They still may sign foote and hienen, but macdermid is really liked in the lockeroom and in the GMs office I remember when Sakic brought him in, he spoke very highly of his presence in the lineup, he can play 3rd line defense and 4th line forward to fill in for injuries and maintenence days, it's good to have him when facing Minnesota, st louis and dallas to punch out Greenway, benn, foligno, and that giant in st Louis ( hopefully one day binnington)

agreed but Greenway plays for buffalo now

I think too many Avs fans are more in love with his name (Foote) than his play. There’s a reason why TBL used Foote as a throw in on the Jeannot trade as well as a reason why NSH didn’t even give him a QO (would’ve been ~950k), he’s just not that great.

And as mentioned above, Foote wouldn’t fill the hole left by trading a Girard or Manson.

Sakic traded a 4th for MacDermid and then gave him a 2 year extension, he brings value to the team some of y’all don’t see.

I think this is exactly why they have him on the roster. As a cap-strapped team, and with their AHL club just up the road, they often carry fewer than 23 players on the NHL roster. Having one guy who can fill in at either position, specifically during the regular season, helps them manage their cap. There’s a reason he’s played in zero playoff games for the Avs…

Imagine with me for a moment:

You're pretty bad at your job but being paid a decent salary because you're "great in the break room" and you don't mind shouting at employees of a few of the rival companies every now and then when they get salty with your coworkers but not even being very good at that or doing it very often. You don't get invited to many important things and, when it's crunch time, they leave you on the sidelines (because, again, you're pretty bad at your job so you might cost the company big time if they include you when the stakes are highest) but you're still getting paid because the boss and your coworkers like you even if they could get someone else who actually can do the job you're being paid to not do most of the time; they'll let the incompetence slide because they like you so damn much.

Now, I'm not arguing with your assessment of the situation but just asking us to recognize the absurdity but, also, pointing out that being well-liked can get you pretty far even if you aren't quite competent at the actual work. We can probably all think of someone like this that we know in our lives and grudgingly acknowledge that, in certain contexts, being good with people can cancel out being not-so-good at technical elements. Kurtis MacDermid is basically a masterclass in how to get by on emotional intelligence almost on it's own (the other part, of course, is being born with the genetics that make him bigger than 99% of other humans then developing a willingness to fight). We could all take a lesson from K-Mac's book.

Cal Foote can't just slot in for a full season. He's never played more than 60 games in a full season and most of those are healthy scratches. Caleb Jones is the far better option on the market right now and arguably has closer ties to Denver.

I think Heinen is a very good possibility, though.

Maybe I'm the odd man out, but I'm rarely disappointed when MacDermid plays. Sure he gets got flat-footed from time-to-time, but his positioning is usually great and he never interrupts the flow of the cycle when he finds himself in the offensive zone. For 5-10 minutes a night, and for the lockerroom presence I think he's worth the money.

To your point, emotional intelligence is HIGHLY valuable. I'm a teacher and one of the biggest things I express to my kids is that jerks don't work. The scenario you described above isn't too far-fetched in the real world because teamwork is a thing in most jobs. I've seen plenty of talented people let go because they don't know how to correctly treat others. To bring it back to the Avs, I'm pretty sure Sakic witnessed the Duchene locker room situation and sought out a guy like MacDermid intentionally to ensure that environment was less likely to repeat itself. I've coached teams and run organizations before and morale and culture is a HUGE part of success.

This was hilarious. Well done. As for the Dermy, it's clear that like it or not the Avs see something in him worth keeping, at least over what else they currently see out there. Maybe that changes as the season goes along, but I've always thought that last D pairing is going to see Hunt/Dermy/JJ in rotation. Avs' seem to trust all those guys and know what they bring consistently. Bednar likes consistency. Even if it's not the greatest talent or production, he likes to know what he's dealing with, which is why Newy just wasn't working here.

EXCELLENT point, here. And this is why Ben Meyers is going to get to jump feet first into the pool of that 4C job this year and if it doesn't go well after a month or so, I wouldn't be surprised if we just straight up cut him and put him on the Waiver Wire.

For the little bit he plays, it's fine and he earns his money in other ways, I guess, but they could have an actual player that can have a greater impact on the ice which, for a cap-strapped team, they really need that money. But his value is not in his play, it's the other things which the Avs like and want around.

My question is: what if his contract costs them the ability to sign Tarasenko or another player? Does that make it okay just because the team likes him? I imagine that's going to depend on who is answering the question but, if Drouin doesn't work out and they have to start shuffling things around to get some more goals out of the top six which then leaves holes in the bottom six, that answer might change.

MacDermid's value is twofold. He has the ability to fill the 13th F/7th D with 1 roster spot which has allowed them to run their preferred 21 man roster and accumulate capspace. They have better options in the AHL that can be called up to fill long term injury (Hunt/JLF/etc). Additionally, he is one of the hardest working players on the roster. It helps the Avs set the culture they want when the bottom guy on the roster is the first guy on the ice and last guy off the ice at practice and doesn't complain about playing time.

I think he loses a lot of the value he brings now that they will be forced to use LTIR for the whole season and won't have the ability to accumulate capspace.

His 1M isn't hurting the roster construction. The only player he is preventing them from signing is Tarasenko. And Tarasenko would be a luxury at this point. Suter is the better fit for what this roster needs. Avs need one more guy that can kill penalties and play both wing and center. It would give them the flexibility to move Colton up to the second line if Drouin falters or there is an injury.

I don't think Newhook was traded because he wasn't consistent or that he did anything wrong; he was never given consistency in terms of line mates or role. The whole "we're going to try him at 2C" thing was a lie; they never really gave him a shot before they went to JTC and it seemed like they never really wanted to. We can go back and forth on that but the fact is that they never embraced him in that role.

Let's be real: the Avs gave up a young 30 pt/season established NHL player with room to grow and a lot of upside in order to sign guys they wanted more but had to pay to get. They could have signed Newhook to the same deal he got in Montreal and gotten similar production from him as they will Wood and maybe Colton and he may very well surpass them. They wanted to get bigger and more physical and that's likely what they'll get which is fine. But let's also keep in mind that neither Wood nor Colton have strong defensive play in their background and Wood hasn't PK'd although he'll likely be asked to in Colorado.

Whatever Newhook becomes in Montreal isn't really relevant because he likely wouldn't have become that in Denver since the Avs just have an affinity for older players at this point and wouldn't have been patient with him. They're done with the development process and have very low tolerance for young players so they traded for something they wanted more before they tanked Newhook's value further by failing to give him a consistent role and giving him enough leash to run with it which was, ultimately, likely the right move.

Generally agree, and I hesitated to mention Newhook because I know people have different opinions on him and it doesn't really matter now. I would have been fine if they kept him and he did suffer a bit last year from little stability in his role or who he was playing with. That said, I only used him to make a point that, in my opinion, Bednar felt he didn't know what to expect from Newy (again, how much was on Newy and how much was on the org, who knows?). But yeah, it just wasn't going to work out. Colton is consistent, even if he doesn't realize what I think is even greater potential. Wood is what he is and it seems like he brings the same game night after night.

COL wanted a different identity and your points about Colton's and Wood's lack of defensive background and the PK question are valid. Bottom line: COL wanted pesky, gritty, front-of-net type people to complement the fast finesse guys. That was something Newhook wasn't really going to bring, so he became expendable. Regardless, I'm happy with the offseason overall and excited. We have a good roster. I wish we'd get one more forward so that Meyers, Foudy, etc. are only fighting for one spot. Fingers crossed...