Edited Nov. 18, 2019 at 9:40 p.m.
Quoting: moli92
I think I overpaid some players in those AGMs (Makar at 10M, Timmins at 3M right out of his ELC, etc) to show that we still had wiggle room. Burakovsky has only played 20 games so far (most of it with an increased offensive role since Rantanen and Landeskog are out), pump the brakes on the 65 points and nitpicking about salary. Last season Kerfoot started out with 14P in 18GP (64 point pace) and ended with 42.
I dont see how this is like the Leafs situation especially with so much money spent on solid defense. the issue with Toronto is that they spent so much on forwards that they dont have enough to spend on defense. Adding Hall doesnt take away from the Avs future blueline of Makar, Girard, Byram, Timmins, especially when the elite forwards are on much cheaper deals than TOR forwards. If you want the Avs to compete for a cup then they will be up against the cap like all of the other contenders, theres no avoiding a cap crunch if you want to be an elite team.
The MacKinnon extension is 4 years away. Id like the Avs to compete and hopefully win a cup in that timeframe. After that we can sell players to make room for the 13M or whatever it takes for MacKinnon to sign.
I just don't think you need Hall, besides him being a big sexy name to add to a roster, what more does he add to an already top offence, I guess thats my point. You sacrifice newhook and cap space for what. Avs are not hurting for secondary scoring, if anything right now the depth is showing they have solid scoring depth.
I just think its a foolish move that will back fire and do more harm than good. Not disputing Halls all world talent, but Avs already have 2 super stair fowards, and another superstar on D. They aren't lacking fire power and I would rather in this case keep on to a guy like Newhook who you groom to be your 2C bc Kadri is on a time line and you need someone to slip into that roll to prolong this cup window. Jost is not going to fill that role, and chance are Bowers won't either. So what's the point of a 11m 2nd line Winger who doesn't have a C to play with?
Hall is a very much of a nice to have but not at all needed type of add, You do not do it unless the price is 100% right for them. They do not need to get into an arms race and over pay for him giving up a core future piece in Newhook or Byram (cant over state how important their ELC years will be to prolong the mackinnon cup window).
If you can make it a deal for a Jost Zads and a pick type pick and the Devils for some strange reason accept. Avs are taking their shot now and not sacrificing their future pieces to fill in the roster and damaging that pipeline. My point is Avs spent long painful years building up one of the better farm systems in the whole NHL, why burn it down to the ground in year 1 of their cup window on a player that I really do not see a major fit for.