Trade Ideas and Free Agency XXVIII

[AKL]

Draisaitl's light is dimmed because he scores like an elite player with McDavid and not nearly like one without him.

That’s my point.

Avs just added Marko Dano - nice addition for their 3rd-4th lines. And it cost them nothing. Maybe Joe Sakic is good at GMing?

Don’t give him too much credit yet. Taking Dano off waivers should have been a no brainer for like half the teams in the league. Avs have poor depth, Sakic did what should have been expected.

 

[Goose312]

Avs just added Marko Dano - nice addition for their 3rd-4th lines. And it cost them nothing. Maybe Joe Sakic is good at GMing?

I don't know if picking up a guy who was readily traded twice and healthy scratched the majority of games wherever he went is really a noteworthy pickup. Maybe another change of scenery works out for him this time but I would think he most likely gets a few games and ends up in the press box again.

 

[Wabit]

They have MacKinnon and Rantanen who are better than any forwards we have. That’s it. Landeskog is alright, but we easily have the deeper offense. Their top three lines? Get out of here. I hope you’re not basing that off the 5 game sample size that is this season so far. Unless you really think Soderberg, Kerfoot and Compher are points per game players?

And 31/31 GMs with jobs in this league right now would take our top 4 over Colorado’s without thinking twice about it. Johnson is a solid, steady defenseman, but he’s not even definitively better than Spurgeon at this point. And after Barrie they have nobody else worth even bringing up.

Look, MacKinnon is miles better than any forward we have, and Rantanen is clearly on a different level as well, but let’s not get confused, the rest of their team is not better than anything we have.

And the Wild have PPG players up to their ears? Wild have maybe 4 FWDs (Granny, Parise, Staal, Zucker) that will top 60p this season, the rest might not even hit the 50p mark.

I'd take EJ over Spurgeon, but I'd also like a d-man that can stay healthy for a full season too. Overall the Wild's top 4 is better, but it's not as huge of a gap as it has been in the past.

Based on the trade board depth charts for COL:
MacKinnon/Landeskog/Rantanen > Staal/Zucker/Granlund

Kerfoot/Jost/Wilson < Parise/Koivu/Greenway

Nieto/Soderberg/Bourgue < Nino/JEE/Coyle

4th lines are hard to compare since 1 player between both teams was on their respective team last year.

The top 4 comfortably goes to the Wild, and I wouldn't say it's not a huge gap. I don't know how COL's 3rd pair does either, but based on Seeler and Pateryn's play so far I think we also have a high end 3rd pair as well.

McKinnon/Rantanen are easily better than any FWDs MN has, and I'd easily take any of the Col top-9 over JEE/Greenway. I'd also take either Kerfoot or Soderberg over the statue that Koivu has become.

Because they won a home game 2-1 with 2 empty netters? Not really the strongest of evidence.

Col owned the play for 75% of the game, Dub standing on his head is the only reason it wasn't the score wasn't more lopsided.

 

[Wabit]

I don't know if picking up a guy who was readily traded twice and healthy scratched the majority of games wherever he went is really a noteworthy pickup. Maybe another change of scenery works out for him this time but I would think he most likely gets a few games and ends up in the press box again.

That basically describes the off-season signings of Brown, Fehr, and Hendricks that GMPF made.

 

[Goose312]

That basically describes the off-season signings of Brown, Fehr, and Hendricks that GMPF made.

Yeah, because there are plenty of those guys in the league. So why does picking up Dano make Sakic possibly a good GM? At least 23 other teams passed on him. At this point he's likely a bust, 13th forward until no one offers him another 1 year deal. I really don't understand the point you are trying to make here.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

And the Wild have PPG players up to their ears? Wild have maybe 4 FWDs (Granny, Parise, Staal, Zucker) that will top 60p this season, the rest might not even hit the 50p mark.

And the Avs have maybe 3.

 

[Saga of the Elk]

Yeah, because there are plenty of those guys in the league. So why does picking up Dano make Sakic possibly a good GM? At least 23 other teams passed on him. At this point he's likely a bust, 13th forward until no one offers him another 1 year deal. I really don't understand the point you are trying to make here.

I said picking up Dano was a good move by Sakic, not Wabit.

But to elaborate: Sakic has built a pretty decent team since 2014. Since the goal of the NHL is just making the playoffs according to this board, he's a genius as of last season.

Look at the guys they've drafted since 2015! He fleeced "legendary" GM David Poile to get Girard (and maybe Kamenev) and he fleeced "not so much" Pierre Dorion to get Jack Hughes (probably). He hired a very good coach in Jared Bednar away from "super savvy" Jarmo Kekalainen. Now he makes a zero-cost move to bolster an area of need while other guys sat on their hands.

So what if Dano doesn't work out - he might figure it out too. It's a smart move. Meanwhile we wait to see Matt Read to fix this plodding mess.

 

[Wabit]

Yeah, because there are plenty of those guys in the league. So why does picking up Dano make Sakic possibly a good GM? At least 23 other teams passed on him. At this point he's likely a bust, 13th forward until no one offers him another 1 year deal. I really don't understand the point you are trying to make here.

It makes him possibly a good GM because if it works out he looks smart, and if it doesn't then it's no harm no foul. It also takes depth from a divisional opponent. If all he does is play the 13th FWD and keeps the prospects playing in the AHL instead of making popcorn and nachos in the pressbox it's something. It's similar to MN picking up Prosser off waivers (twice from STL), he's nothing special as a player, but he filled in a needed roster spot.

I would have taken a chance on him in MN, with JEE being out and the AHL prospects aren't really better options currently.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

We're a "plodding mess" already?

 

[Bazeek]

We're a "plodding mess" already?

Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate.

 

[Saga of the Elk]

We're a "plodding mess" already?

Looks like it, yeah.

The narrative of hope is that these guys have seen enough disappointment in the last six-eight years to really build off it, the "core" is hitting their primes, the "youth" is going to surprise, and Dubnyk is going to be a rock. The narrative of what we've seen is these guys look older than last year in a major way, most of the "core" is just not talented enough, and the young guys have ceilings for the foreseeable future, and Dubnyk is a rock.
Lots of racetrack left, sure. But I'd rather be an Avs fan knowing there's talent on the team, in the pipeline, and in the lottery balls too. Situation is just not that rosy for this franchise and won't be for a long time as it stands.

 

[Saga of the Elk]

Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate.

Pero siamo in purgatorio...

 

[Wabit]

And the Avs have maybe 3.

McKinnon and Rantanen should be 80p+, Landeskog 60+, Kerfoot I think has a breakout season and that 3rd line a a matchup nightmare.

 

[Bazeek]

Pero siamo in purgatorio...

Maybe, maybe not. I haven't been impressed by what I've seen so far, but it's been 4 games. There are multiple guys on this team that are capable of more than they've shown thus far, so either they get it together or we can expect to see changes. Purgatory's all about purification, after all.

Anyway, I don't think waiver claims are all that relevant to the Wild either way right now.

 

[Wabit]

Anyway, I don't think waiver claims are all that relevant to the Wild either way right now.

Nov 1st (IIRC?) might be a different story, we're still the 24th in claim order until then.

 

[AKL]

McKinnon and Rantanen should be 80p+, Landeskog 60+, Kerfoot I think has a breakout season and that 3rd line a a matchup nightmare.

Do you have relatives on the Avs third line?

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Looks like it, yeah.

The narrative of hope is that these guys have seen enough disappointment in the last six-eight years to really build off it, the "core" is hitting their primes, the "youth" is going to surprise, and Dubnyk is going to be a rock. The narrative of what we've seen is these guys look older than last year in a major way, most of the "core" is just not talented enough, and the young guys have ceilings for the foreseeable future, and Dubnyk is a rock.
Lots of racetrack left, sure. But I'd rather be an Avs fan knowing there's talent on the team, in the pipeline, and in the lottery balls too. Situation is just not that rosy for this franchise and won't be for a long time as it stands.

1. I'd absolutely love to have Ottawa's 1st rounder. No denying that. Perks of being a league doormat for a number of years and suckering a floundering franchise into trading for one of the assets gained during that time.
2. The first 4 or 5 games of a season are full of unsustainability, unless we're on the verge of seeing a 137 goal campaign from Mr. Matthews.
3. If our time at the bottom of the league is approaching, then so be it. Make some good draft picks and we'll jump back up in no time.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

McKinnon and Rantanen should be 80p+, Landeskog 60+, Kerfoot I think has a breakout season and that 3rd line a a matchup nightmare.

Bourque and Nieto are nothing players at this point. Soderberg has a little bit of equity in the league, but he's also not too far removed from a 14 point in 80 game campaign.

I'm not sure what aspect of that line makes it a nightmare for anybody.

 

[Saga of the Elk]

Bourque and Nieto are nothing players at this point. Soderberg has a little bit of equity in the league, but he's also not too far removed from a 14 point in 80 game campaign.

I'm not sure what aspect of that line makes it a nightmare for anybody.

Compher is a decent player, as is Calvert. Not sure about nightmare.

1. I'd absolutely love to have Ottawa's 1st rounder. No denying that. Perks of being a league doormat for a number of years and suckering a floundering franchise into trading for one of the assets gained during that time.
2. The first 4 or 5 games of a season are full of unsustainability, unless we're on the verge of seeing a 137 goal campaign from Mr. Matthews.
3. If our time at the bottom of the league is approaching, then so be it. Make some good draft picks and we'll jump back up in no time.

1. The year before they drafted Duchene (i.e. 2007-2008, he was a 2009 pick) they beat the Wild in the playoffs. Not quite doormat. Just a mixed bag of ups and downs and two Cups before things really went off the rails.
2. For sure (but who knows!!)
3. I do believe that there are enough foundational pieces in the Wild system to avoid an Oilers-like "rebuild." And I doubt that this team will ever sink enough to garner a high pick.

 

[thestonedkoala]

I'm not happy with how JEE has been developed. What a mess he is.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I'm not happy with how JEE has been developed. What a mess he is.

I agree with sentence #1.

 

[thestonedkoala]

I agree with sentence #1.

How is he not a mess? White, Samsonov, Boeser, Konecny, Roslovic, Juulsen, Larsson, Beauvillier, Fletcher, Aho, Carlo, Greer, Sprong, were all taken after him and look better.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I don’t know half of those names.

 

[thestonedkoala]

I don’t know half of those names.

White, Boeser, Konecny, Juulsen, Beauvillier, Aho, Greer and Sprong should be know. Carlo, Fletcher, Larsson, Roslovic, and Samsanov is meh, but have been showing more than JEE.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Samsonov has played 0 NHL games. Greer has 4 NHL points. Who the hell is Fletcher? What has Julssen done?