I would be willing to bet more that Vegas misses the playoffs than COL losing to STL in any round. But yes anything is possible.

It is but pick's in 2024 so it's irrelevant.

I’m wondering if Avs fans feel a bit better with what they paid for Lehky? Is he worth Barron and a 2nd now?

Habs always knew Lehkonen was a playoff performer, I think he’s proven it even more now!

Many said he wasnt worth more than a 2nd rounder despite being a developed 2nd rounder with cost control. That never made any sense to me that he was worth only a 2nd. This wasn't that hard to see coming with a 1st but Barron plus a 2nd, nobody saw coming!

I thought Sakic lost this trade big time back in March. Boy I was wrong, thats not a knock on Barron I really like him as a prospect, but Lehky has been incredible for the Avs. Worth every penny.

Edit: Curious to see what happens with his RFA rights this off-season too. If we keep him on a good value deal ill be even more thrilled.

That's the biggest reason he was traded. Avs likely let him walk unless Lehkonen takes a huge paycut.

The avs are not letting him walk. I'm 90% sure his QA is 2.3, is it not? Even if they don't want to sign him, they would trade his rights. After these playoffs he would fetch a solid package.

He'll go to attribution and likely get 4-5 Million, Avs are either going to match that or let him walk

But they could still trade him after arbitration, could they not?

Not exactly sure how that works

I just figured you could but I could be wrong.

I don't think theyll let him walk - it's more likely he'll get closer to 4 mill than 5 mill, and I'd bet sakic would be fine with a 4-4.25 mill x 2-3 year deal.

How much moreso now?hmmmm

It's honestly crazy how much this site undervalues Montreal's players and overvalues Toronto's players. A cycle that keeps on giving lol

Habs players overrate their own players so much it’s not even funny. Same with leafs fans. Fans of other teams, though, do often undervalue the value of habs players, however, the same is even more true with the leafs.

Not sure where you get the idea that this site is Toronto bias (minus all the dumb Toronto fans lol) though.

We said we would get a 1st + Top 6 forward for Pacioretty = We got more
We said we would get a 1st for Lehkonen = We got more
We said we would get a 1st for Chiarot = We got more
We said we would get a 3rd + for Kulak = We got more
We said we will get a 1st + for Petry = We will likely get more

Touche, touche.

Let me play:

We said we would be able to get a 1st for Kapanen- We got more
We said Johnsson would not cost to dump- and he didn't (he even got a prospect)
We said Ritchie could be moved at a reasonable price- and he was
We said that Gio could be had for less than a 1st- and he was
We said Kerfoot could fetch at least a 2nd- and he will (lol)

I guess to me, it's less about trades than it is prospects with the Leafs. They think all of their prospects will become elite NHL players and they really haven't (yet).

That's a fair point. I would agree that on average leafs fans overrate their prospects much more than most people.

@EsoYeezus69 Lehkonen scored the clinching game winning goal to put them into the Stanley Cup final then wins the Stanley Cup with the game winning goal.

I see Sakic didn't 'overpay' unless you think its about winning trades and not winning Cups which a few here need to be reminded.

hope you like the trade more now!

This should be must reading for a lot of people here. Stop focusing on 3-5 years down the road, you play to win the game.

Sakic is that smart to know appearances don't matter same as Brisebois with the Goodrow and Coleman trades which ppl here hated. Last 3 cups all won with GMs 'losing' trades maybe just maybe you should pay a premium to win hockey games its like that is the point of the sport or something.

You ppl that think losing trades means anything really dont understand how sports work.

Well, I think my opinion stays like I had it originally, it’s a fair trade

You were one of the few that voted fair. About 85% from the poll were wrong that Montreal won the trade that about lines up with general sentiment.

Many Habs fans already miss Lehkonen. Its at least a fair trade when Lehkonen was a big part of winning the cup as a 1st liner with MacK.

Colorado won the deal, it's almost a guarantee unless Barron develops into a top pair and Montreal wins a cup, both are doubtful