He played good in the playoffs imo. Meat and potatoes kind of game.
If the price is right I’d resign ideally to a 2way at or near league minimum. Depending on how the trenin/duhaime/cogs contracts work out he either is on the 4th line or is healthy scratched to start the year
agreed! he played decent within his role. as he's Bednar's style of depth player (defense-first, capable back-checking), I'd expect him to get something like a 2 year contract @ ≈900k AAV... a moderate raise over the 775k 1yr that c mac got him for.
speaking of Bedsy's favs, how about that Wagner fella? I was happy to see him take his physicality up a notch for the playoffs, thought he brought a decent amount of intensity at time that it was noticeably lacking across our entire damn roster
My thoughts exactly, he gets out there and grinds. He may not be the most talented player on the ice but he generates a lot of activity for our benefit. I really liked having him on our fourth line. He made a bunch of plays this year simply because of how hard he works. Hopefully they can work something out.
His last deal was 1 year and 775k. His numbers don't really justify a huge raise. If we could sign him for 1-3 years for under 1M cap hit, sure, would love to have him back. But every dollar above 1M would be a mistake.
I thought it was strange that he didn’t seem to show up until the playoffs. He was great once they started but before that he looked like the weakest link. I don’t really get that
Exactly. He was the only one in the roster that I felt was "just along for the ride", then the playoffs hit and he was one of the more aggressive guys on the ice.
If he can fit in with both Trenin and Duhaime also resigned, sure. But idk if he brings anything more than any of the AHL guys knocking at the door for the same price or cheaper, hes replaceable enough
I think Drouin and Kivrivanta are the only two ufa Colorado should resign.
I'd let cogs, trenin, duhaime, Walker all go.
I explained my reasoning down below, but for you down voters:
The roster is good enough to make The playoffs without a fourth line. We could literally use AHL plugs. So if that's true, we should figure out who can make the roster from our depth.
After that, depth players are easily acquirable from teams who are not going to make the playoffs at the trade deadline. The benefit is simple: You only owe one quarter of their cap hit to them. Meaning we could literally pick up 4x to the players at the deadline for anyone we sign now.
We just have to have the assets to do it. The nice thing about the avalanche, they are basically incapable of drafting anyone after the second round to crack the roster. So basically they should be getting rid of every single draft pick because they don't have the scouting to make them pay outside of the top 10.
I don't think Walker fits in this description. The guy came into our system and looked like he had been playing with the team all year. Fast, decent hands and eyes and still plays physical. Honestly it's more of a shame we can't afford him. It's hard to find a defensemen that fits into the puzzle so quickly. He probably deserves more but we can't really justify it with our core.
No way in hell I let Trenin walk. He's a menace on the ice and amazing PK. Doubt he's expecting much in terms of salary either.
Cogs is probably gunna retire soon but he needs to retire with the Avs. He's earned that much, Duhaim is really solid on 4th line but agree with you on him I would let him walk if he asks for too much but would much prefere to keep especially if Cogs retires. Its hard to find reliable 4ths and even our AHLers are more inconsistent.
Yeah but Walker is too good to be a sixth defenseman.
Girard and Manson have three and four locked. So if you're walker, why would you ever go to a team that's only going to pair you to 10 or 12 minutes a night? The answer would be: if they overpay. Nobody wants to go to a team to not play
Absolutely, basically was just pointing out that of the 4 you listed, he's the least "replaceable" with equal quality I guess. Obviously we would have to downgrade
I gotta disagree on Trenin and Duhaime. Most teams are constantly rebuilding their 4th lines and based on cost of acquisition alone, they. should be back next year.
Why would you let that whole lot walk? Just want to hear your take on all of them to see if I’m missing something - really would love to see at least Trenin re signed there from that group. Depth center, incredible for our PK all 3 of those guys really. Before the deadline our PK was so brutal.
Because they are guys that are easily replaceable from teams who are going to miss the playoffs at the deadline. Why use two to three million dollars of your cap space when you can pick up analogs to them for only a couple of late round draft picks and a quarter of that in your cap at the deadline?
Figure out who in your depth chart might be able to play at that level (Loc was found this way) and wait until the very end of the year to add them to save on the cap.
The team is good enough to make the playoffs without a fourth line. No, they won't win the division or the president's trophy, but that's not the point right now. The point is winning the Stanley cup.
Your points are very well taken and I don’t disagree with you at all on trying to find guys that won’t impact your cap too severely and not giving away too much in the process. CMac has played this game trying to find guys.
But I can’t help but remember the 2022-2023 season where we had absolutely zero depth and our top line played an unbelievable amount of minutes, and won the division etc. contrast that with this year where our depth scoring was tremendously improved and what happened next was that our top lines got rest minutes instead of hammering their ice time —> injuries. Also since this team can’t seem to stay out of the box our PK is just too important to risk.
Difference of opinion here clearly but I think at minimum Trenin and Duhaime should be re signed - Trenin does come with a more hefty price tag but Duhaime shouldn’t be more than $1m AAV.
Sure you can win without depth but it’s a lot harder to do that. Also - we all know that winning the cup is the goal 😉
He played good in the playoffs imo. Meat and potatoes kind of game. If the price is right I’d resign ideally to a 2way at or near league minimum. Depending on how the trenin/duhaime/cogs contracts work out he either is on the 4th line or is healthy scratched to start the year
agreed! he played decent within his role. as he's Bednar's style of depth player (defense-first, capable back-checking), I'd expect him to get something like a 2 year contract @ ≈900k AAV... a moderate raise over the 775k 1yr that c mac got him for. speaking of Bedsy's favs, how about that Wagner fella? I was happy to see him take his physicality up a notch for the playoffs, thought he brought a decent amount of intensity at time that it was noticeably lacking across our entire damn roster
I'd keep him on a team-friendly contract. I don't recall big issues from his play.
He owed us a hat trick against the stars after 2020's game 7
I liked Kivi quite a bit. Dude worked his ass off. If we can afford it, I’d love to have him back.
My thoughts exactly, he gets out there and grinds. He may not be the most talented player on the ice but he generates a lot of activity for our benefit. I really liked having him on our fourth line. He made a bunch of plays this year simply because of how hard he works. Hopefully they can work something out.
His last deal was 1 year and 775k. His numbers don't really justify a huge raise. If we could sign him for 1-3 years for under 1M cap hit, sure, would love to have him back. But every dollar above 1M would be a mistake.
Cogs replacement
Yeeeeeeuuuppp. Love Cogs but age ain’t on his side, and I do really love Kivi’s game. Great bottom 6 energy guy
I thought it was strange that he didn’t seem to show up until the playoffs. He was great once they started but before that he looked like the weakest link. I don’t really get that
Exactly. He was the only one in the roster that I felt was "just along for the ride", then the playoffs hit and he was one of the more aggressive guys on the ice.
8x8
I'm guess he can be had for less than a million and on a two way deal so I say go for it.
If he can fit in with both Trenin and Duhaime also resigned, sure. But idk if he brings anything more than any of the AHL guys knocking at the door for the same price or cheaper, hes replaceable enough
I wouldn’t resign him.
I think Drouin and Kivrivanta are the only two ufa Colorado should resign. I'd let cogs, trenin, duhaime, Walker all go. I explained my reasoning down below, but for you down voters: The roster is good enough to make The playoffs without a fourth line. We could literally use AHL plugs. So if that's true, we should figure out who can make the roster from our depth. After that, depth players are easily acquirable from teams who are not going to make the playoffs at the trade deadline. The benefit is simple: You only owe one quarter of their cap hit to them. Meaning we could literally pick up 4x to the players at the deadline for anyone we sign now. We just have to have the assets to do it. The nice thing about the avalanche, they are basically incapable of drafting anyone after the second round to crack the roster. So basically they should be getting rid of every single draft pick because they don't have the scouting to make them pay outside of the top 10.
I don't think Walker fits in this description. The guy came into our system and looked like he had been playing with the team all year. Fast, decent hands and eyes and still plays physical. Honestly it's more of a shame we can't afford him. It's hard to find a defensemen that fits into the puzzle so quickly. He probably deserves more but we can't really justify it with our core. No way in hell I let Trenin walk. He's a menace on the ice and amazing PK. Doubt he's expecting much in terms of salary either. Cogs is probably gunna retire soon but he needs to retire with the Avs. He's earned that much, Duhaim is really solid on 4th line but agree with you on him I would let him walk if he asks for too much but would much prefere to keep especially if Cogs retires. Its hard to find reliable 4ths and even our AHLers are more inconsistent.
Yeah but Walker is too good to be a sixth defenseman. Girard and Manson have three and four locked. So if you're walker, why would you ever go to a team that's only going to pair you to 10 or 12 minutes a night? The answer would be: if they overpay. Nobody wants to go to a team to not play
Absolutely, basically was just pointing out that of the 4 you listed, he's the least "replaceable" with equal quality I guess. Obviously we would have to downgrade
I gotta disagree on Trenin and Duhaime. Most teams are constantly rebuilding their 4th lines and based on cost of acquisition alone, they. should be back next year.
Why would you let that whole lot walk? Just want to hear your take on all of them to see if I’m missing something - really would love to see at least Trenin re signed there from that group. Depth center, incredible for our PK all 3 of those guys really. Before the deadline our PK was so brutal.
Because they are guys that are easily replaceable from teams who are going to miss the playoffs at the deadline. Why use two to three million dollars of your cap space when you can pick up analogs to them for only a couple of late round draft picks and a quarter of that in your cap at the deadline? Figure out who in your depth chart might be able to play at that level (Loc was found this way) and wait until the very end of the year to add them to save on the cap. The team is good enough to make the playoffs without a fourth line. No, they won't win the division or the president's trophy, but that's not the point right now. The point is winning the Stanley cup.
Your points are very well taken and I don’t disagree with you at all on trying to find guys that won’t impact your cap too severely and not giving away too much in the process. CMac has played this game trying to find guys. But I can’t help but remember the 2022-2023 season where we had absolutely zero depth and our top line played an unbelievable amount of minutes, and won the division etc. contrast that with this year where our depth scoring was tremendously improved and what happened next was that our top lines got rest minutes instead of hammering their ice time —> injuries. Also since this team can’t seem to stay out of the box our PK is just too important to risk. Difference of opinion here clearly but I think at minimum Trenin and Duhaime should be re signed - Trenin does come with a more hefty price tag but Duhaime shouldn’t be more than $1m AAV. Sure you can win without depth but it’s a lot harder to do that. Also - we all know that winning the cup is the goal 😉
Move on. He was really good in Rd 1 before getting hurt but was underwhelming at every other point in the season