I want to hear Colorado fans' thoughts on the trade.

pens decline

As a fan of neither the Nucks or Avs I gotta think they decline the Miller trade. Girard is a great top 4 d man locked up to a great contract. Miller is a rental. I could see him getting a 1st, great prospect and maybe a 2nd or lesser prospect. I personally don’t think you move a top 4 d man in his mid 20s signed long term for a rental. It’d more than likely need to be a hockey trade for another similar aged player. Thinking of the Johansen and Jones trade a while back.

No they don't

This isn't really blowing it up

COL isn’t trading 2 dmen for a rental especially one that’s locked up for half a decade. If they hadn’t had moved Barron and Helleson then you put a lot more consideration into it.

Johnson is a cap dump. COL moves 11 million dollars out and gets a 1C for 2.6 million at 1 year with the extra cap it isn't out of question they could resign him or use the massive amount of money they open up to keep the team together.

I don’t know if the trade is exact but it’s in the right track for sure

In the above post, I explain the logic.

It's the same core but, you move 7 players out.

I don’t think Miller makes much sense for the avs

Colorado and Miller's name has been brought up. I kind of see it as a Kadri replacement.

Johnson isn’t a cap dump, Millers a rental no Stanley cup contender is trading 2 of their top 5 dmen for a rental.

How is Johnson not a cap dump?

He is making 6 million next year and he is playing 3rd pair. You don't think the money could be better spent somewhere else? COL is probably winning the cup this year and will want to keep the band together so they can win more. They have 11 players that are UFA/RFA. Several need a large payday. Johnson is the most expendable asset to free up money.

But what happens after one year? He will make the same as kadri. With Byram and Newhook needing contracts soon, they won’t be able to afford a miller extension making him a rental

By that point hopefully, Colorado will have 2 cups. This trade opens up 11 million in cap for COL. Say Miller signs at 8 Millon which is still a net gain of 3 million in cap.

You move out Girard and Johnson and you still need to fill out the roster with defensemen. It’s not hard to find a cheap guy to play bottom pairing minutes, but part of Girard’s appeal is that he’s on a great contract considering the value he brings.

And EJ’s contract sucks but it’s only one more year and then his money goes to MacKinnon/Byram/Newhook.

These are the exact reasons I thought of why COL wouldn't do it. The question is does the pros out way the cons. That's why I love this trade its really debatable and has a lot of different things to consider. I would say not doing the trade is playing it safe but, if you do it you have a really good chance of getting back-to-back cups. You are the first person that agrees that the EJ contract is garbage. Thank you.

Clarifying: garbage because he’s overpaid by $2-3M. But not garbage enough that the Avs need to do anything.

I think they do. Garland doesn't have the same value as Marino for Pittsburgh. Marino is on a really good long-term deal for a young RHD, which is a position of weak depth for the Pens. Garland is a good 2nd line winger, but a 1-for-1 between the two players, which this basically is, does not make the Penguins better.

Not everyone agrees that Marino is on a good contract based on what he's done the past two seasons, and Pittsburgh could be in need of some more secondary scoring this summer, so don't say try to downplay the value Garland would bring to them

I don't think I am. Yes, Marino's offensive production has not been what it was when he was a rookie. However, he's a great puck-mover and his defense has improved in the past few seasons. Garland is ~$500k more expensive when the Pens essentially need more cap space than they have. I think it's a good contract, but I think Marino's is better for Pittsburgh's needs now, and could end up being much better in the future. As far as secondary scoring goes, we can find options in free agency that don't cost a top 4 defenseman. And I can't stress this enough. Letang is a UFA right now. If Marino is moved, our only nhl-caliber RHD are Chad Ruhwedel and Mark Friedman. Both are bottom pairing guys at best. My point isn't that Marino has higher value than Garland in general. He has much more value to the Penguins specifically than Garland. Garland is an excellent player, but he would not bring enough value to make giving away Marino worth it.

Obviously this is all assuming Letang gets re-signed

And contract talks have made little progress over the past year. Even still, I think Marino moves the Pens' needle more than Garland no matter how the Letang situation turns out.