Welcome Max McCormick

[Tommy Shelby]

Meh. At least he's willing to stick up for him teammates, something we lack. I'd rather have that element take up Dries' minutes than Dries.

 

[DanglesFromDuchene]

Did we just get a Cody McLeod back?

 

[Raucherhusten]

Meh. At least he's willing to stick up for him teammates, something we lack. I'd rather have that element take up Dries' minutes than Dries.

Dries is fine. His linemates suck.

 

[Papa Francouz]

From the frying pan into the fire
Maybe they plan on him beating up on Grubauer and Varlamov every time they let in a softie?

I wouldn’t be opposed to that...

 

[Ararana]

Can always count on Sakic to sit on his hands say he’s going to do nothing and then BAM!

That's literally the opposite of what he said last night.

 

[AvsFan29]

Our Bottom-6 will just be a bunch of AHLers. Like in EA games where you mismanage the cap so your team becomes top heavy with cheap fillers....but without the top heavy part

We do have the top heavy part down. On forward anyway

 

[Bender]

He's Gourque 2.0 that fights

Well the Avs certainly have a type.

Sens save 200k, so they have that going for them.

On a serious note, McCormick is a type of a player Bednar will love, throws his weight around, skates around like a man possessed, fight here and there and provides nothing else. Basically, Gorque 2.0 who can fight as Henchy said.

This seems to me like a move to get a contract slot off the books. McCormick is a UFA, unlikely to be renewed. JC Beaudin had another year on his contract for next year. Making room for Saigeon for next year?

 

[TruePowerSlave]

McCormick is the better player + UFA after this year so we get more flexibility

 

[S E P H]

Do not like we gave up on JC Beaudin - sure he was afraid to get hit, but I much rather stick with him and see if he would ever change than getting a career tweener like McCormick.

Also the posters here really need to start using the prefixes, I have no idea what I was coming into this thread.

 

[Goulet17]

So how do you think this trade originated? Did Sakic call up Dorion about the cost for a Dzingel/Stone or did Dorion call Sakic up in a fool-hardy attempt to re-acquire the Ottawa first round pick?

It probably was not the case, but it is fun to speculate.

 

[arun]

Cody’s reincarnation!

 

[UncleRisto]

This is as pointless as playing the rest of the season.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

Beaudin has always left me wanting more since turning pro, but it’s another relatively high draft pick that got stuck in mud once getting into then Avs pro system. This team seriously can’t develop anyone. Reading Kaut tell the Czech media that he feels like he has to develop himself is worrisome stuff.

 

[Bender]

So how do you think this trade originated? Did Sakic call up Dorion about the cost for a Dzingel/Stone or did Dorion call Sakic up in a fool-hardy attempt to re-acquire the Ottawa first round pick?

It probably was not the case, but it is fun to speculate.

This was posted in the main board thread :

"Maybe if I can break the ice with a small meaningless deal now, I can work up to get the 1st rounder out of him later."

- Pierre Dorion, Canadian Pickers fanboy

...and if anyone has ever seen that show, that's exactly what they do. (But it could also be Sakic doing it to him lol)

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

Reading Kaut tell the Czech media that he feels like he has to develop himself is worrisome stuff.

That's something I must have missed. And extremely concerning. It felt like a few years ago the Avs were starting to turn a corner. Bringing the AHL club closer, more staff in the area, the emphasis on playing in the system before moving up. What's missing? What is this franchise doing wrong?

 

[forsbergavs32]

Odd move tbh, but it’s hopefully a sign Joe is trying to improve the team even if talks broke down to an AHL deal

 

[The Kingslayer]

Swapped a snowflake for a snowball.

We win the trade.

JCB was softer than a snowflake

 

[CobraAcesS]

Beaudin has always left me wanting more since turning pro, but it’s another relatively high draft pick that got stuck in mud once getting into then Avs pro system. This team seriously can’t develop anyone. Reading Kaut tell the Czech media that he feels like he has to develop himself is worrisome stuff.

 

[sethro109]

Oh good the Avs finally add some grit and size to the team....... 5'11 188lbs

Well **** guess he can't be any worse than Bourque right?

 

[AnimalMother73]

So from an infrastructure perspective what exactly are the Avs not doing to develop their prospects? Are there certain roles that they don’t fill (dietician, strength and conditioning coach, etc that other teams do? It could have more to do with their drafting than development as very few if any prospect have struggled in their system and then gone on to success elsewhere. Only one that I can think of is Boychuk.

 

[Pokecheque]

So from an infrastructure perspective what exactly are the Avs not doing to develop their prospects? Are there certain roles that they don’t fill (dietician, strength and conditioning coach, etc that other teams do? It could have more to do with their drafting than development as very few if any prospect have struggled in their system and then gone on to success elsewhere. Only one that I can think of is Boychuk.

There's been a ton of upheaval with the Avs and their AHL affiliate. Last few years have been VERY chaotic. Dean Chynoweth seemed more interested in gooning it up than developing talent, and Sakic/Roy were a little too slow to show him the door. Then came the move to San Antonio and subsequent split affiliation. Now it appears the Avs have the type of affiliation with an organization that's on the same page as they are. But even then they kinda/sorta went out and hired a guy that screams "interim" to me. So...I don't know. It really doesn't help that Craig Billington is the guy running the Eagles, even though I don't think he's ever proven to be proficient at his job.

Don't get me started on frickin' Boychuk. I lay a lot of the blame there on Joel Quenneville. Dude hated him for some weird reason. Played him as a forward in the preseason. But that was a very long time ago so...meh.

 

[Bender]

That's something I must have missed. And extremely concerning. It felt like a few years ago the Avs were starting to turn a corner. Bringing the AHL club closer, more staff in the area, the emphasis on playing in the system before moving up. What's missing? What is this franchise doing wrong?

I think they've come a long way since even 5 years ago but they still have a ways to go. As Pokecheque said, there's been a lot of upheaval in their very recent past, so it's not necessarily surprising that this sort of stuff comes out. They went from Lake Erie (Cleveland) to San Antonio to Loveland in that span and also went from Chynoweth to Veilleux to Cronin during that span as well. That's not a lot of stability to be sure. (Agozzino has been there for almost all of it)

I think Pokecheque is right about Cronin too, he does scream 'interim' in the same way that Ted Hampson did that one year he was hired to run the scouts. Seems like they liked the job Schneekloth did for them but weren't too sure if he'd be able to handle the AHL right away.

If I had to guess what's lacking is probably just not enough communication with the players. I think all of those guys really want to know where they stand and how they are doing and how they fit in to the grand scheme of things.

In my opininon, a large portion of the solution comes from better drafting though. You draft better, you upgrade the overall talent on the farm which leads to more wins, which leads to more points for all of those guys, better GAA, save percentages, etc. This also makes these prospects look better to other teams as eventual free agents and what not. While this may seem like a really simplistic approach, it would make a heck of a difference. The AHL team will always needs its share of vets but I think we've relied on too many of those guys to form the majority of the team way too much over the years when it would be better if it was stocked with talented prospects.

 

[Tommy Shelby]

Until they get rid of Billington and poach someone from a team that can actually develop players, this problem will persist.

 

[Pokecheque]

Beaudin has always left me wanting more since turning pro, but it’s another relatively high draft pick that got stuck in mud once getting into then Avs pro system. This team seriously can’t develop anyone. Reading Kaut tell the Czech media that he feels like he has to develop himself is worrisome stuff.

Hmmmmmmm....

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

If I had to guess what's lacking is probably just not enough communication with the players. I think all of those guys really want to know where they stand and how they are doing and how they fit in to the grand scheme of things.

Sounds like a culture problem if we're in that area. Younger players (and people in general) need to see a vision that has their role in it and how they'll contribute. They need to be a part of a bigger story. And then they need help getting there with clear guidance, steps to be taken and strong peer mentorship. If their peers are journey AHLers that's only going to go so far. And if their peers are beat young prospects with no future they're not getting the high-end talent leaching they need that prospects in systems like Tampa Bay get.

But ultimately that's something that can be fixed with the right leadership, since the Avs have never changed their talent development leadership I can see why people point to Billington.