Can't really see the Avs helping out their main competitor in the west...

They did help out the Hawks though. LOL. But I do not see Pietrangelo signing for $8 Million. If he did, he would have stayed in STL

Sabres accept

Changed it to buffalo, completely glossed over that lol. Shouldn't take a lot for an East team to take on Holden still imo

How did they help out the Hawks? They got a top-6 winger, with salary retained, for a guy they were aiming to trade for a second. Hawks saved ~$2 million. That's it.

I'd argue the Hawks helped the Avs way more than the avs did the hawks haha. Amazing that bowman has lost all 3 Saad trades.

Vegas does have the income tax leverage though, and all of Petro's legit suitors (VGK, STL) have cap problems so I think his price comes down a bit

Hawks helped the Avs for sure. Saad on a Kadri line feels like a great fit, can put Burakovsky or Landeskog on the opposite wing

Just imagine playing against a Landeskog, Kadri, and Saad line. They will be an absolute pain to play against. Arguably one of the best top-sixes in the league right now

I'd say its the most complete top 6 in the league for sure. Sakic has done a fantastic job of keeping the lineup very balanced and skilled, without breaking the bank. Teams like Toronto might have more firepower in their top 6 but defensively they're not nearly as good. Lightning would be the other main challenger for that crown imo.

Also, I think adding Hall at this point might be the worst thing for the Avs, it'd be a waste of cap space and bumps a guy like Landy/Burk/Saad into a position where they're not utilized to full and proper potential.

Vegas’ best chances to move MAF were Detroit and NJ. Detroit added Greiss. Jersey added Crow. Not saying those teams aren’t still an option, but they have even more leverage now. If Vegas is adding Pietro I think they need to find a home for Martinez. If they want to get rid of MAF it’s looking like they’d be lucky if a first round pick and 50% retention gets it done. Nobody is interested in helping the good teams. Which is why nobody took TJ’s salary off Tampa’s hands

Couldn't agree more. And I think the Saad move takes them out of the running for Hall. They still need to sign Jost and Graves, and I bet they take a run at a more defensive-minded defenseman to round out the corps. Plus, you want to ensure you have the space to try and re-sign Saad next year, so now it gets really interesting when you look at the cap situation.

I feel like Bowman is going to have to do something with Chicago’s goalie situation. That might be an aging roster but having Kane/Toews and some solid young players around them is a situation where they shouldn’t be tanking necessarily. And if Chicago can pull some assets out of it it’d make sense. If there’s a GM who’d bailout Vegas even a little bit, it would be Stan Bowman.

Personally i think TJ is washed anyway as a player and his contract isn’t worth taking on. I think that has more to do with him not being claimed than anything else. He also has more term on contract than Fleury

Agreed, the Avs are really close to having what Tampa has in terms of depth on forward and defense. Goalie is more of a question mark obviously but as long as Grubauer stays healthy i think the AVs will be ok

Take a look at what Grubby and Francouz posted last year. They were both in the top 20 in save %. If either of them had been healthy for the playoff run, there's probably a decent chance the Avs made it to the conference finals at the very least. That and neither of them has ever had much in the way of injury troubles. Grubauer re-aggravated the injury he suffered in the outdoor game and Francouz broke his hand.

Personally I’ve never been a huge believer in Grubauer but i have to agree that they’re making the conference finals if he’s fully healthy for sure. Avs just need average goaltending to be a cup contender