If Tatar was a rental, you would remove the 3rd and that's his price, with an extension its Timmins and that 1st

Much rather have Jt then Donskoi

Timmins isn't getting traded. It would be almost equivalent to Montreal trading Romanov. Without Timmins we have no RHD depth with Johnson aging and nearing UFA.

I wasn't sure what Tatar's price would be though, so I appreciate your feedback. How about if we bump the 3rd up to a 2nd?

I'm sure you would. But if both Compher and Donskoi are exposed in the ED Seattle would agree with you and pick Compher as he's younger and slightly cheaper.

This is accurate. A rental Tatar is worth a first and a C (2nd/3rd line/pair guy) prospect. An extended Tatar is worth a first and a B high end 2nd line/pair guy) prospect. Also, MTL is probably willing to retain on Tatar’s last year of his deal if COL needs that cap help.

Avs don't need the cap help, and I also think they'd rather make a "hockey trade" based on quotes from Sakic and rumors about Montreal liking Graves. I wouldn't be shocked to see something happen in the off season.

I figured that a 1st + 2nd/3rd + Beaucage (a Quebeqoise scoring winger with 2nd line upside) would be a solid return for Montreal.

Keep in mind that Tatar will be 30 soon, and the flat cap makes it a buyers market (not necessarily lowering Tatar's value per se, but teams will have plenty of cheaper options via trade and in UFA). Tatar also struggled last time he played in the West with Vegas which might make teams a bit hesitant.

As for retention, Avs won't need cap help in 2020/21. It's only beyond 2021 and especially 2023 where the cap becomes tight.

Timmins won’t do 2M right away but nice line up. For the MTL trade, the 2021 1st isn’t a deep draft, so yes, switch the 3rd for another 2nd and we might consider if Tatar isn’t resigning with us at that price ( 6M )

Graves for Tatar would be a solid good fit, so long as Tatar comes with a reasonable extension. I don't think Sakic would do it though unless we get a good look at Byram this playoff season (up to 9 games) and he shows that he can handle top 4 minutes.

Also, I think Sakic would rather target Domi given that he's a bit younger than Tatar. But purely in terms of fit I really like Tatar on our 2nd line as a possession driver and playmaker for Kadri and Burakovsky who are both shooters.

Thanks for your feedback.

I presume that Timmins will get some NHL action prior to the 2021 offseason, and I think it's reasonable to allocate between $1.5m - $2m for him. If he stays in the AHL for most of 2020/21 though then I think we'll be able to bridge him at something closer to $1m though.

2021 1st + 2022 2nd + Beaucage for Tatar with extension seems reasonable to me.

Do you think Tatar resigns for $6m x 6 years? I feel like he might be able to push for higher based on his last 2 seasons, but with a flat cap that's still a pretty solid contract.

Danault is the guy I'd like. Probably gonna be tough to swing that one though. I'd personally prefer Tatar over Domi by a fair margin if those are the choices.

6X6 is legit, I would love for MTL shorter terms, like Nyquist 4 years 5.5M, but for Tatar 6M-6.5M

i think the price is too steep on zadorov and donskoi but otherwise good.

just make the 3rd conditional. if tatar re-signs or avs win cup 3rd becomes 2nd.

Thanks for your thoughts. I agree that ideally the term would be lower, but with UFA's it's unlikely you get them for less than the max term. The deal Zuccarello got last offseason might be a good comparable, as he got $6m x 5 years. He was a year older than Tatar as an UFA though so only got the 5 years. I think it would be important to not have any NMC from 2023 onwards so that we can keep our cap flexibility when mackinnon needs to be resigned.

Look at Zuccarello now, he’s a capdump. Fenton got fired because of that signing and other questionable trades

Yeah..... That's a big reason why I'm wary of trading for Tatar or signing a 30 year old free agent to a contract with a lot of term. Rather play it safe with a low-key trade for Killorn who is off the books in 3 years. Or go for someone younger like Domi, even if Tatar is theoretically a better fit (other than his age).

I don’t think Tatar will decline in the next 3 years, maybe around 5

Even if Tatar declines in year 4 and 5, that's in 2023/24 when Mackinnon and Byram need new contracts, and having a declining $6m forward on the roster at that point would potentially be a huge anchor.