Rumor: Rumour & Proposal Thread | Will Holland get us a Christmas present?

[SupremeTeam16]

That was not on Edmundson in the slightest.

It’s on all of them Edmundson included. Who is he supposed to cover in that situation? One of the lightning players barely in the zone or the guy with the puck coming right down the pipe to the front of the net?

This is something that McDavid has gotten very good at, attacking with speed and putting himself in the middle of several defenders where there is almost no space but it confuses guys about who’s got him and often times nobody actually makes a strong defensive play, they all just kinda wave their sticks at him.

It’s actually painful to watch Edmundson trying to skate, the guy turns like an aircraft carrier.

 

[belair]

Yes but you might want to realize the Oilers are not in an ideal situation any more. They've blown multiple chances to make good trades and good picks from 2015-2020 that they don't have this luxury of "doing it like Colorado or Tampa did!".

We all know that person who talks a lot and has big grand ambitions but the bottom line is they don't actually put in the work to get to where they want to be, the Oilers are basically that front office decision wise.

Colorado did *the work* in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, to build into a 2022 Cup. They made more than a half dozen trades and turned 2/4 top 10 picks in the last 5 years into franchise pillar superstars. The Oilers have not done the same so you can't really expect "well, we'll just sit around and wait to massive win a Toews trade".

That could take Holland 8-10 years to get a trade like that, maybe more.

So the whole logic of "lets not get Chychrun, because Colorado didn't do that, they drafted Makar and traded for Toews!" ... well no shit, that would be more ideal, but we can't be passing on players that could move the needle here on that basis. We need to be realistic about how much help this blue line needs (a lot) and the methods of acquiring that when you have a non-Sakic GM (meaning you're gonna pay market value probably in the best case scenario, more in worse case scenarios).

Realistically, if this team can barely hang on to the no.8 Wild Card seed even with McDavid playing at a 70 goal + 150 point pace (literal Wayne Gretzky numbers) and Draisaitl trending for 50+ goals, 100+ points, then the obvious reality is this team needs a lot of help especially on the back end and you're gonna have to part with some valuable things to get significant changes there. Pulling some rabbit out of their ass and getting great upgrades for cheap is simply beyond the Oilers. If they could do that they would have already been doing it for the last 5-6 years. It's not a realistic demand now for the management to suddenly start making bargain winning trades.

They're not in an ideal situation? Why? They're the ones that possess the players that they have. They still have those picks and prospects because they have yet to foolishly piss them away in a panic trade.

Colorado drafted Makar, Rantanen, MacKinnon, Landeskog? The Oilers drafted McDavid, Draisaitl, RNH and Nurse. Both of those cores are capable of winning a championship if you surround them with quality depth.

You're framing it like Colorado suddenly stumbled upon this competitive team. They didn't. They rebuilt from a failed core that started by moving on from players drafted in 2009. The team that you alluded to was put together over a period that spanned over a decade.

Our team wasn't as lucky because our management felt the need to be competitive right out of the McDavid draft. Instead of auctioning off pieces like Hall and Eberle for futures, they preferred short-sighted deals to fill immediate needs. Both of those trade trees are dead now.

The idea isn't about copying a team like Tampa or Colorado. But you won't see a successful team in salary cap era spend that many assets on a single player. It's too high risk. If that pkayer gets injured or doesn't end up being they player that you assumed, you're dead in the water.

But looking at those teams along with a number of others, you'll see is a trend of the types of secondary players that get targeted because they help you win the battle. It's actually very easy to see. And those are the types of players that our roster has lacked in past playoff runs.

I'm more than happy to talk about these types of players because this is a rumors and proposals thread. It's fun to evaluate players and hypothesize about things like cost and fit. What's exceptionally boring is talking about GMs and theoretical trade 'wins' and 'losses'.

The cost of a Jakub Chychrun trade has 'loss' written all over it at the rumored cost though. It reeks of desperation and would throw a potential wrench into the team's ability to stay competitive beyond the current McDavid and Draisaitl deals, when it expires along with the other two.

 

[FlameChampion]

I just dont think fixing the defense is all that easy on this team.

You have Nurse locked in at 9.25mil and theres not much cap space to support him. I think him playing at the level he is this year, just throws a wrench in the team.

I dont think the right side is the right mix but I think Barrie is under appreciated. I think we will miss if we move him.

Bouchards had a tough season. I think you have to give him some time in the hopes that he figures it out. Hes really young still.

We're still not really sure what we have in Broberg. Is he a 3LD? Is he a 2LD? How long before he is? Once again, hes really young.

Something I think has to be done. But how much are guys like Edmunson or Gavrikov really going to move the needle on this team?

Least Chychrun has a higher ceiling. Hes expensive and injury prone though.

I'm not really sure theres much out there RD wise that is an upgrade on Barrie. Maybe you have to consider moving Bouchard for a similar age dman with similar upside thats more defensive responsible (and continue to use Barrie in his current role). Not sure who that is though.

Honestly its a tough situation and I think whatever decision they make, they have to make the right one. No move is better than a bad one. But the team defense is stuck in limbo. All in all, just a sh*tty situation. Wish Bouchard and Broberg had taken more of a step than they did this year.

I think we need more bold action with a plan but I dont know how realistic it is. I cant see Holland being bold.

 

[Soundwave]

They're not in an ideal situation? Why? They're the ones that possess the players that they have. They still have those picks and prospects because they have yet to foolishly piss them away in a panic trade.

Colorado drafted Makar, Rantanen, MacKinnon, Landeskog? The Oilers drafted McDavid, Draisaitl, RNH and Nurse. Both of those cores are capable of winning a championship if you surround them with quality depth.

You're framing it like Colorado suddenly stumbled upon this competitive team. They didn't. They rebuilt from a failed core that started by moving on from players drafted in 2009. The team that you alluded to was put together over a period that spanned over a decade.

Our team wasn't as lucky because our management felt the need to be competitive right out of the McDavid draft. Instead of auctioning off pieces like Hall and Eberle for futures, they preferred short-sighted deals to fill immediate needs. Both of those trade trees are dead now.

The idea isn't about copying a team like Tampa or Colorado. But you won't see a successful team in salary cap era spend that many assets on a single player. It's too high risk. If that gets injured or doesn't end up being they player that you assumed, you're dead in the water.

But looking at those teams along with a number of others, you'll see is a trend of the types of secondary players that they target. It's actually very easy to see. And those are the types of players that our roster has lacked in past playoff runs.

I'm more than happy to talk about these types of players because this is a rumors and proposals thread. It's fun to evaluate players and hypothesize about things like cost and fit. What's exceptionally boring is talking about GMs and theoretical trade 'wins' and 'losses'.

The cost of a Jakub Chychrun trade has 'loss' written all over it at the rumored cost though. It reeks of desperation and would throw a potential wrench into the team's ability to stay competitive beyond the current McDavid and Draisaitl deals, when it expires along with the other two.

Firstly, I don't think the core groups you've listed there are equivalent. MacKinnon, Rantanen, Makar are three superstars that are on the All-Star team probably every year for next however many years ... the Oilers have really two, McDavid and Draisaitl. RNH and Nurse don't belong in that conversation, both of those guys honestly probably aren't as impactful as Landeskog. That is a significant difference, if the Avs did not hit the jackpot with both of the Rantanen + Makar trades I don't know if they win the Cup last year, they might still be a couple of years away without both. Kudos to them for taking advantage of those two high picks and making hay, I mean they were not the only ones who could've taken Makar or Rantanen. That's just good management, scouting, and development. But they had 3 superstars and then made a series of great trades *on top* of that.

The idea of "spending too many assets on one player will cripple your franchise!!!" I don't necessarily buy either.

Lets just say for the sake of arguement for example that we had for example "overpaid" for Dougie Hamilton when he was available at the 2015 draft.

Lets even assume we totally bent over and massively overpaid what Calgary was offering and gave up the 2015 pick (after McDavid) + 2016 1st + 2016 2nd. That ultimately would have amounted to us getting Hamilton for the picks we used to get Griffin Reinhart, Jesse Puljujarvi, and Tyler Benson.

Would that "cripple the franchise"? No. They likely would've been far better off if they had actually done that.

Draft picks aren't some magical get out of jail free card, and the Oilers don't even draft that well in the first place. Holland last four 1st rounders taken in Detroit are worth what today? Nothing as they're all basically waiver wire fodder. Most draft picks outside of the top 10 don't make it as impact level NHL players and even plenty of top 10 picks go bust (hello there Paajarvi, Yakupov, and Puljujarvi!). Now if you have really great scouting, that's one thing, but when you plainly don't, stop treating every pick like it's the next freaking Lidstrom. It's more likely it's the next Rassmussen, Puljujarvi, Yamamoto, Benson, Cholowski, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. especially when these picks should be no where near the top 10 anymore as the Oilers should at bare minimum be a playoff team.

 

[jlockhart89]

When does the Santa Claus embargo get lifted?

 

[FlameChampion]

When does the Santa Claus embargo get lifted?

Think it lifted yesterday

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

He is a bit slower for sure. I think his fast-twitch game peaked in 17-18. He can't quite skate like this anymore.


He's a much better overall player though. His strength and intensity as well as puck protection in the offensive zone have improved by leaps and bounds. He's also developed into arguably the best powerplay player of all time, from being a pass-only passive player in his first years.

I don't think its that he "can't", he's probably a more efficient player now and better at conserving his energy. He can likely do those things, he may just not need to as much anymore.

 

[Soundwave]

He is a bit slower for sure. I think his fast-twitch game peaked in 17-18. He can't quite skate like this anymore.


He's a much better overall player though. His strength and intensity as well as puck protection in the offensive zone have improved by leaps and bounds. He's also developed into arguably the best powerplay player of all time, from being a pass-only passive player in his first years.

Not really seeing it if I'm being honest, he's scored plenty of goals recently where he looks as fast or faster than that.

His first three strides are just miles beyond anyone, it still looks ridiculous watch a game and it looks like one player has a rocket in their skates or is a video game character instead of a real player.

 

[McAsuno]

Where the trades at?

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Where the trades at?

We'll wait until the deadline instead of making moves a little earlier and getting more bang for our buck.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

We'll wait until the deadline instead of making moves a little earlier and getting more bang for our buck.

Makes no sense considering we dont accrue cap space in LTIR.

Someone should let Ken know.

 

[Broberg Speed]

Firstly, I don't think the core groups you've listed there are equivalent. MacKinnon, Rantanen, Makar are three superstars that are on the All-Star team probably every year for next however many years ... the Oilers have really two, McDavid and Draisaitl. RNH and Nurse don't belong in that conversation, both of those guys honestly probably aren't as impactful as Landeskog. That is a significant difference, if the Avs did not hit the jackpot with both of the Rantanen + Makar trades I don't know if they win the Cup last year, they might still be a couple of years away without both. Kudos to them for taking advantage of those two high picks and making hay, I mean they were not the only ones who could've taken Makar or Rantanen. That's just good management, scouting, and development. But they had 3 superstars and then made a series of great trades *on top* of that.

The idea of "spending too many assets on one player will cripple your franchise!!!" I don't necessarily buy either.

Lets just say for the sake of arguement for example that we had for example "overpaid" for Dougie Hamilton when he was available at the 2015 draft.

Lets even assume we totally bent over and massively overpaid what Calgary was offering and gave up the 2015 pick (after McDavid) + 2016 1st + 2016 2nd. That ultimately would have amounted to us getting Hamilton for the picks we used to get Griffin Reinhart, Jesse Puljujarvi, and Tyler Benson.

Would that "cripple the franchise"? No. They likely would've been far better off if they had actually done that.

Draft picks aren't some magical get out of jail free card, and the Oilers don't even draft that well in the first place. Holland last four 1st rounders taken in Detroit are worth what today? Nothing as they're all basically waiver wire fodder. Most draft picks outside of the top 10 don't make it as impact level NHL players and even plenty of top 10 picks go bust (hello there Paajarvi, Yakupov, and Puljujarvi!). Now if you have really great scouting, that's one thing, but when you plainly don't, stop treating every pick like it's the next freaking Lidstrom. It's more likely it's the next Rassmussen, Puljujarvi, Yamamoto, Benson, Cholowski, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. especially when these picks should be no where near the top 10 anymore as the Oilers should at bare minimum be a playoff team.

Didn't hurt the Avs are the apple of the commissioner's eye.

I used to draft watch for prospects now I look back with statistical incredulity. Some of the patterns have a probability nearing zero.

 

[Oilers90]

Someone show this to spec

 

[SwedishFire]

You throw in Yamamoto or Puljujarvi out of necessity to make the money work in a transaction. Do you believe anyone wants these players? Maybe if you retain salary. Only in fanboy world can you get draft picks for either.

McLeod and Bouchard might someday become good players but neither should be on this team now if the Oilers want to be a contender. Watching them is painful. Out of position, out-muscled and bungling the most basic of assignments. You can't win with them. I don't understand the fan appreciation for McLeod at all.

Sounds bad yes. McLeod blend fsns with gel eith teammates, speed, and some scoring I think. He is at least a 4C. Puljys contract is soon up. And many fans said he should had been traded in summer, but that 1 year makes him tradeable for at least a 3rd-4th rounder. Yamamoto is just a bit better, a bit more confident, but the contract is no good. Can be traded with 32% retained(1 million) to a team that needs some speed and forechecking. Or just keep Yamamoto as the 3RW. As a forechecker and PK specialist. He cant score, no buiss on a top6.

3rd rounder to defensice D trade.

I love doing lines, so here goes

Kane McDavid Hyman
Nuge Draisaitl Kostin
Järnmark MacLeod Yamamoto
Fogele Ryan Holloway

Trading for a forward upgrade would be something as well. Hollands dcanning for a vet 3C may be a good idea.

Shouldnt Nuge, Ryan and Draisaitl trach young guys how to play good defence?

 

[alphahelix]

I wasn’t sure Where to post this, didn’t think it was really threadworthy.. but..

What is up with Bouchard’s shot? Every time they clock him this year on Sportsnet/CBC its mid-to-high 80’s, the odd 90MPH shot all year long. He used to post 100MPH+ shots in skills competitions regularly, and you could see his in-game shot hit 90+ with some regularity.

Just saw that he lost the hardest shot comp to Brett Kulak, posting 2 shots around 96. Why is he consistently shooting a few % points below his old #’s? Shouldn’t he be getting stronger?

 

[Spawn]

They're not in an ideal situation? Why? They're the ones that possess the players that they have. They still have those picks and prospects because they have yet to foolishly piss them away in a panic trade.

Colorado drafted Makar, Rantanen, MacKinnon, Landeskog? The Oilers drafted McDavid, Draisaitl, RNH and Nurse. Both of those cores are capable of winning a championship if you surround them with quality depth.

You're framing it like Colorado suddenly stumbled upon this competitive team. They didn't. They rebuilt from a failed core that started by moving on from players drafted in 2009. The team that you alluded to was put together over a period that spanned over a decade.

Our team wasn't as lucky because our management felt the need to be competitive right out of the McDavid draft. Instead of auctioning off pieces like Hall and Eberle for futures, they preferred short-sighted deals to fill immediate needs. Both of those trade trees are dead now.

The idea isn't about copying a team like Tampa or Colorado. But you won't see a successful team in salary cap era spend that many assets on a single player. It's too high risk. If that pkayer gets injured or doesn't end up being they player that you assumed, you're dead in the water.

But looking at those teams along with a number of others, you'll see is a trend of the types of secondary players that get targeted because they help you win the battle. It's actually very easy to see. And those are the types of players that our roster has lacked in past playoff runs.

I'm more than happy to talk about these types of players because this is a rumors and proposals thread. It's fun to evaluate players and hypothesize about things like cost and fit. What's exceptionally boring is talking about GMs and theoretical trade 'wins' and 'losses'.

The cost of a Jakub Chychrun trade has 'loss' written all over it at the rumored cost though. It reeks of desperation and would throw a potential wrench into the team's ability to stay competitive beyond the current McDavid and Draisaitl deals, when it expires along with the other two.

You've said the bold about Colorado before and its simply not true. That team traded their #2 d-man at the time (Tyson Barrie) and their #3C (Kerfoot) for Nazem Kadri who was an integral piece in their cup run. That is substantially more impactful than anything people are proposing trading for Chychrun.

They also traded their first and one of their best D prospects at the time for their #1 goalie in their cup season.

They traded two 2nd rounders for their #2 d-man

Your #2C, #1G and #2D are not "secondary players" nor were they inconsequential in cost to acquire.

 

[Broberg Speed]

Sounds bad yes. McLeod blend fsns with gel eith teammates, speed, and some scoring I think. He is at least a 4C. Puljys contract is soon up. And many fans said he should had been traded in summer, but that 1 year makes him tradeable for at least a 3rd-4th rounder. Yamamoto is just a bit better, a bit more confident, but the contract is no good. Can be traded with 32% retained(1 million) to a team that needs some speed and forechecking. Or just keep Yamamoto as the 3RW. As a forechecker and PK specialist. He cant score, no buiss on a top6.

3rd rounder to defensice D trade.

I love doing lines, so here goes

Kane McDavid Hyman
Nuge Draisaitl Kostin
Järnmark MacLeod Yamamoto
Fogele Ryan Holloway

Trading for a forward upgrade would be something as well. Hollands dcanning for a vet 3C may be a good idea.

Shouldnt Nuge, Ryan and Draisaitl trach young guys how to play good defence?

Ryan is smart as they come and he'll be a coach but he's small, non-physical and can't cycle the puck.

I want a couple monsters with actual hockey skill to cycle the puck filling to bottom two center spots. Third-line center should be able to skate so he can cover defensively (break the cycle and backcheck) and always be in position for an outlet pass (3rd-line center will fix many of our defensive issues), and the 4th-line center should be a bruiser, and a guy who would have forced the issue with Weager last game and loosened Edler's teeth. Do the Oilers have the ability or the will to find these players? Sometimes I don't believe this club is actually looking to improve.

MacLeod, Ryan and Nuge should all be wingers. We've seen how dangerous RNH can be this season when utilized properly on the wing and we've seen him completely outmatched in the defensive slot as a center.

Get at least the third-line center, and keep an eye out for a 4th line center as well. But until we fill that 3rd-line position with the proper player this team will go nowhere.

 

[Fourier]

I mean no I don't think the Oilers and Avs drafting is equivalent.

Lets compare just overall net effect picks from 2015 onwards using the Avs and compare also to the other Canadian teams since most of us semi-follow their progress at least for comparative sake.

Players drafted after the McDavid pick (1st 2015), lets look for either top 10 picks that have turned into big difference makers and also lower picks (post top 10-lower rounds) that have over performed their draft position in big ways (this implies drafting skill on the team picking):

Oilers: Uh .... hopefully Skinner? Bouchard perhaps.

Avalanche: Rantanen (top 3 winger in the league), Makar (Norris caliber, Conn Smythe winner), Byram (if he can stay healthy)

Canucks: Petterson, Quinn Hughes, Brock Boeser

Jets: Kyle Connor, Laine/Dubois (basically)

Flames: Tkachuk, Adam Fox, Andersson, Kylington, Mangipane

Leafs: Matthews, Marner. Lilegren looks OK but I wouldn't say that's a slam dunk pick, not bad for a 17th overall though. Nylander in 2014, Rielly in 2012 helped them a lot though.

Sens: Chabot, Brady Tkachuk, Batherson (3rd round), Stutzle

Habs: Sergachev (which they blew turning into Drouin), Cole Caufield, Kaiden Guhle maybe? Took Slafovsky no.1 overall jury is out there.

Honestly, I'd trade the Oilers "draft pool" post-McDavid for all these teams draft pools since then. We'd be better off in every situation most likely.

Like I'd rather have Brady Tkachuk + Stutzle + Batherson + Chabot over Bouchard + Broberg + Puljujarvi + Yamamoto + Holloway any day.

This is an apples and oranges comparison. You add players like Connor, Rantanen, Chabot, Boeser and Marner but you leave off McDavid. Add McDavid and now ask would you flip the Oilers group for Vancouver's or Montreal's or Calgary's? Kylington, Andersson and Mangiapane were all 2015 picks as well. Kylington's breakout was 6 years post draft and it was still not as good as Bouchard's previous year but you include him as an impact player and say that you are not sure if you should include Bouchard despite the fact that that he is three years younger and has just as big a role on the Oilers as Kylington has had on the Flames the last two years. Bouchard is 9th in points in his draft year as a defenseman. He's thirteenth in goals. McLeod is top 20 in both goals and points in that draft.

You also dismiss Yamamoto. But he was a 22nd pick who is now 13th in games played, 11th in goals scored and 11th in points in the draft. The only players chosen after him that are better are Robertson, Oettinger and Batherson. But who did Ottawa pick ahead of Batherson with their 1st in that draft...Shane Bowers? So were they smart or just lucky.

For players who are not top 5-10 players in their pool you are pretty much looking at 6 years before you would expect any of them to have significant roles on their teams. That take you back to the 2016 draft. As such most of what you say comes down to the JP pick. Had he gone at #3 as expected the Oilers and the Oilers ended up with Tkachuk or Sergachev things would look very different.

 

[Fourier]

With high level of randomness involved in whether a draft pick pans out or not, it's true that it's difficult to assess how good the process behind the drafting is. I'd like to think it in a more Bayessian way - one success or failure doesn't really determine much, but if the organization routinely hits with their draft picks better than NHL average, it's more likely that the process behind the decision making is good. The organizational development of draft picks cannot be ignored as a variable, either.

It's true that none of those picks were exactly out of left field, but there were also lot of other viable choices at the time that could've been made. A lot of people thought Avs were going to pick Jones, not MacKinnon, which in hindsight would've been a massive miss. As for Makar or Rantanen - it's very different to be the consensus pick at #9 or #4 than it is to be at #1. If eight teams already passed on a guy, chances are that the difference between #9 and #10 is also very much down to preference since we're not talking about outlier talents.

I'd say that the Avs have been both lucky and have had smart management. That tends to get you sustained succeess.

I agree with pretty much everything you say here!!! But it is not really what the debate was about in the post you quoted. Soundwave was talking about the Oilers lack of finding impact players in the draft. He conveniently leaves out Draisaitl and McDavid and starts the clock at #2 in 2015.

 

[Fourier]

They're not in an ideal situation? Why? They're the ones that possess the players that they have. They still have those picks and prospects because they have yet to foolishly piss them away in a panic trade.

Colorado drafted Makar, Rantanen, MacKinnon, Landeskog? The Oilers drafted McDavid, Draisaitl, RNH and Nurse. Both of those cores are capable of winning a championship if you surround them with quality depth.

You're framing it like Colorado suddenly stumbled upon this competitive team. They didn't. They rebuilt from a failed core that started by moving on from players drafted in 2009. The team that you alluded to was put together over a period that spanned over a decade.

Our team wasn't as lucky because our management felt the need to be competitive right out of the McDavid draft. Instead of auctioning off pieces like Hall and Eberle for futures, they preferred short-sighted deals to fill immediate needs. Both of those trade trees are dead now.

The idea isn't about copying a team like Tampa or Colorado. But you won't see a successful team in salary cap era spend that many assets on a single player. It's too high risk. If that pkayer gets injured or doesn't end up being they player that you assumed, you're dead in the water.

But looking at those teams along with a number of others, you'll see is a trend of the types of secondary players that get targeted because they help you win the battle. It's actually very easy to see. And those are the types of players that our roster has lacked in past playoff runs.

I'm more than happy to talk about these types of players because this is a rumors and proposals thread. It's fun to evaluate players and hypothesize about things like cost and fit. What's exceptionally boring is talking about GMs and theoretical trade 'wins' and 'losses'.

The cost of a Jakub Chychrun trade has 'loss' written all over it at the rumored cost though. It reeks of desperation and would throw a potential wrench into the team's ability to stay competitive beyond the current McDavid and Draisaitl deals, when it expires along with the other two.

Colorado also benefitted significantly from the timing of their contracts. As I said in 2020-2021 they could easily have been spending 20M+ on MacKinnon/Makar rather than the $7M+ price tag they had. This would have prevented them from adding the depth that eventually helped them win.

Cap management is extremely important in the NHL today if you want to build a winner. This has been a big issue for the Oilers and continues to be one.

 

[Kaptah]

Bouchard has not shown any improvement in his defensive game. He seems to be as one trick pony as they get. We should be extremely cautious to sign him long term.

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

Bouchard has not shown any improvement in his defensive game. He seems to be as one trick pony as they get. We should be extremely cautious to sign him long term.

He's a 23 year old defenseman halfway through playing his 2nd full NHL season.

 

[brentashton]

Where the trades at?

Stauffer with his umpteenth teaser about pending trades to address one of the multiple shortcomings in this roster that never come to fruition. The josh Anderson tire pump, Ryan Reaves, PKane possibly moving and on and on and on. I’m sure he will explain why he does this in the book he’s going to write someday. I think the working title is Blowhard, A Whale of a Time in Pro Hockey Broadcasting.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

Where the trades at?

"As the season progresses" is code for "Not any time soon or in the near future. Ken's not on it or even near it."

 

[belair]

You've said the bold about Colorado before and its simply not true. That team traded their #2 d-man at the time (Tyson Barrie) and their #3C (Kerfoot) for Nazem Kadri who was an integral piece in their cup run. That is substantially more impactful than anything people are proposing trading for Chychrun.

They also traded their first and one of their best D prospects at the time for their #1 goalie in their cup season.

They traded two 2nd rounders for their #2 d-man

Your #2C, #1G and #2D are not "secondary players" nor were they inconsequential in cost to acquire.

You might be the only person who sees the Kadri trade that way. Tyson Barrie was an impending UFA that the Avs weren't going to re-sign. It was immediately after Makar had debuted in the playoffs and it was made clear that they had abundance at RD. Kerfoot was a free wallet that also had no significant role in Colorado. Kadri was a 50 point two-way center still in his mid-20s signed to a value contract. It was an absolute fleecing that ended up being a net cap win to boot.

And when Devon Toews was acquired, he was not established as a #2. There was no reliable track record. The same went for Nichushkin. Burakovsky was a 'bad fit' in Washington. All of those players were acquired for what we paid for an Athanasiou rental or less.

Where's the trade where they threw multiple first rounders and roster players at a single player? When did they make a reactionary trade out of a position of weakness? The only one that could be argued was the Kuemper trade. But even the Kuemper deal was a prospect being traded from a position of strength with no clear pathway to NHL minutes.

Regardless, the Avs are a poor comparable. Just a good example of a team that identifies players that are being mismanaged.