much rather the Avs try and get something for him to address the defensive needs of the club.