Serg and Cirelli are both getting a lot more than that man.

FA’s will take discounts due to flat cap

buffalo says yes if tyler johnson says yes.

no where close on sergachev or cirelli contracts

not for 4 years and not if someone else is willing to pay more.

Sergachev and Cirelli would be fools to take those deals.

Johnson has a negative value in this flat cap time. Unless Buffalo truly believes he is the answer as the 2C, I don’t see Buffalo doing that.

Gourde is a big no from Colorado. They have a chance to make their team something special. Gourde ain’t close to it. He also has a negative value.

Piling on, Rutta ans Shattenkirk getting more also. Shat said he would sign for less but not that number. Add a million to Cirelli and erge and take a year off and pray they accept. .

And even with a flat cap there will be lots of teams ligning up to pay significantly more

Johnson isn't leaving Tampa for Buffalo, And fat chance of either Cirelli or Sergachev signing that cheaply.

It would be a huge risk for Colorado to take on Gourde's contract which runs 2 years beyond Mackinnon's renewal. As an undersized forward I'm not sure he really fits what we need too.

I'd be more interested in Killorn, Palat, and Johnson - in that order.

Johnson isn't going to waive for Buffalo btw. And as others have said Cirelli/Serg/Cernak will sign for more than that.

I don’t think so. There’s a reason players sign long term to play in Tampa. They are perineal contenders, the weather and the state income tax laws.

Avs aren't taking gourde. If Palat or Killorn are available then you will have sakics attention

Added to the above in bold.

Yeah of course, we aren't going to overpay for someone in a buyers market. Avs have so many options to add a 2nd line forward they should be able to get one very cheap

What do guys think of the idea of acquiring Gourde if Tampa retains like $1m, and if he doesn't cost much (if anything at all)? For example, Gourde ($1m retained) for a 7th round pick.

At $4.16m his contract would be pretty manageable, and beyond 2023 (Mackinnon's contract year) his NTC becomes a 22-team trade list so he'd be easy to move if needed.

Id still say no. Id rather give up a better pick and get a better player with a contract that better fits the Avs cap structure (term-wise). I know hes only had 1 down year but Gourde seems like a reclamation project to me - and I dont see him getting back to his old form unless hes put on a line with Stamkos and Kucherov or something crazy

I actually like Gourde more than most, but opportunity cost would be the big thing for me. Acquiring Gourde means not getting a Toffoli, Dadonov, Tatar, Hall, etc. That could be a big misstep in contention years, and it's why I wouldn't do it.

I dunno. I've kinda just written it off previously, but in assessing it as an option I think there could be some sense in it, if there's some retention. I made an AGM discussing it a bit more here: https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/1793863

I get your overarching point, but I don't think those players are ideal options, for differing reasons:

Toffoli will likely want to resign in LA as his wife works there. Alternatively he'll resign in Vancouver as he seems to like it there. We'd probably have to overpay to get him in UFA, in both term and money.

Dadonov is already 31, and I don't think his contract is going to age well if it's more than 3 years. He's going to want term as well.

Tatar would be a great fit, but he would cost a 1st+ to acquire, and we'd need to resign him to a big contract into his mid 30's which I'm not too keen on doing.

Hall would be a great fit, but his injury problems might not be worth what he will likely demand on a 6-7 year deal.

I get your points and will give my thoughts on a couple of them. I gave Dadonov 3 years in the AGM where I included him. It would have to be something like that or nothing due to his age, so I basically agree here. Toffoli I think would be open to coming to Colorado if Sakic made a pitch. He may decide to stay in Vancouver, but I really don't think the 10 games he played there are enough that he has too much of an attachment. I don't see him going back to LA either unless it's a long-term, lucrative deal with a full NMC, which I don't think the Kings will hand out.

Here is my real point though. I think we should be worried more how a contract looks in the next few years than like Tatar or Hall in their mid-30s. The window is wide open, and the team has to take advantage of it, so long as it's not completely mortgaging the future (i.e. trading Byram, Newhook, and Timmins). If they can get 4 good years on a 6 year deal with Tatar or 5 on a 7 with Hall, then it's worth it in my eyes. I'd rather have a somewhat poor contract in 5 years than now. I'm not saying don't consider that and just throw 7 years with a full NTC at Hall with no negotiations aimed at 4-5, but that's probably where the team should bend if they need to.

Preferred Option A: Hall for 4-6 years (or less if he's into it) at an affordable cap hit
Preferred Option B: Offer sheet Cirelli
Preferred Option C: Toffoli
Preferred Option D: Trade Graves + for Danault or Tatar (with extensions)
Preferred Option E: Dadonov for 3 years, trade like a 3rd and a decent prospect for Killorn

If none of those work out, I'd wait and see who becomes available at the deadline or next off season. It doesn't have to be now that the move happens. Gourde could prevent the team from chasing the unexpected opportunity though.

I agree with most of your points.

I'd be wary of signing an aging player to a long-term deal though, as we're already going to have Landeskog's inevitable depreciating contract on the team, and one more might be too much. Even though the primary cup window is 2020-2023 we should still be able to be fairly competitive beyond that as well, so long as we avoid anchor contracts and draft well enough to have some quality ELC's filling out the bottom 6.

That's really why Cirelli is so high on my list. No matter how long of a contract you give him, it ends before he hits 30 years of age. That's a big benefit. Not big enough to elevate him over a former Hart winner (rightfully the runner-up, but still), but it gets him close.

It's a trade off though. Even with Cirelli you lose a first. That is a trade of future for now. Hall you keep the first but may have a not so great contract for a couple years. There is no perfect solution, as 22 year old studs aren't available for free. At some point you have to do your research, go for it, and hope for the best.

Personally I think Hall has at least 4 really good years left in him. He's a speed guy, but he's also a pretty smart player who is good in all three zones. Thus, he wouldn't be just a complete anchor if he lost a little. That gives me some comfort and would make me okay with the signing. I'd probably be okay with Tatar or Danault, as their contract shouldn't be too crazy. Either way the team needs to be smart on other contracts and continue to hit on picks if they want to keep the window open.