I like the idea of moving Graves, his value may never be higher than it is right now and in a year or two there just won't be any room for him on the blue line in Colorado with there deep prospect pool.

Well then you mind as well trade Jost

That'd be a pretty sick top six.

Jeeze! Look at that D core! Wow!

Sakic is quietly building a perennial contender! Great young team!

I think a conditional pick from MTL in the Tatar trade if he doesn't re-sign would make sense. I feel like Burakovsky will sign for less than $5M but thay contract will look good over the next 4 years! Byram should definitely be able to play in the top 4 next year

Not really a Tatar fan but he will cost more than Compher and Graves. Compher is not really passable in a top 6. He is a third liner who has never even reached 40 points.

If MTL goes after Hall I think they will consider this offer .. even if Tatar was their best scoring player this year

Avs would be better off keeping Graves, especially if it costs another useful player in Compher. Based on comparables, Graves can't demand a long term contract next season; the Avs can afford to kick the can for at least next year with him for cheap. I feel like their best scenario is keeping everyone they have, except Z, letting VN walk as UFA, & using the TDL to add if needed. Core players are gonna be very expensive soon; making additional commitments is gonna get dicey & Sakic will want to maintain some flexibility. Again, IMO

although I like Graves, MTL would have no need or desire to pay a bottom 6 Forward 3.5M for the next 4 years, they have Armia and Leckie who put up similar pts and are cheaper.
Tatar had A good year last year and was having a great one this year so I think MTL declines and gets a better offer elsewhere.
maybe Graves and the 2020 1st would do it.

So Montreal would gave Tatar and a conditional pick for depth players is that what you are saying?

So if you are aware of allnthose rumors, you probably know that Bergevin have no intention of trading Tatar. He have already said he will start extension talk when the offseason kick in. He also said that it would take a great offer to entertain the idea of tradibg him. That not the case here. Graves can be a nice piece that for sure but it won’t be enough for a Tatar who have been outstanding the past 2 season. He also have been a consistent 20 goal scorer for is entired career. Montreal have absolutely no interest in Compher and is contract. Tatar even with is UFA status will draw lot of interest and will clearly get Montreal a much better return if he is traded. Tatar have had the same point total then Landeskog and Guentzel the past 2 season, he deserves more credit and more respect.

I'd be loathe to move Graves as he was really good this season. He was 3rd in icetime, top 10 in the league in PK minutes, and lead the league in +/-. His cap hit will also be advantageous to us going forwards, which makes him an ideal 3rd pairing D.

However, IF (big if right now) Byram AND Timmins are ready, then it makes sense to get a good return for Graves while his value is high.

Yeah I think it's quite likely that he'll get traded. However, it might still be a little early to give up on him. At the very least he can provide cheap depth and the ability to fill in in the top 6 if we have injuries. Unless we get a really good offer for him we may as well just keep him.

A conditional pick might be fair, but you'd probably also need a pick going back from Colorado I think. Something like Tatar + conditional 3rd (if he doesn't resign) for Graves + Compher + 2nd

Compher has been a 0.5ppg player since the 2018 playoffs. That is, 72 points in 151 games, which is 39 point pace in 2 seasons. This season he's pacing 38 points. And that's all without PP time.

The reason I said "passable" is because he is ok but not great as a 2nd liner. As shown above he can put up 0.5ppg (and likely more with some PP time), but ideally you want him on your 3rd line. A player like him would be useful to Montreal as they could use Compher in heavy minutes and ease Kotkaniemi/Suzuki/Caufield into more responsibility.

Keeping Graves would be a great solution for Colorado too. He provides a steady presence on the blueline and plays heavy minutes which would help to insulate Byram in his first season. The likeliest scenario is probably that Graves gets kept around on a 2-3 year deal, and then gets moved once Byram is established and Graves starts to demand more money.

I really like Namestnikov and think he'd be a great fit going forwards. Resigning him would be what makes Compher expendable in this trade, as we'd have one too many 3rd liners.

We would still have plenty of flexibility with these moves given that few of the contracts go beyond 2023.

But he puts up 20+ goals every season I think Drouin has 1 20 goal season.

Compher has 3 years remaining after this one, not 4. For what he provides he's paid fair market price, it's not a bad contract. He's paced ~0.5ppg in 151 since the 2018 playoffs, while also being a useful PKer. That said I understand if Montreal would prefer someone else who's cheaper. Maybe Jost would be a better fit given that he's cheaper? Alternatively Nichuskin though I think Colorado prefer keeping him for his defensive ability.

Sakic doesn't trade 1sts, and I especially can't see him trading one for a rental.

Ok, I’ll give that to you. Its a good deal when all said and done. I just think MTL can probably get a better offer for Tatar.

Compher has never hit 20 goals dude.

Montreal have Kotkaniemi, Caufield, and Suzuki on the way, probably along with one of Perfetti/Holtz/Raymond/Rossi, so sooner rather than later they're going to need to move one of their top 6 forwards to make room. Tatar is the oldest out of Gallagher/Domi/Drouin/Tatar so he is the logical one to move.

Tatar's value in this trade is reflective of the fact that he's a pending UFA. In any case, it's certainly possible that Tatar could get a higher return in terms of futures, but Bergevin clearly knows that a top 4 LHD is a BIG need for Montreal, and finding a team willing to give up a young cost-controlled top 4 D like Graves is going to be extremely difficult. Teams don't give those sorts of players up for 1 year rentals.

How are Montreal going to find a young cost-controlled top 4 LHD? Teams hardly ever give up players like that, especially not for pending UFA's.

Upon further review of Graves I think you’re right. I didn’t realize how good Graves was and considering his contract this is actually a very solid deal for the Habs. Still I am not a Compher fan even though he was born in the same town as me!

Montreal Have Romanov, Norlinder, Harris and Strubble who are coming shortly on the left side. Graves would fill a short term need for sure but Romanov and Harris will take the work load in a very near futur. Graves have had a outstanding year, but there way to much uncertainties in is case to justify that trade. Adding to that bad Compher contract this offer is jut not what Bergevin would look for. Tatar is clearly the best player in that deal and both Graves and Compher have very limited ceiling. Bergevin would be looking for at least a players with some high potential. Montreal would probably want Graves+ a good Prospect and possibly a 2nd round pick.

Yeah Graves' has been extremely good under the radar this season. He admittedly only has 1 season of proven play, but the fact that he's been very steady suggests that he's not going to suddenly revert into something else. He plays heavy minutes, PK, scores goals (9 goals + 17 assists), blocks shots, and is 6'5'' and plays like it. And as you mentioned his next contract should be fairly cheap. He's pretty much the perfect player for Montreal to target, and Montreal have assets that Colorado needs, so it's no surprise that Bergevin and his assistant GM made the effort to fly to Denver to watch him play at the deadline.

Every team can list a bunch of prospects and say that they are "set", but the reality is that few prospects actually live up to expectations. Even if Romanov etc make it, Graves plays the heaviest minutes and the PK, so he could be a very useful player in the D group even if he wasn't on the top pairing.

Compher's contract isn't bad, it's fair market value for a 0.5ppg player who is also a good PK'er.

Tatar might be the best player, but he's also a 29 year old pending UFA which factors into the trade valuation.

As for limited ceilings, Graves played as a top pairing Dman on one of the best teams in the league this season. How much higher than that do you think a players ceiling can be?!

Colorado would want to include Compher (or Donskoi) to balance salary. It's rare these days that trades happen where one team is taking on a lot of salary. That said, I suppose Colorado could keep Compher instead of resigning Namestnikov and/or Jost, but it makes sense from an asset management perspective to resign Namestnikov (rather than lose him for nothing) and instead move someone else who can return something (i.e. Compher or Jost).

In any case, let's say that it was Tatar for Graves + 2nd + prospect. Which prospect would you want? The value of the trade can value hugely depending on which prospect it is you want.