id give you tierney for less tbf

I'm not completely up on Ottawa's situation, but their parsimonious owner is unlikely to want Compher's contract.

You know you've got an awesome and underrated defence corps if/when Ryan Graves is your 7th dman

I can appreciate what you're trying to do, but giving up a first for Tierney leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Also think Savard is aiming too high (unless Johnson is out for the year).

Finally, for the love of God can someone throw us a bone on Francouz??? What the heck is the deal there?

Compher's contract, or rather, his 2021/22 salary of $4.5m, is the reason why the 1st is included. That said, the $4.5m salary is only $300k above what Tierney's salary next season, so it's not like Ottawa's salary structure would be changed all too drastically next year by swapping Tierney for Compher.

As mentioned above, the 1st for Tierney has as much to do about moving Compher's awkward contract as it does about Tierney himself.

I disagree on Savard though. Adding him would insulate the Avs D group and give them a legit physical force on D in matchups against the likes of Vegas, LA, St. Louis, etc. They also wouldn't be completely dependent on Johnson staying healthy, and would give them 3 good PKers in Graves, Savard, and Johnson. This is the Avs best cup chance and they can't be pinning their hopes on Johnson's health.

Graves on the bench is a waste to me. He's too good for that. I like many of your posts but this isn't one of them.

I do appreciate that you illustrate it may be tougher to get Compher's contract off the books than we tend to think. I really hope it's not that tough though.

Graves isn't a scratch. Notice that the roster above is 11F + 7D. Tampa did that with success in last years playoffs, and I think it's a setup that could work well for Colorado as well if they add a 3C and physical RHD.

It's a fair point for the playoffs but not for this condensed regular season. 11 forwards would put a lot of burden on the forwards, and 12 forwards means a good defenseman sits. I guess considering this team is constantly injured maybe it's not an issue though, as they would be down to only 6D in no time.

They can roll 12 - 6 for the rest of the regular season when games aren't must-win, while rotating Dmen to keep them fresh. Injuries will probably force rotation anyways. Then in the playoffs with a healthy lineup you roll with the strongest possble lineup. The bottom 6 has too many forwards who don't produce offensively, so it's pretty easy to drop one and just rotate them in and out depending on needs. I mean, do we really need Bellemare playing 10 minutes a night? Or can those minutes be distributed to others who can have a bigger impact?

I'll think about it more but I tend not to like the 7D approach. Bellemare, for example, may not eat a ton of minutes but he plays PK and takes important draws. That would be missed.

If Savard is cheap the I guess sure. Too many defensemen isn't the worst problem to have. Kaut is a fair amount to give though, even for a guy that is not all that high on him). I'm coming around a bit though.

If they acquire a 3C who can PK and win draws then Bellemare is redundant. They'd have 3C, Jost, Nichuskin, and Calvert/Donskoi on the PK which would be enough.

Savard won’t come cheap

I don't see it that way. Quite the opposite actually. The fourth line has often been one of the best lines the team has. They haven't been able to finish but have done everything else. And obviously Bellemare is a big part of that. The other strength of the team has been the D.

Here we basically mess with two things that are working pretty well, when all that's really needed is a 3C to hold the bottom six together. It's too much (imo).



Yes and that's why I said above that it's aiming too high. There are diminishing returns when you force a guy like Graves to either sit or play fewer minutes. It's an expensive move for only marginal improvement.

Having a few competent depth defensemen is enough when you already have 6 guys who are capable of filling a top 4 role. Adding a 7th top 4 guy is overkill.

It’s more if EJ or Makar gets injured, it would be an excellent move at that point. If no ones gets injured, you still have a solid core

If Makar is out, then Colorado isn't taking it home. As an EJ replacement then yes it works well. If news comes out thst Johnson isn't coming back this year then I'm all for it. Otherwise my hesitations expressed above still stand.

What I like about Richard88 is that he understands that COL have their best shot this year and he’s not scare to trade a late 1st for immediate help. Too much guys here are scare to give value for a solid NHLer because he’s a rental or got only another year under contract. You’re trying to win or not ? If it’s improve the team without selling the farm team, go ahead

I'd trade a first for a good player at a position of need, but I wouldn't for (a) a decent player at a position of need or (b) a good player at a position that isn't a need. I think applying that label to me based on this acgm isn't really a fair depiction.

Yeah this year is going to be the Avs best chance at a cup. Theyre unlikely to have this amount of money allocated to depth positions again. Just a shame that the bottom 6 isnt producing as much as the financial outlay demands. We won't have this luxury in the next few years when we'll have to count on ELCs a lot more. Go big or go home.

That said, it has to be the right big moves, not just big moves for the sake of it.