Couldn't take the 2C role by the time he was 21, what a bum. Ross Colton is 27 and had similar production to Newhook at 21. Newhook makes 2.9 for the next 4 years, and Colton makes $4 mil for the next 4 years. So you traded Newhook because he couldn't play 2C, replaced him with a more expensive 3C who is less likely to ever grow into the 2C role, and brought on 2 years of 31 year old RJO to play those top 6 minutes, despite him not even being capable of 2C minutes on a non-playoff team and being a cap dump as a result.

Makes sense for sure.

Why.....why are you so angry about the Avs, man? We're good, I promise.

And again, I'll say for the third time that if you actually watched Newhook play every game you would have a different opinion. Mackinnon's second season wasn't much better than Newhook's last year but we didn't give up on him because he was leading a team that had guys like Max Talbot and an aging Iginla playing his wing. Newhook couldn't hold onto a center role at all, regardless of what line he was on and consistently had awful turnovers and missed assignments. Could we have been more patient? Sure, which is what we would've done if we weren't in a cup window. But our FO decided that we didn't have time to be patient with him and traded him for a known commodity in Colton that this team needs and a first round draft pick. It makes perfect sense to me.

Yeah that's fine to trade young players for futures, I'm just saying that's par for the course with young players. If you were going to trade him, I think it would have been wiser to address the hole he was unable to fill, rather than acquiring a 3C. I'm not angry about the Avs, I like the Avs. If thing Avs were actually my first team, I'd legitimately be angry that they're wasting the cup window they're in but failing to upgrade an awful forward group with a bloated defense core that they could trade from to acquire assets and cap space.

Let me tell you, it's quite impossible to be mad at your team when they won a cup recently. I'll say for the last time that when we acquired Kadri and Burakovsky we were not seen as cup contenders. There were quite a few people that thought Toronto won that trade by getting Barrie. We have a pro-scouting department that has found gems for us and a coaching staff that helps guys find their roles well. You won't find many Avs fans on this site or in the general public who think this has been mismanaged in any way.

The leafs made 1 good signing this summer, bertuzzi. Reaves contract is already being called the worst contract of the summer, klingberg was the worst dman in the league last year. Domi's been on so many teams he must be worse in the room than Chicago's video coach...

And yeah I think marner has more over the glasses delay penalties in the playoffs than goals in the playoffs, Nylander is gone this summer for nothing, or worse they trade him for pieces during a playoff push.

Woll is not as good as Frankie, Frankie did pretty well with us 2 years ago in the playoffs when he won the cup.

The avs lost in the first rd last year because they were hurt, that's it, they didn't have the depth to go on a long run, guys like erod and newhook got pushed around... colton, wood, ryjo aren't going to be pushed around and they have skill... Toronto got pushed around, so they went and got Reaves, see the difference.

Lol sure thing my guy. Reaves contract is literally not an issue, we can bury it at anytime because it's barely more than league min. There's also a reason he's played in so many playoff games in recent years, the same reason that Maroon has won 3 cups and replaced Reaves in Minnesota.

You're going to start criticizing contracts after trading for Colton and signing him at 4 x $4, and taking on 2 years of RJo as a 31 year old cap dump? Sorry to break it to you but he's the furthest thing from gritty, Domi + Bertuzzi bring pretty much the same amount of grit as Wood + Colton with way more skill. Domi has also signed a lot of short-term contracts, and was playing 2C in the conference final just last year.

Marner hasn't had a delay of game penalty in probably 4 years and yes, he produces. He scored at a higher rate than MacKinnon this year and was elite defensively (selke nominee, remember?)

Klingberg was not the worst defenseman in the league last year, but he struggled enough that we were able to get him at a discount without a long-term commitment. He also turned it around in the 1st round last year, scoring at a PPG, higher even than Makar. He's also only 3 years removed from being 2 in TOI and points on a cup finals team in Dallas, behind only Heiskanen and ahead of all the Stars forwards. He's a decent bet to make and should work well within the Leafs system.

Francouz was not great on that run for you guys, Woll was better in the playoff games he played and is much younger and way more skilled.

Speaking of letting players walk, you've lost Kadri, Burakovsky, Compher, ERod since you won the cup, and lost Landeskog to LTIR. The Leafs have only improved, Avs have done the opposite. It's also just as likely that the Leafs resign Nylander as it is the Avs re-signing Toews.

Anyway, you won the cup with an amazing roster so there's that. You're a completely different team for that one though.

Great post, but still have some questions:

1. Where will Colorado finish in the ranking?

2. What will most likely be the PP?

3. Who is likely to have a breakout year or who will surprise in terms of point production? Who is advantaged by the line combinations?

4. Who is likely to have a bad year in point production?

5. How many games each goalie is likely to play?

You are either trolling or have a very high opinion of your own opinions. The Avs are keeping their 4 best forwards and the 4th line and for the other 5 forwards, exchanging Compher/Newhook/Rodrigues/Malgin/Nieto/Eller for RyJo/Colton/Drouin/Wood/Tatar. If you don't see that as an upgrade I can't help you. And if you want to compare to the cup year, Kadri never had a year like that before and never will again, and Burky's by far best years were here. This coaching staff is great and turns a lot of reclamation projects into decent players. And if you want to mock Lehkonen as "Montreal's 3rd line," I can promise you that with more guys like Lehky, Toronto would have won a Cup sometime since before any of us were born.