Value of: (Girard) Avs prepare for the expansion draft

[PowerMac]

I don't know how attached Sakic is to Girard (I know a lot of people in the fanbase think he's Makar's equal something, obviously my opinion has differed as I don't view him critical to the team's success), but the avs already have Byram and Toews on the left side and if they trade him they can go easily go 7-3-1 for the draft. So they might as well sell high on him right now. The avs don't have a lot of needs other than 2C, but that may solve itself with Newhook flashing recently. So I'm curious to see if other fans around the league think as highly of him as much as some on the avs board.

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[Qurpiz]

Your firstborn

 

[Freudian]

Avs can and will protect Girard in the expansion draft.

 

[PowerMac]

If you HAD to pick one would you guys rather keep Girard or Toews or maybe even throw Byram in there since I've seen a lot of trade proposals involving him for some reason? Who do you think is more important for the avs?

 

[CatchyTune]

Isnt Byram exempt? Just protect Makar/Girard/Toews. Unless Johnson requires protection...

 

[Mighty Makar]

Isnt Byram exempt? Just protect Makar/Girard/Toews. Unless Johnson requires protection...

He does, but he’ll waive. Girard won’t be traded. We have him for another 6 years at $5M per.

 

[CraigsList]

Girard has the best deal for a d-man for 6 more years, he’s one of the best valued players in the league.

 

[Avsfan1921]

IF we had to trade one of our dmen I would chose Girard simply due to the return we’d get. Makar is our identity on D and Toews wouldn’t return nearly what girard would so if we have to lose a high end piece, we need a great return. As in high end potential 2c on the right side of 25.

Thankfully this will not come to fruition and we can keep him and all the fun he brings to watching this d core.

 

[Super Hans]

Regardless of whether or not you think he's a 1D, his contract makes his value the equivalent of a 1D. His contract is the new Josi @$4m contract. Anything less than a top line forward or blue-chip NHL ready prospect + would be a bad move. That being said, there's no way he's moved unless Makar and Mackinnon ask for the moon on their next contracts.

 

[John Mandalorian]

IF we had to trade one of our dmen I would chose Girard simply due to the return we’d get. Makar is our identity on D and Toews wouldn’t return nearly what girard would so if we have to lose a high end piece, we need a great return. As in high end potential 2c on the right side of 25.

Thankfully this will not come to fruition and we can keep him and all the fun he brings to watching this d core.

The entirety of the defensive top 4 is the identity. Makar is a special player and the face of the D. But the engine of the team is the entire group. And yes, skill set matters.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

A 22 year old #1 defenseman who’s in the first year of a 7 year, 5M AAV contract? A lot. Like a stupid amount of value.

 

[Avsfan1921]

The entirety of the defensive top 4 is the identity. Makar is a special player and the face of the D. But the engine of the team is the entire group. And yes, skill set matters.

Identity might be the wrong word for what I was meaning... “Face of” if that makes sense. He’s the best defenceman on the team, on the best contract, who other teams gameplan for more than any other dman on our squad. If the d is the engine of this team (which I agree with), he is the engine that drives the d more so than any of the others.

Edit:
I actually stand by my first statement. He is the identity IMO. If he is the face of our d core, then he is the identity, as Mack is at F.

 

[John Mandalorian]

Identity might be the wrong word for what I was meaning... “Face of” if that makes sense. He’s the best defenceman on the team, on the best contract, who other teams gameplan for more than any other dman on our squad. If the d is the engine of this team (which I agree with), he is the engine that drives the d more so than any of the others.

Perhaps. But but I'd say Girard and Toews hold their own.

 

[Tatar Shots]

Maybe Colorado would entertain trading him for a young 1C but I doubt anything short of that gets it done

 

[Foppberg]

Aha... Ahahahaha.

 

[JoemAvs]

No he is completely untouchable.

Some Avs fans have forgotten too quickly just how bad our defense was for over a decade + and how badly it hurt us time and time again...

Thanks to Girards and Toews rather cheap deals, we will have one of the best Ds in the league for 3 more years while still not taking up too much capspace..
I wouldn't give that up for almost anything.

The Avs are perfectly fine at forward and we can't pay another high end forward anyways so why give up one of our best value contracts?. There is no need at all to kill what has been our biggest strength IMO this season which is our D group.
Hopefully Byram can stop getting unlucky and Timmins can stay healthy. If that happens, we could see the best D group in the history of the NHL in 1-2 years from now + a great forward group build around Mac, Rants, Newhook, Landy, etc. Hopefully that results in a cup.

EJ will waive, get traded or bought out...
Girard will hopefully be an Av for life but atleast for the next 5 years...

 

[The Abusement Park]

If you HAD to pick one would you guys rather keep Girard or Toews or maybe even throw Byram in there since I've seen a lot of trade proposals involving him for some reason? Who do you think is more important for the avs?

Give me Girard over Toews and Byram. The only players 100% more untouchable than him are Makar and Mackinnon.

 

[JoemAvs]

Give me Girard over Toews and Byram. The only players 100% more untouchable than him are Makar and Mackinnon.

I don't get why so many (Avs fans included) posters think this has to be a choice....
Just keep all of them...

Somehow it feels like people believe that you can only stack forward groups but that if you have more than 3 quality Ds, they are somewhat expendable...

Completely disagree. I rather run 4-5 high quality defenders over another Burakovsky or Donskoi on the 3rd line....
If Landy and Makar demand too much money, the goal should be to keep our top line, our top4 Ds and pay Newhook or whoever turns into our longterm solution at C.
Everyone else shouldn't see big money....

 

[Hasbro]

 

[The Abusement Park]

I don't get why so many (Avs fans included) posters think this has to be a choice....
Just keep all of them...

Somehow it feels like people believe that you can only stack forward groups but that if you have more than 3 quality Ds, they are somewhat expendable...

Completely disagree. I rather run 4-5 high quality defenders over another Burakovsky or Donskoi on the 3rd line....
If Landy and Makar demand too much money, the goal should be to keep our top line, our top4 Ds and pay Newhook or whoever turns into our longterm solution at C.
Everyone else shouldn't see big money....

I mean I was just answering the question But I mean the next 3 years the D core will be built around:

Byram-Makar
Girard-Toews

The Toews most likely leaves after his contract and hopefully Helleson and Barron have become NHL evel players to replace him.

 

[Jared Dunn]

Regardless of whether or not you think he's a 1D, his contract makes his value the equivalent of a 1D. His contract is the new Josi @$4m contract. Anything less than a top line forward or blue-chip NHL ready prospect + would be a bad move. That being said, there's no way he's moved unless Makar and Mackinnon ask for the moon on their next contracts.

Josi was consistently a top 10 D for basically that entire contract, and a top 3 for probably half.. I'm a big fan of Girard's game and that's a killer contract but let's not get too ahead of ourselves here

 

[CanadienShark]

Girard is an awesome d-man signed to a sweet deal. No chance he gets moved. Avs will jump through hoops to ensure Johnson either waives or Seattle takes a forward/Graves.

 

[Super Hans]

Josi was consistently a top 10 D for basically that entire contract, and a top 3 for probably half.. I'm a big fan of Girard's game and that's a killer contract but let's not get too ahead of ourselves here

Girard has a ways to go to be what Josi was by the end of that contract, but Girard's first year of this contract ('20-21) was better than Josi's ('13-14) and was a full year younger. He's also not far away from being a top 10 D right now.

I'm also not saying their contracts were 1 for 1, but Josi's contract was the best in the league for that period and I think the only D contract right now that rivals Girard's is Slavin's in their age range. Overall it's Hedman.

 

[Unbiased Fan]

Crosby straight up for Girard? Who declines?

 

[The Abusement Park]

Josi was consistently a top 10 D for basically that entire contract, and a top 3 for probably half.. I'm a big fan of Girard's game and that's a killer contract but let's not get too ahead of ourselves here

I mean Girard isn't too far off of where Josi was when that contract was signed. I mean he outproduced him this year by a decent margin and is the best transition dman in the league. I would definitely say the situations are comparable.