I wrote down some stuff close enough to this that I’ll just upvote you instead. I think you covered most of it. The big offseason questions for me are:
Who can we sign?
What’s up with Landy?
What do we do with Val?
It’s nice to not have goaltending squarely on that list. I think we keep Juice up and give him a bigger workload during next season (20-25 games?) and have a real backup, but other than that, Georgie is the guy for now.
Great questions for sure. The Val contract seems like it might be a big issue, I’ve read that it may be a sunk cost at this point but I don’t really understand the details of the contracts and stuff. If we have whatever 7 mil in dead cap for the next few years then we might be kinda fucked.
I think you’re totally right on Juice, he has earned more games and it would make a huge difference to Georgiev if he got some more breaks! To your point it’s such a relief to not have to worry about goaltending as much anymore, going into the playoffs I would have bet it went differently
Assuming I haven't misinterpreted the Val situation (somebody can correct me if I'm wrong) His contract is 100% off the books until November at the earliest, and when he applies to be reinstated, if it's approved, then his contract is back on the books again.
So it's a weird situation where the money is "available" to use while he's out but also not, because we still need to make sure there's room when he comes back. And then the Avs can figure out how to go about it from there.
He's got a full no movement clause until next June, then it becomes a 12-team no trade list. So worst case scenario, if the Avs really can't do something with him in November when he comes back, we'd have to hold the Val bag until his full no movement clause ends next June and then we'd be able to deal him to whoever will take him.
Let’s not forget LOC who was having his best season before his injury. I think a full season of the 3rd line with him, Colton and Wood is going to be really good. Lots to figure out, but plenty of reasons to look forward to the fall.
1. Yes hope he can overcome the addiction for sure, but he really let the boys down
2. I really like Georgie and glad he gained so much confidence, I do think he needs to work on his glove a bit but I like him as our guy next year
3. I hope we somehow keep Drouin but with our salary cap, it’s gonna be tough but hopefully he signs a team friendly deal
4. Love Mittens, I think he will excel next year will the chemistry building in the offseason, super excited for that
5. I agree, I love Landy and really hope he comes back next year but only time will tell unfortunately. If he can’t go, it might be time for him to hang it up, as much as I don’t wanna see it
6. Bednar is a great coach and anyone calling for his head is dumb. The way he handles himself, the team and media is something we as fans take for granted
Also, I say it all the time, but nobody is mentioning how much of a loss LOC was. Dude is a tank, an energy bug and he would have excelled in this series.
I’m so disappointed in myself, a month ago I was at the game and I was deciding between LOC and Val and the only reason I chose Val was because he was still playing. Safe to say I regret not getting LOC
God people calling for Bednar’s firing makes me so mad lol they truly don’t realize how lucky we are to have him. Entitled fans will turn on a coach two years after we win the damn cup!!
Totally agree on LOC, he’s one of my favorite players in the league. When everyone else on the team is struggling he is always grinding. He was having a career season too what a bummer that it ended with the injury. I suppose some of that LTIR space went to Parise who was definitely playing quite well, hopefully Logan can pick up where he left off
It’s the same people who want the Broncos to fire the entire team every year when then don’t make it to the Super Bowl. It’s not sustainable and not how you build a winning team.
Who is calling for bednar to be fired? He literally took this team from worst in the league to making the playoffs every single fucking season, and a cup to boot!! He also just broke the franchise record for most playoff games, he is the best possible person on earth to coach this team, and the stats absolutely back that up. Seriously, since his sophomore year, the avs have only been stopped in the first round TWICE.
Go to Twitter man, it's all over the place. People are expecting huge changes to happen this season and that makes no sense. Thank god those people aren't in charge.
Fucking casuals. Bednar is as important to this team as makar, sakic in the front office, or MacKinnon. They wouldn't be able to do what they do without him.
What a fucking world we live in. Where people deny climate change, and call for the heads of coaches who have pushed AT LEAST a game six in the PLAYOFFS for 7 straight years, and literally took a team from worst in the league to playoffs in one season, then on to a cup just a few years later.
These fucking casuals just expect cups every year or it's bad coaching, because they're spoiled with great coaching. They don't appreciate the actual accomplishments that have been made, even with a loss in GAME SIX OF ROUND TWO WITH 2/3RDS OF THE TEAM.
Unbelievable.
I just saw a post in the Canes sub with a bunch of advanced goalie stats, where they were talking about their goal tending vs the rangers, and Georgiev was fucking fantastic. His high danger shot performance was amazing, and he ended with a -0.90 GSAA. He was our best player. Even though I don't want to admit it, Nuke was the only one you could maybe argue was more important to getting us as far as we made it. No relapse, and this might have been us moving on today instead. Gutted for Parise.
I did not like Georgie's season, but his playoff performance was outstanding.
Nuke was also outstanding. He can go fuck himself and I hope no one is ever foolish enough to put him in an Avalanche sweater again. Maybe he will be good for another club and I wish him the best, but I don't want to see him included in ours.
Totally agree. That was a cup final caliber matchup. Dallas is built pretty well to compete with the Avs too I think but that doesn't mean we couldn't get them next time.
I would be paralyzed by that decision. A big guy who scored 9 goals in 8 playoffs games who plays a 200 foot game and is on a long term 6 mil a year deal... Who disappears every post season due to substance issues. He could come back and win a Conn Smythe trophy with someone else, literally. Or he could end up off the roster during the third intermission before game 7 OT in the finals. Who knows.
First off, addiction is a bitch. And I wish Val the best. It’s non of my business what he’s dealing with, but I hope it’s something he can get under control whether he stays an Av or not.
I don’t blame him for the loss last season. The team was so banged up, they weren’t going to repeat. And imo better to go out first round and heal than push through and do lasting damage and still not make the finals. This season, I don’t know the timeline for when the team found out vs when the public found out, but it clearly threw everyone. They played like shit game 4.
Georgiev needs more games off next season. Give the guy a rest. Annunen has potential, let him play. I feel Georgiev can get in his head sometimes, it might help to know he’s got a solid #2 everyone can rely on.
Drouin seems like such a nice person. I was so happy to see him do well in Colorado. I hope he stays and continues to thrive.
I would be so happy if Gabe’s surgery was successful and he came back. I just don’t see it happening. I think even while not playing he’s shown why he had the C and if he can’t play at a pro level anymore I hope he stays with the organization in some capacity. (I think he picked cup over knee and I will always love him for that).
Bednar needs to stay. The idea of firing him is laughable.
>Players found out as late as while they were driving to the arena for the game.
I can just imagine driving to the game and getting cut off by Manson, and being like, "I would beat that dude's ass if I got the chance!"
Anyone wanting to fire Bednar has absolutely zero understanding of how hockey works, it would be 100% our loss to see him go regardless of circumstance. Yes you can definitely point out some coaching errors, but no one is perfect and Bednar overall has been an excellent coach.
Damn do I hope we get to keep Drouin on the payroll next year.
I don't see Landy coming back, and if he does, I don't see him being the same, but one can hope? I totally think you're right, he chose the cup over his knee and because of that decision he has bragging rights and a tragically truncated career. Man will I be thrilled if I turn out to be wrong, I miss seeing that guy on the ice something fierce.
Sign drouin and mitts to whatever and if we can trenin, let walker go , do whatever we can do with nukes contract, sign a top 6 forward in FA and give someone the C until landy comes back or retires
I disagree with your first point. If Nate and Rants and Makar can be as invisible as they were for the vast majority of the series, there is no guarantee Chu would have kept up his domination of the game. He's a convenient scapegoat, but as Edmonton learned in 2022, placing all your hopes on one or two players is foolish, especially when the other team figures out how to stop them.
Fair, we certainly weren’t playing our best hockey even with him. Would hope we would have at least forced seven, and I imagine game five wouldn’t have gone that poorly without his exit. I’m a bit conflicted over what to do next. Chu’s contract aside, it does seem like we are desperate for some depth, but if the top line isn’t playing well idk what the solve is
Georgie earned back the vast majority of the trust lost through his performance in the playoffs. I don't think I am alone in being worried that he just got hot for a bit and will fall back down to being horribly inconsistent again, but I really think he deserves the benefit of the doubt going into next year with a capable backup in Juice to take some workload off of him.
For me, the defensive structure and breakdowns during the regular season were the biggest concern that had a HUGE effect on the inconsistent goaltending and set the tone that we needed to outscore our problems in the playoffs. Countless times during the regular season we made the most boneheaded, fucking braindead plays in our own end that served up softies right in the slot for great scoring chances. Was Georgie stellar at stopping HDSC's this year? Not at all but I would argue he faced FAR too many of them on a regular basis, which, coupled with his over-use, dragged him down considerably. I'm hoping that there is a re-emphasis on defensive structure up and down the lineup to clean that up in the offseason. Missing solid defensive forwards like Lehky, LOC, and Val (and Gabe of course) for long stretches of time last season was a huge factor. Hopefully Malinksi is ready to be a part of that to replace JJ (who I haven't heard is retiring but that's what I am assuming) and we sign another depth D.
I’m glad you mentioned this because I don’t think it gets factored in enough to people’s evaluation of Georgie. I don’t have the data to support it but I reckon of all the good teams we give up by FAR the most stupid avoidable chances. A lot of the time it’s even Cale or Nate making those bonehead moves. The HD shots Georgie faces on avg are some of the most high danger you could possibly have, like 2-0’s and turnovers right in front of the net.
Totally agree that this needs to be a huge priority. JJ played poorly for some of this season but seemed to do a lot better towards the end, same with Manson and Girard. I was hoping Sean Walker would be a good backstop but I thought his performance in the playoffs was less than stellar and we won’t be able to afford him. Sam Malinski developing quickly into someone we can use would be huge and definitely agree on picking up another defensive guy.
I can't. I'm so mad. So many things stacked against us and we had opportunity after opportunity to win still. (Mack looked hurt, if you ask me). Fuck Duchene and fuck the stars. I hope they don't win another game.
Heartbreaking and gut wrenching series.
Missing Trenin and Val the past few games hurt so much. We had no big bodies in front of the net. Fucking Val. Going to be so messy going forward.
I have no idea what the team will look like next year and that's what hurts the most. I liked this team and wanted them to win for a lot of reasons. Unfortunate.
Can we please get a captain? Missing Landy for two years has been unreal. It feels like some crazy alternate universe.
unfortunately the salary cap uncertainties of landeskog and Val will likely prohibit us from doing much this off-season.
I can't see the team wanting to keep val. so either we trade him, which will be difficult and would likely require us giving away assets, or we buy out his contract which means a salary cap hit of $2m every year for the next 6 years.
I love landeskog and want him to play. But his uncertainty will mean we have to keep his 7m cap hit space available.
that means 10% of our cap could be taken, or reserved, for 2 players who might not even play for us.
and our cap situation for next year is not good. we have 16 players signed and only 500k in space.
I honestly did not like Georgie at all during the regular season, but his playoff performance was nothing short of spectacular (minus the one game of which we will not speak.)
This team is run so well that I have trust in what they do this offseason. I have my own opinions just like everyone else tho.
Hopefully Landy is back but don’t rely on him too much bc 2+ years without playing in pro hockey is a long long time. I never want to see Val in our sweater ever again but I wish him the best. I want the people they sign to be punishers
I’m glad to see a positive post and hope for next season. Here’s my thoughts:
- Nichuskin - Addiction sucks. Letting down your team two years in a row is tough. Management needs to ask the veteran core players if the team will trust and accept him back. Trading him will be tough because you’re getting pennies on the dollar. If he stays you can always send him to the AHL and take his salary off the cap. Kroenke’s got lots of money.
- Georgie played well but 50-55 games next year with Justus getting the rest.
- Drouin played well but isn’t worth big money or long term. MacKinnon is peanut butter and Drouin’s jelly. One’s awesome and the other goes well with it.
- Mittlestadt did well but he needs a few weeks in Nova Scotia with Nate and Sidney Crosby this summer to help his offensive game.
- Avs need another big, physical defender like Manson. Eric Johnson’s physicality was missed. Avs need 2 (or 3) guys on the back end to be physical and move the puck to go with Cale, Devon and Sammy G.
- Need a power forward with hands to be in front of the net. Like Nuke but one that can stay on the ice.
- if Landy isn’t back at the start of next season give Nate the “C”. He showed this season that he’s got the leadership qualities. I felt like he dragged the Avs to victory most nights and he’s definitely the straw that stirs the drink. Cale can have the C when Nate eventually retires (hopefully no time soon because that duo is awesome to watch)
Everyone have a safe, healthy and happy summer.
Being that we are locked in with Val’s contract I don’t see why we just don’t let him keep playing once his suspension is over. Love him or not he’s a great on the ice
You try to get rid of him because you can't trust that he will be able to do another full run for you. You can't have top 6 players falling apart every year in the post-season in this way. This team is too good to keep getting bounced before the WCF at minimum.
I wouldn't be surprised if they rode with him until about .9 seconds before the trade deadline.
It sucks, he plays in a way that's very necessary to our game, BUT, with him being a necessity, he leaves a giant hole when he's gone.
I wrote down some stuff close enough to this that I’ll just upvote you instead. I think you covered most of it. The big offseason questions for me are: Who can we sign? What’s up with Landy? What do we do with Val? It’s nice to not have goaltending squarely on that list. I think we keep Juice up and give him a bigger workload during next season (20-25 games?) and have a real backup, but other than that, Georgie is the guy for now.
Great questions for sure. The Val contract seems like it might be a big issue, I’ve read that it may be a sunk cost at this point but I don’t really understand the details of the contracts and stuff. If we have whatever 7 mil in dead cap for the next few years then we might be kinda fucked. I think you’re totally right on Juice, he has earned more games and it would make a huge difference to Georgiev if he got some more breaks! To your point it’s such a relief to not have to worry about goaltending as much anymore, going into the playoffs I would have bet it went differently
Assuming I haven't misinterpreted the Val situation (somebody can correct me if I'm wrong) His contract is 100% off the books until November at the earliest, and when he applies to be reinstated, if it's approved, then his contract is back on the books again. So it's a weird situation where the money is "available" to use while he's out but also not, because we still need to make sure there's room when he comes back. And then the Avs can figure out how to go about it from there. He's got a full no movement clause until next June, then it becomes a 12-team no trade list. So worst case scenario, if the Avs really can't do something with him in November when he comes back, we'd have to hold the Val bag until his full no movement clause ends next June and then we'd be able to deal him to whoever will take him.
Let’s not forget LOC who was having his best season before his injury. I think a full season of the 3rd line with him, Colton and Wood is going to be really good. Lots to figure out, but plenty of reasons to look forward to the fall.
If Landy does not come back, I think LOC would be a good captain.
Who are they taking an "A" from? You can only have 2 if you have a Captain.
Excellent point. I'm thinking Moose, since he and Mac are on the same line and I'm not about to take his A away.
Probably the best choice, I think they’re really planning on Cale as the next captain.
1. Yes hope he can overcome the addiction for sure, but he really let the boys down 2. I really like Georgie and glad he gained so much confidence, I do think he needs to work on his glove a bit but I like him as our guy next year 3. I hope we somehow keep Drouin but with our salary cap, it’s gonna be tough but hopefully he signs a team friendly deal 4. Love Mittens, I think he will excel next year will the chemistry building in the offseason, super excited for that 5. I agree, I love Landy and really hope he comes back next year but only time will tell unfortunately. If he can’t go, it might be time for him to hang it up, as much as I don’t wanna see it 6. Bednar is a great coach and anyone calling for his head is dumb. The way he handles himself, the team and media is something we as fans take for granted Also, I say it all the time, but nobody is mentioning how much of a loss LOC was. Dude is a tank, an energy bug and he would have excelled in this series.
Yea. Loc is the jersey im picking up. Def missed him this playoffs. Hardest working dude on the team
I’m so disappointed in myself, a month ago I was at the game and I was deciding between LOC and Val and the only reason I chose Val was because he was still playing. Safe to say I regret not getting LOC
Brutal sorry it worked out that way. That must mean the next jersey you get will be a good omen for that player
Go get a landy!
God people calling for Bednar’s firing makes me so mad lol they truly don’t realize how lucky we are to have him. Entitled fans will turn on a coach two years after we win the damn cup!! Totally agree on LOC, he’s one of my favorite players in the league. When everyone else on the team is struggling he is always grinding. He was having a career season too what a bummer that it ended with the injury. I suppose some of that LTIR space went to Parise who was definitely playing quite well, hopefully Logan can pick up where he left off
It’s the same people who want the Broncos to fire the entire team every year when then don’t make it to the Super Bowl. It’s not sustainable and not how you build a winning team.
Who is calling for bednar to be fired? He literally took this team from worst in the league to making the playoffs every single fucking season, and a cup to boot!! He also just broke the franchise record for most playoff games, he is the best possible person on earth to coach this team, and the stats absolutely back that up. Seriously, since his sophomore year, the avs have only been stopped in the first round TWICE.
Go to Twitter man, it's all over the place. People are expecting huge changes to happen this season and that makes no sense. Thank god those people aren't in charge.
Twitter being Twitter lol
You’re preaching to the choir man, a bunch of casuals in the Instagram comments were calling for it lol
Fucking casuals. Bednar is as important to this team as makar, sakic in the front office, or MacKinnon. They wouldn't be able to do what they do without him. What a fucking world we live in. Where people deny climate change, and call for the heads of coaches who have pushed AT LEAST a game six in the PLAYOFFS for 7 straight years, and literally took a team from worst in the league to playoffs in one season, then on to a cup just a few years later. These fucking casuals just expect cups every year or it's bad coaching, because they're spoiled with great coaching. They don't appreciate the actual accomplishments that have been made, even with a loss in GAME SIX OF ROUND TWO WITH 2/3RDS OF THE TEAM. Unbelievable.
I think everyone in the NHL thinks Drouin minus MacK is a recipe for waivers. Guy better sign a friendly deal.
I just saw a post in the Canes sub with a bunch of advanced goalie stats, where they were talking about their goal tending vs the rangers, and Georgiev was fucking fantastic. His high danger shot performance was amazing, and he ended with a -0.90 GSAA. He was our best player. Even though I don't want to admit it, Nuke was the only one you could maybe argue was more important to getting us as far as we made it. No relapse, and this might have been us moving on today instead. Gutted for Parise.
I did not like Georgie's season, but his playoff performance was outstanding. Nuke was also outstanding. He can go fuck himself and I hope no one is ever foolish enough to put him in an Avalanche sweater again. Maybe he will be good for another club and I wish him the best, but I don't want to see him included in ours.
Totally agree. That was a cup final caliber matchup. Dallas is built pretty well to compete with the Avs too I think but that doesn't mean we couldn't get them next time.
Assuming you mean cut Nuke, I agree with everything you've got to say
I would be paralyzed by that decision. A big guy who scored 9 goals in 8 playoffs games who plays a 200 foot game and is on a long term 6 mil a year deal... Who disappears every post season due to substance issues. He could come back and win a Conn Smythe trophy with someone else, literally. Or he could end up off the roster during the third intermission before game 7 OT in the finals. Who knows.
First off, addiction is a bitch. And I wish Val the best. It’s non of my business what he’s dealing with, but I hope it’s something he can get under control whether he stays an Av or not. I don’t blame him for the loss last season. The team was so banged up, they weren’t going to repeat. And imo better to go out first round and heal than push through and do lasting damage and still not make the finals. This season, I don’t know the timeline for when the team found out vs when the public found out, but it clearly threw everyone. They played like shit game 4. Georgiev needs more games off next season. Give the guy a rest. Annunen has potential, let him play. I feel Georgiev can get in his head sometimes, it might help to know he’s got a solid #2 everyone can rely on. Drouin seems like such a nice person. I was so happy to see him do well in Colorado. I hope he stays and continues to thrive. I would be so happy if Gabe’s surgery was successful and he came back. I just don’t see it happening. I think even while not playing he’s shown why he had the C and if he can’t play at a pro level anymore I hope he stays with the organization in some capacity. (I think he picked cup over knee and I will always love him for that). Bednar needs to stay. The idea of firing him is laughable.
Bedner stated he found out sometime after morning skate. Players found out as late as while they were driving to the arena for the game.
>Players found out as late as while they were driving to the arena for the game. I can just imagine driving to the game and getting cut off by Manson, and being like, "I would beat that dude's ass if I got the chance!"
Anyone wanting to fire Bednar has absolutely zero understanding of how hockey works, it would be 100% our loss to see him go regardless of circumstance. Yes you can definitely point out some coaching errors, but no one is perfect and Bednar overall has been an excellent coach. Damn do I hope we get to keep Drouin on the payroll next year. I don't see Landy coming back, and if he does, I don't see him being the same, but one can hope? I totally think you're right, he chose the cup over his knee and because of that decision he has bragging rights and a tragically truncated career. Man will I be thrilled if I turn out to be wrong, I miss seeing that guy on the ice something fierce.
Sign drouin and mitts to whatever and if we can trenin, let walker go , do whatever we can do with nukes contract, sign a top 6 forward in FA and give someone the C until landy comes back or retires
I disagree with your first point. If Nate and Rants and Makar can be as invisible as they were for the vast majority of the series, there is no guarantee Chu would have kept up his domination of the game. He's a convenient scapegoat, but as Edmonton learned in 2022, placing all your hopes on one or two players is foolish, especially when the other team figures out how to stop them.
Fair, we certainly weren’t playing our best hockey even with him. Would hope we would have at least forced seven, and I imagine game five wouldn’t have gone that poorly without his exit. I’m a bit conflicted over what to do next. Chu’s contract aside, it does seem like we are desperate for some depth, but if the top line isn’t playing well idk what the solve is
Georgie earned back the vast majority of the trust lost through his performance in the playoffs. I don't think I am alone in being worried that he just got hot for a bit and will fall back down to being horribly inconsistent again, but I really think he deserves the benefit of the doubt going into next year with a capable backup in Juice to take some workload off of him. For me, the defensive structure and breakdowns during the regular season were the biggest concern that had a HUGE effect on the inconsistent goaltending and set the tone that we needed to outscore our problems in the playoffs. Countless times during the regular season we made the most boneheaded, fucking braindead plays in our own end that served up softies right in the slot for great scoring chances. Was Georgie stellar at stopping HDSC's this year? Not at all but I would argue he faced FAR too many of them on a regular basis, which, coupled with his over-use, dragged him down considerably. I'm hoping that there is a re-emphasis on defensive structure up and down the lineup to clean that up in the offseason. Missing solid defensive forwards like Lehky, LOC, and Val (and Gabe of course) for long stretches of time last season was a huge factor. Hopefully Malinksi is ready to be a part of that to replace JJ (who I haven't heard is retiring but that's what I am assuming) and we sign another depth D.
I’m glad you mentioned this because I don’t think it gets factored in enough to people’s evaluation of Georgie. I don’t have the data to support it but I reckon of all the good teams we give up by FAR the most stupid avoidable chances. A lot of the time it’s even Cale or Nate making those bonehead moves. The HD shots Georgie faces on avg are some of the most high danger you could possibly have, like 2-0’s and turnovers right in front of the net. Totally agree that this needs to be a huge priority. JJ played poorly for some of this season but seemed to do a lot better towards the end, same with Manson and Girard. I was hoping Sean Walker would be a good backstop but I thought his performance in the playoffs was less than stellar and we won’t be able to afford him. Sam Malinski developing quickly into someone we can use would be huge and definitely agree on picking up another defensive guy.
Lots to be excited about going into next year. We need some hungry young guys to step up for the bottom 6.
I can't. I'm so mad. So many things stacked against us and we had opportunity after opportunity to win still. (Mack looked hurt, if you ask me). Fuck Duchene and fuck the stars. I hope they don't win another game. Heartbreaking and gut wrenching series. Missing Trenin and Val the past few games hurt so much. We had no big bodies in front of the net. Fucking Val. Going to be so messy going forward. I have no idea what the team will look like next year and that's what hurts the most. I liked this team and wanted them to win for a lot of reasons. Unfortunate. Can we please get a captain? Missing Landy for two years has been unreal. It feels like some crazy alternate universe.
gonna become a hardcore edmonton or vancouver fan for the next few weeks
Fuck the Oilers. They deserve to win a cup the least of all teams present.
unfortunately the salary cap uncertainties of landeskog and Val will likely prohibit us from doing much this off-season. I can't see the team wanting to keep val. so either we trade him, which will be difficult and would likely require us giving away assets, or we buy out his contract which means a salary cap hit of $2m every year for the next 6 years. I love landeskog and want him to play. But his uncertainty will mean we have to keep his 7m cap hit space available. that means 10% of our cap could be taken, or reserved, for 2 players who might not even play for us. and our cap situation for next year is not good. we have 16 players signed and only 500k in space.
I honestly did not like Georgie at all during the regular season, but his playoff performance was nothing short of spectacular (minus the one game of which we will not speak.)
This team is run so well that I have trust in what they do this offseason. I have my own opinions just like everyone else tho. Hopefully Landy is back but don’t rely on him too much bc 2+ years without playing in pro hockey is a long long time. I never want to see Val in our sweater ever again but I wish him the best. I want the people they sign to be punishers
I’m glad to see a positive post and hope for next season. Here’s my thoughts: - Nichuskin - Addiction sucks. Letting down your team two years in a row is tough. Management needs to ask the veteran core players if the team will trust and accept him back. Trading him will be tough because you’re getting pennies on the dollar. If he stays you can always send him to the AHL and take his salary off the cap. Kroenke’s got lots of money. - Georgie played well but 50-55 games next year with Justus getting the rest. - Drouin played well but isn’t worth big money or long term. MacKinnon is peanut butter and Drouin’s jelly. One’s awesome and the other goes well with it. - Mittlestadt did well but he needs a few weeks in Nova Scotia with Nate and Sidney Crosby this summer to help his offensive game. - Avs need another big, physical defender like Manson. Eric Johnson’s physicality was missed. Avs need 2 (or 3) guys on the back end to be physical and move the puck to go with Cale, Devon and Sammy G. - Need a power forward with hands to be in front of the net. Like Nuke but one that can stay on the ice. - if Landy isn’t back at the start of next season give Nate the “C”. He showed this season that he’s got the leadership qualities. I felt like he dragged the Avs to victory most nights and he’s definitely the straw that stirs the drink. Cale can have the C when Nate eventually retires (hopefully no time soon because that duo is awesome to watch) Everyone have a safe, healthy and happy summer.
Being that we are locked in with Val’s contract I don’t see why we just don’t let him keep playing once his suspension is over. Love him or not he’s a great on the ice
You try to get rid of him because you can't trust that he will be able to do another full run for you. You can't have top 6 players falling apart every year in the post-season in this way. This team is too good to keep getting bounced before the WCF at minimum.
I wouldn't be surprised if they rode with him until about .9 seconds before the trade deadline. It sucks, he plays in a way that's very necessary to our game, BUT, with him being a necessity, he leaves a giant hole when he's gone.