$7M should buy 8yrs and that d corp is very small and the 3 pairing is something, not good. Lehkonen might be a more likely cap casualty than Manson because it’s a lot easier to find wingers

personally i think we're bridging mittlestadt. I don't see him getting more than nichuskin if he wants long term and matching landy. He's never had 20 goals, he's never shown playoff success, hes an rfa the factors are in our favour going into arb so with that i think he banks on himself and gets 2-3 year bridge deal around the 5 mil mark. Plus we're a good tax state so we will be able to cut a better deal, look at the rest of our big names that are big factors in the cup that could have made more on the open market.
I also think moving manson is a mistake, this is a pretty light d line in terms of physicality and i think manson will make his presence felt again this post season.

I agree on Middlestadt bridge. Zegras at 3x$5.75 is the comp. At that point, they can decide if they can afford him or if Ritchie is ready to be the regular 2C.

The issue with that is that he will be UFA at the end of a bridge while Zegras will still be RFA. I agree that a moderate-term contract could be the way to go but it seems risky. Guess we'll see fairly soon what the plan is.

Wingers that do what Lehkonen does at the price he does it are not easy to find.

Sabres fan here

Whole reason we traded Mitts was bc of the contract
He’s demanding a long term deal (supposedly), and if he doesn’t get it he goes to arbitration & can walk as a UFA after

Take that for what it’s worth, bc i doubt it ever gets officially confirmed, but that’s the word as to why we changed our mind & traded him

They are a lot easier to find than right shot physical dmen that can play in the top 4 why do you think wingers in the off season are always available. How many top 4 right shot physical dmen are available ever? Don’t confuse liking a player and his production for actual value to a team. But when you come up hard against the cap hard decisions need to be made and just about every GM in the league is taking the right shot top 4 dman over the winger.

Manson has been playing bottom pair minutes for the Avs. He is inconsistent, aging and injuries are a concern; not sure they're going to trust him enough to keep him around but anything is possible.

I can buy that and, honestly, it's something I'm concerned about. I can imagine he looked around at guys like Tage and Cozens getting paid and thought, "Why not me." But I do think there is a possibility that, in a new situation (one where the team is a perennial Cup contender), his tune may change. We'll see what happens.

Possibly
Just letting u know why we decided to move him

Which is also concerning. The Sabres have plenty of cap space to have signed him; maybe they really didn't believe in him or thought he'd live up to that sort of deal. I hope the Avs don't get stuck with a big contract for a guy tha can't consistently replicate 60-70 points every season.

I think he’ll be a good productive 2C for u guys
You’re just him a have to pay him

Well, if he's expecting $8M, that is something the Avs can't really afford, IMO; they'd have to sacrifice too much to make that work with Mikko coming up for a new deal. Now, if Landy does LTIRetire, that makes things a little easier but then you have to replace him, right? IDK, we'll see what happens and I do like the pickup but I don't think it's without it's drawbacks.

If i were to sum it up in a nutshell,
I think u guys will be happy w the player
Just gotta figure out your Cap,
which will obviously be a challenge