That Florida trade is indeed yuck for Colorado

I'd love to get Lundell but not for Byram plus. That's just way too much. In reality I just don't think Lundell is possible.

Ah the classic retain 2.5 million for 5 years for a bunch of Jags and what would inevitably be a late first 2 years from now. What a trade

It's also yuck for Florida lol. Let's just forget this ever happened and enjoy our players/prospects while we have them.

FLA would jump that trade like there is no tomorrow.

I wouldn't. Lundell has been amazing so far, and while Newhook could end up like him, that's more of a bet than just letting Lundell continue to develop and take over as our 2C in a season or two. As for Byram, yeah he's good, but again, there's no guarantee he'll turn out as good as Lundell is projecting to be. He could very well, but in the Avs system; coming to Florida could change his entire development. Plus, we give up Duclair in this trade, who's been an absolute animal for us the past two seasons (playoffs weren't great, but whatever, we weren't great either).

DuClair has been on 6 teams for a reason, on top of that FLA would be getting a 1st and Kaut who on another team is firmly ensconced in a bottom 6 role. Make no mistake COL isn’t doing this trade ever, I’m just saying FLA jumps all over that all day long and twice on days that end in Y.

Duclair has found his stride here. 6 teams is an invalid argument for trading him, especially since he just scored 30 goals with us (also, check out his advanced offensive stats. He's nuts). Coming from the defending champs, who are in line to potentially win again, that 1st is probably going to be the worst of the bunch, and I'm not sold on Kaut. Not to mention all three players are RFAs after this year, whereas Lundell and Duclair still have two years left each on their deals. It's too much of a gamble for me to say that Florida would accept, but if you think so, agree to disagree.

Again just saying why FLA would do it, Byram just led the Stanley cup playoffs in 5v5 TOI +/- and is already a top 3 dman he would automatically be dropped in the top pairing playing 20+ minutes a night. DuClair had a career high shooting percentage and if you don’t think 6 teams passing on him isn’t a factor I think your mistaken he had a career season on a team having an insane offensive season and do you really think that’s repeatable? I dont. Hey I respect the love for your guys but I just think you’re talking about trading 2 middle 6 forwards for a top pairing dman, middle 6 forward, a bottom 6 forward and a 1st.

I wouldn't mind getting Byram, he's an impressive player for his age, but he's the only piece of that trade that interests me. If he and Lundell were the two main pieces of the trade, I would consider it because it addresses each team's main needs (Colorado needs a 2C, Florida could use a LD). But I think both teams are attached to the players they have. Lundell is going to be a main part of our team's core for years.

As for Duclair, he was just as good two seasons ago (when Florida wasn't scoring at 90s levels) as he was last year, albeit with less goal scoring and more assists. He drives play very well with his speed, and considering he'll be playing with Bennett (who he has good chemistry with) and potentially Reinhart (who was a tremendous playmaker last season), I don't think it will be very hard to replicate his success, or at least put up numbers pretty close to it. Keep in mind that some of his best goal-scoring this past year came at the beginning of the season when he was on the 4th line. No Huberdeau, no Barkov, just him, and he led the team in scoring during that time (which led to him being elevated in the lineup). Plus, even if he was just a product of his team, why would that incentivize us to trade him to the best team in the league? If he suddenly starts to struggle this upcoming season, then maybe we can talk about him being passed on by 6 teams, but until then, he's done nothing but good stuff for Florida.

And again I come to the idea of term. It's a big hit to Florida and we'd be helping Colorado a ton. They currently need to resign all of the players they're giving us in this trade next year, where they also are potentially going to be paying MacKinnon 12m+. Giving them two years of ELC Lundell and cheap 3m Duclair benefits them big time. They don't have to resign Byram, they don't have to resign Newhook, and they don't need to pay Kaut either. On the flip side, Florida, already pretty cap-strapped and needing to improve their team through UFA next season, would have to immediately resign Byram, Newhook, and Kaut (potentially to big deals if they perform well), alongside Carlsson, Knight, Balcers, and potentially White. So it doesn't make sense for Florida from a money standpoint. I'd rather take the two years of Lundell and Duclair and sign someone like Sanheim next year (or trade for him this year).

But I think the biggest point here is simply that neither team would realistically want to do this. Colorado likes Byram/Newhook, and Florida likes Lundell (and Duclair, for that matter).

I think you make some really good points but COL cap situation on CF is way over blown they are sitting on $26.5M cap space next year. I also think Lundell is as much a question as a 2C as Newhook and the Avs really don’t need a guy like DuClair particularly in a cap environment. Good conversation thanks.

My pleasure. Hope we meet in the finals.