Couture is far too old for the Avs. The likelihood his production drops off a cliff is high.

Clearly you know nothing about this team. What a horrid post.

Isles do not want Labanc.

That's an easy no for the Avs.

Employing a good 2C for only $4.5M is a bargain. If Coututre were a Free Agent, I could easily see him get a 4 yr $18M contract. If he has declined significantly in his age 38 season, he would probably still be putting up $3-4M in value, but cap will have increased substantially by then. A buyout would also be very manageable by that stage.

Great on the penalty kill, provides good defense, still manages to produce offensively despite horrid wingers, no sign of any decline so far.

Same argument was used against Pavelski and Burns. Both are top players in the league.

Despite all that, I can see the Avs passing with their cap crunch and not wanting to give up a young cost controlled NHLer. I just don't think you need to unfairly put down Couture to justify your reasoning.

He stated his age range and the common thing that happens to older players, that is not a put down.

No team should be trading premium assets for a player going into his 35 year old season. Buy out option is not much of a savings and not a great selling point.

It's poor critical thinking motivated by simplistic categorical thinking. "If age 35+ players decline, then Couture likely will decline." My point is that Couture has a low propensity to lose value so rapidly because: 1) he has almost no injury history 2) his game relies less on athleticism than others 3) his production has showed no signs of slowing and even recently improved 4) a good Avs team would likely improve his numbers since he's frequently surrounded by fringe NHLers currently.

I saw a lot of the same misguided analysis of the Burns situation. Now he's on one of the best contracts in the league and the Hurricanes are loving life with a top 10 defenseman (by impact numbers) on less than $6M AAV.

I get it. Don't trade Newhook for Couture. But don't suggest Couture is not very attractive at $4.5M.

Also the buyout is very reasonable. Idk what you're talking about. The option to just walk away from a player is very attractive. Something like $2M dead cap hit one year and $1M the next if bought out in 2026. Relatively unlikely to be necessary, especially since Couture can continue to PK and provide great defense from C.

Isles gain no value trading Bailey for Labanc.

You've sold me on why the Sharks should keep him. I'm not saying this coming year Couts at 4.5m wouldn't be attractive, he isn't premium asset attractive though. It's the remaining years that get increasingly riskier. Trading a young C(or premium asset) to spend 4.5m on a guy likely to decline through the years when they have to extend Toews and Rants, is poor cap management.
I could be missing something for the buyout but, it does not look like a good move for a team that will be battling the cap.