No interest in Cole. I would like to keep Chisholm, and I would take a serious look at Jost. Would a Niku for Jost swap as a base work? Fresh start for both on new teams. What would Peg need to add?

I think you'd have to move johnson or nichushkin/burakovsky to make this work. or hope the cap goes up

Why? This roster clearly works, as it's under the cap ceiling. The $1.5m forward could actually be Jost if we kept him too. Alternatively I'm sure we could get a reasonably good ELC forward for Compher.

Thanks for your feedback.

Avs don't really have a need for a guy like Niku who's pure offense since we already have Makar, Byram, Girard. We need more of a two-way guy. Niku also isn't a prospect anymore technically, so would be exposed in the ED. If he hasn't been able to break into the NHL on Winnipeg's depleted blueline I doubt he'd be able to make our roster which features Makar/Johnson/Timmins.

It makes sense that Winnipeg would be interested in Jost, and I think he would be a good fit as your 2C given that you have two good wingers on the 2nd line in Ehlers and Connor who can carry the line. That said I'm hesitant to trade Jost to Winnipeg unless we're getting a good player coming back.

As such, how about a trade around Jost and Chisholm?

Alex Pietrangelo wants 8 x $9.5mill from St Louis, Basically anywhere else you're looking at 7 x $10mill or 7 x $10.5mill to sign him.

You're probably right. But maybe he wants to play for a team that is going to be a perennial contender for the duration of that contract. So he may accept slightly less, i.e something like $9.5m x 7 years.

Perhaps Colorado would definitely be the perfect fit for him.

What are u paying Seattle to not take Girard, assuming it's 7_3? Have to protect Johnson, then makar n petro as well.
If you go 4_4 then kadri or bura are gone

kaut on the 2nd line. $1.5m for a 3rd liner. bellemare taking less than half his salary. bura seems a little bit low as does timmins and grubauer. only a roster of 22. it just seems like you're forcing the pieces together.

Girard won't get exposed under any circumstances.


There are two scenario's in how this gets solved.


The first, revolves around Johnson not being protected.

On the one hand you can simply buy him out. Which would be a terrible result for Johnson as he would be removed from a contender after spending years waiting for the team to get good. Needless to say, if faced with the prospect of being bought out I'm sure he'd prefer to waive his NMC, especially if he gets told by Sakic that he'll trade a pick to make sure that Seattle don't pick him if he waives.

Alternatively Colorado could find a way to trade him since he has to provide a 19 team trade list. Obviously a trade is not an ideal scenario, but the threat of a trade can be used to entice him to waive. His odds of staying in Colorado are actually much higher if he were to waive.


The second option, is to go 4+4+1 instead of 7+3+1, and protecting Mackinnon, Rantanen, Landeskog, Kadri + Makar, Girard, Pietrangelo, Johnson.

Obviously it would hurt to lose Burakovsky, but that's not an insurmountable loss. We could also choose to trade Kadri before the ED and protect Burakovsky instead, and then simply have Newhook take over as 2C right away. In that scenario the forwards exposed would be Compher/Nichuskin/Donskoi who are all roughly the same quality so it wouldn't make much discernible difference who Seattle would pick out of those 3. The return on Kadri would likely be pretty good too, because 30+30 2C's with physical playstyle are hard to find.

You're probably right to some extent.

I will counter those points though.

- Kaut looks like he could be a reasonably solid middle 6 forward, so having him on the 2nd line would be fine.
- A good $1.5m 3rd liner isn't really that hard to find. We could simply do something similar to what Tampa did and acquire someone like Coleman, or someone like Paquette. Or just keep Jost, that would definitely be doable.
- Burakovsky might be a little bit low, but with a flat cap I think we could perhaps squeeze him down under $5m. He only has one good season after all. That's especially true if we sign him to a 2-3 year deal.
- If Timmins doesn't play in the NHL much in 2020/21 he won't have much leverage to demand a huge raise on his ELC in 2021. So I don't think it's impossible that we could get him signed on a cheap bridge deal.
- Grubauer I am probably a bit low on at $5m. Maybe we'd be inclined to go with $5.5m and then replace Francouz with Werner as the backup instead (or maybe even Annunen). Or if Francouz does really well again next season and in the playoffs we could actually move Grubauer and go with Francouz as the starter, thus actually saving some capspace instead of needing to pay a raise to our goalies.

As for the 22 player roster. Given that Colorado has their affiliate very nearby in Loveland they usually just go with 1 extra F and 1 D. So that's not really an issue.

That all said, I do agree with you that some mental gymnastics is required here, and it is a bit of a squeeze. Sakic was clearly intent on fitting in Panarin at $12.5m x 4 years or $11.6m x 7 years though so it would seem like he has some plans on how we can add a legit superstar UFA to the roster.

I’d rather keep Chisholm as he’s shaping up to be a real nice prospect with a nice upside and I’m really not a fan of trading players once they commit. I would do a Roslo/Jost deal as a base. Roslo has a lot of untapped potential and has shown flashes of T6 ability, but seems to be in PoMos doghouse. I’ve watched Jost and he hasn’t quite hit his stride given his draft position, but think given the right circumstances he may blend in nicely in the Pegs middle 6 role. Change of scenery for both but I think Colorado adds, not much but just a sweetener.
Great reply btw

Interesting idea. It feels like a bit of a sideways move though, and I'm not sure that makes it worth it for Colorado. I'd prefer a trade where we package Jost for a significant upgrade, or use him to acquire good futures (picks/prospects).

Anyways, where would you see him slotting into Colorado's lineup? I guess either as an energy guy/playmaker on the 2nd line with Burakovsky and Kadri; or 3C; or at 3RW. Those are positions we have plenty of players for though - probably too many. Is Roslovic any better than Compher/Jost/Donskoi/Nichuskin? If not then it doesn't make sense really.

Roslo is an odd case. Highly talented, good hands, is shifty and has great wheels. He’s been inconsistent in a T6 role. He can’t drive a line himself (at least not yet) and may be better suited as a T6 winger with a play driving C. As a #3 C, I think he would do great and would shelter him a bit until he gains that experience and confidence. Jost may suit PoMos style a bit better than Roslo does.
How do you view Timmins? I know concussions stalled his development a bit but I always liked him in junior and thought he would do well.
What would the add be for Jost and Timmins? Roslo + ?

Thanks for the clarification. As I said earlier I don't think Roslovic makes much sense for Colorado. Lateral move at best.

Timmins is valued extremely highly. He was ranked by The Hockey Writers as the 90th best prospect not currently in the NHL, making him the 15th highest rated RHD prospect. And that's in spite of him missing 18 months of development.

Timmins is going to be a stud, and given that Avs don't have much depth at RHD in the system and need to replace Johnson in the top 4 next 1-2 seasons Timmins is next to untouchable. He has top pairing potential, but likely ends up as a solid two-way #3 for Colorado, anchoring the 2nd pairing. The only way he gets moved is if we are packaging him with a 1st to pick up a top, top forward with term. Sakic wouldn't even move him in a trade for Taylor Hall at the deadline.

Needless to say, the "+" on Jack Roslovic would need to be pretty substantial for it to even be considered, and it would be Colorado adding to Timmins to ensure that we got a high end player back. Jost for Roslovic would be a wash, and then the rest of the trade would be Timmins + 1st + prospect/pick for one of your top 6 forwards (eg. Ehlers/Connor/Laine). Any other trade involving Timmins going to Winnipeg doesn't really make sense for Colorado.