Proposal: JT Miller @ 50% retained for?

[NOTENOUGHJTCGOALS]

Can Miller play C responsibly in his own zone and win faceoffs?

And is he putting up a lot of points on the PP or ES? He probably won't be on the first power play unit.

 

[Avs44]

Damn, so our two best prospects (Newhook and Byram have already graduated to roster spots) and a 1st?

As awesome as Miller is, I hope we don’t do that.

Meh. The Avs need to go all-in in the next couple seasons here. Miller would be a huge step towards that. Would stack the top nine this season; would be an incredible buffer next season without Kadri. Could either be the #2 centre while Newhook develops, or be on Newhook's wing to give Newhook a real shot at developing into the role. Miller can basically play in any role -- he's the ultimate swiss army knife. He was already before Vancouver acquired him, but in Vancouver he's somehow developed into a point-per-game swiss army knife. At 50% he's at 2.65 million...having a top-line calibre forward at that cap hit also lets the Avs throw money at other guys next season. It would give this team two pretty amazing shots at a cup.

I would rather the Avs gut their prospect pool and go all-in for a cup while we have this core rather than be looking back at this team and this group of pretty special players 5+ years from now and always wondering "what if...". Even if the Avs don't win a cup after going all-in, it would sit a lot better with me knowing that they at least tried. What they did last deadline, with the benefit of hindsight, was pathetic. Anything aside from Newhook and Byram should be freely moved in the next few seasons IMO.

 

[Foppa2118]

If they trade for Miller I don't think they're going to pay extra for retention.

I think they bring him in and use him at 2C next year as a Kadri replacement. $5.25M is still a good very good AAV for a ppg 2C.

 

[Richard88]

If they trade for Miller I don't think they're going to pay extra for retention.

I think they bring him in and use him at 2C next year as a Kadri replacement. $5.25M is still a good very good AAV for a ppg 2C.

What do you think 50% retention would cost on top of Miller with no retention?

 

[Foppa2118]

What do you think 50% retention would cost on top of Miller with no retention?

I don't know but it feels like too much to me. He's already going to cost a lot with the season he's having. Even more with one more year left instead of being a pending UFA. Probably a 1st+good prospect.

Add on top 50% retention and I'm not sure it makes sense for the Avs to give up those kind of assets, or if they can pull it off to begin with.

I think the better play is to try and clear salary by other means and bring him in without retention.

Really they should be using LTIR. EJ is a prime candidate. He's had back problems in his career. I'm sure it's bothering him now. There's no reason not to. It lets them go over the cap by $6M. It gives him some rest. It avoids potential injury before the playoffs. And with how well he played to start the year after missing so much time, there shouldn't be too much worry about making him rusty by sitting him.