Well, now what? 2025 Avs Offseason Thread

[Pokecheque]

Well, shit. I write this also after an absolutely crushing loss by the Nuggets last night.

Anyway, I have some thoughts. I'll save them for later tonight. But this definitely ranks up there are one of the worst, if not THE worst loss in franchise history. The fact they dropped yet another Game 7 in the Bednar era is bad enough, but they way they did so just defies description.

[Pokecheque]

Nuggets run out of OKC so that leaves...the Roc...nope not them. The Eagles! The Eagles are still going strong!

Reading that Brock Nelson is likely going elsewhere, and all I have to say to that is good riddance. Fuck that guy. Totally lifeless, soft player. I was expecting a tough, old-school type guy who could get in the dirty areas and score the greasy goals. Got a little of that but for the most part I saw a guy who sucked the air out of the room every time he took the ice. Low energy, lost a lot of puck battles, a good skater but a guy who plays a very slow, languid game.

It ain't all on him, I think Bednar didn't quite know what to do with him (there were some really good returns on pairing him with Necas, but then Bednar refused to go back to that) but I blame him for this failure. ZERO GOALS in the series against Dallas. ZERO. Fuck right off. Top prospect and picks dealt for literally nothing.

I would've been amenable to a coaching change, but not wholesale pulling for it, absolutely would be for a GM change. MacFarland has squandered the best years of this core and has nothing to show for it.

[E.L.]

If there’s a team that should somehow find a way to pay Bennett, it’s Colorado.

[Pokecheque]

If there’s a team that should somehow find a way to pay Bennett, it’s Colorado.

I think Bennett would be a disaster in Colorado. He doesn't really drive play on his own, but being on Matthew Tkachuk's line has been the perfect fit. He found the best possible landing spot for him, I think he'd be nuts to leave now. Note that his numbers in Calgary were not that great. And Bednar would HATE a guy who took that many penalties.

I realize beggars can't be choosers, but I just think that would be as bad if not worse than Nelson was for the Avs.

IMO, they should aim as high as they possibly can. There's a reason MacKinnon chose to go to the worlds despite (reportedly) not being 100%. As Friedman speculated, he likely went there to try and convince Sid to request a trade to Colorado. Will it work? Unlikely, but I don't blame him for giving it a go.

They could also see if they could snag Mika Zibanejad from the NYR, not a great contract to absorb but that should actually lower his trade value.

My choice is Trevor Zegras. I think Pat Verbeek is a horrid GM who demands sky-high prices for his players (note how John Gibson continues to wither on the vine) and then just sits back, but maybe an aggressive approach can pry Z loose. He's fallen WAY out of favor in Anaheim under the previous coach, hopefully he gets a fresh start in a new city, like Denver.

[E.L.]

Would love to see Zegras rescued from Anaheim and on a skilled team like Colorado. The Ducks are run by meatheads.

[Pokecheque]

It's come out that a trade was in place to send Nelson to Winnipeg, which I'm told is actually closer to his hometown of Warroad than St. Paul, and he nixed it.

Also seems unlikely he will re-sign in Colorado. Fine by me, GTFO, you fuckin' video game villain reject.

Of course that means the Avs need to find another second line center, which has plagued them since letting Kadri go in 2022 (a massive mistake that will likely define MacFarland's tenure as GM). Of course they don't have much in the way of trade capital. No real viable prospects in the system and not many draft picks. Probably going to have to be a roster player or two who get dealt in order to fill gaps, which of course runs the risk of creating other gaps.

IMO they need to move on from Nichushkin sooner rather than later. He's become increasingly injury prone, is coming off a hugely disappointing playoff run, and is one more slip-up with the player assistance program away from his career essentially being over.

Some people online have suggested moving Necas to center but I think if he was a center, he'd already be playing there by now. I don't like that Bednar insisted on putting the two best puck carriers on the same line while having a center in Nelson who needs a good puck carrier on his wing in order to work, but...whatever. Nelson and his zero goals can get fucked.

[Chris18]

Yeah, I read the same thing about Nelson killing the trade to Winnipeg.
Sticking with former Isles, maybe Tavares ends up as the Avs 2C.

[Pokecheque]

They likely can't afford him.

Some people are suggesting the Avs just move forward with a center tandem of MacKinnon/Colton/Coyle/Drury, which should be relatively successful...just not a contender. Colton was only successful this season when he was on the wing, he was a total disaster at center, and even after he came back from a serious injury, he missed wide open nets at point blank range continually. And the only time he was remotely successful at center the year before, Logan O'Connor was doing a ton of the heavy lifting for him.

If the Avs can somehow find a way to get rid of Colton and Wood, that would free up a sizeable amount of cap room. But if they have to pay to dump those contracts I don't think the Avs can afford it. This is kinda why I think MacFarland should've been shitcanned, nearly all his audacious moves have been terrible, or just plain haven't worked out.

[Chris18]

Nelson gets 3 years, $7.5M AAV. Can't believe they gave him that after how he played for them. Happy for Brock. Sure Tommy is going to rage.

[harmfuljays]

Nelson gets 3 years, $7.5M AAV. Can't believe they gave him that after how he played for them. Happy for Brock. Sure Tommy is going to rage.

My wife is dialed in the moment any Avs news is announced.....all I got from her was a Brock Nelson signed and then a why?

[Pokecheque]

Nelson gets 3 years, $7.5M AAV. Can't believe they gave him that after how he played for them. Happy for Brock. Sure Tommy is going to rage.

I'm not raging...but like what most of the men do in my family when met with something they don't like, I'm grumbling. They also had a tendency to drink copious amounts but I'm not doing that.

So...okay. Here's the thing. The outlook was pretty bleak. They had all but exhausted their futures the last two seasons. If they let Nelson walk the chances they acquired someone of comparable talent were slim to none. I will say that I'm a little surprised he agreed to such a short-term deal, I was fully expecting him to go 5-6. The AAV is about where most people online predicted it would be. All in all, that's fair value for a guy who likely could've gotten more on the open market.

I don't think I'll ever be a big fan of the guy, he just seems like a really low-energy type of player, doesn't really hit or use his size to win puck battles, he can skate well but plays a fairly slow game, takes about five minutes to get his shot off, and looks like a pool salesman from Utica.

But really, it's Bednar who has to get his shit together and figure out how best to use Nelson, a guy who doesn't really fit his system, to work properly. Why, after using the Nelson/Necas pairing to great effect, he insisted on keeping Necas and MacKinnon together during the 1st round series with Dallas, which left the 2nd line a big, slow, mess, I will never know. Nelson is simply not a guy who can skate the puck out of the zone and up the ice, Necas is elite in that regard, as is MacKinnon. Why then, do you not put Nelson with Necas!?!?!?!? If he doesn't make this adjustment I will finally be forced to board the FIRE BEDNAR .

I will also add that despite the fact he had ZERO GOALS in 7 games against Dallas, Nelson's underlying metrics apart from game 7, were outstanding. So it'll be up to him, Bednar, and whoever the hell is taking over for Ray Bennett to make this work.

Speaking of Necas, reports are coming out that Necas didn't enjoy his time in Colorado. If there's even an ounce of truth to that, he can get fucked. Dude was stymied and frustrated in Carolina's grinding system, he finally lands with a coach, scheme, and teammates that are perfect for his skill set and speed, and he's bitching? Fuck off, dude. Hopefully it's just the Internet spewing bullshit and they just figure things out.

Either way, the Avalanche FINALLY appear to have their center tandem set to start the season, instead of waiting until March to get someone. It's MacKinnon/Nelson/Coyle/Drury until further notice.

[harmfuljays]

Speaking of Necas, reports are coming out that Necas didn't enjoy his time in Colorado. If there's even an ounce of truth to that, he can get fucked. Dude was stymied and frustrated in Carolina's grinding system, he finally lands with a coach, scheme, and teammates that are perfect for his skill set and speed, and he's bitching? Fuck off, dude. Hopefully it's just the Internet spewing bullshit and they just figure things out.

Either way, the Avalanche FINALLY appear to have their center tandem set to start the season, instead of waiting until March to get someone. It's MacKinnon/Nelson/Coyle/Drury until further notice.

Yeah I suppose there is that with the Centers not being a continuous issue every year.

There was a sense Necas wasn't overly thrilled with his experience in Colorado and that he wants to explore other options. - Nick Kypreos

That doesn't give much to go on but speculation but I could see this. I thought he played well with Nate but not everybody wants to play with Nate......maybe he didn't like the city either. I could see that.

If that's the case send him packing quickly while his value is high and before he starts pouting.

[Chris18]

Well, you're a better man than me.

Andrew Gross is an Isles beat writer. He reports that Lou offered Nelson the exact same terms to stay with the Isles. Either Nelson really wanted out, or thought he'd be worth more on the open market.

[Pokecheque]

Avs lose Eagles assistant coach Dan Hinote to the Lightning, he moves back into the NHL to replace Jeff Blashill as Cooper's assistant.

Intersting, I think he had a legit shot at replacing Ray Bennett (the only major change so far this offseason).

[Pokecheque]

Wonderful, even this far past any Avs games, injury news pops up.

Someone on HF posted a picture of Charlie Coyle hanging out with his daughter on the back deck, and one of his arms is completely wrapped up. Might have been what affected him so badly in the postseason (getting saddled with an injured Drouin and ice-cold Kiviranta didn't help matters).

But the real big news that just came out was Logan O'Connor underwent hip surgery (AGAIN) and will miss the next 5-6 months, so, probably December before we see him. Yikes. He was arguably Colorado's best player in the 7 game series against Dallas.

[Pokecheque]

No surprise, Cale Makar takes home his second Norris Trophy.

And yes, I know, the biggest reason he won so handily is because he scored 30 goals.

It's nice and all, but doesn't in any way take away the sting of this year's first round exit.

[Pokecheque]

Voting results. As I alluded to earlier, not particularly close.

[E.L.]

Best season Werenski is ever going to have in his life and not even close to touching Makar.

[Pokecheque]

In other news, once again Sammy Girard is being mentioned in trade rumors. I'm too lazy to look but I believe he is in the last year of his deal, a very affordable cap hit.

Girard is a bit of a unicorn. He's a smooth-skating, undersized puckmoving defenseman who has good defensive instincts and able to break up plays as well as move the puck out of danger very effectively. And while he's not big, he's no slouch in the physicality department, especially if the guy on the receiving end is Alex DeBrincat.

However, for an ace puckmover he doesn't put up great numbers, and that's mostly because his shot is not elite. He's also prone to bad clearing attempts and gets muscled too easily in the slot area (I wish coaches would teach him more to be a pest rather than trying to tie guys up in front of the net, he needs to be more like a rat and use every little advantage, hack, cross check, can opener, you name it, make their lives hell if they want to stand in front of your goalie...that's kinda what I did at a much, much, much, much, much, much lower level of hockey than SG49). So while he is signed to a very good value contract, he has not provided a ton of excess value beyond that contract.

That all said, the narrative that persists around him is the most frustrating thing. Every one of his mistakes gets magnified X1000, especially in the postseason. People still bitch about his performance in the Vegas series around two years ago, even though he wasn't even close to the worst defenseman in that matchup (Graves and Nemeth were embarrassingly bad, and the former literally cost them an OT game with the dumbest turnover imaginable). And while it was a horrid goal to give up, he was the least responsible guy in that wraparound from Mikko Rantanen in game 7 that went off Girard's skate and in the net to tie the game. Lindgren and Blackwood were way, way more culpable there...but I'm getting carried away now.

He's a good, but not great, two-way defenseman with some obvious limitations. Plenty of Avs fans would love a bigger guy there but I don't see how they find someone of comparable value and just make some sort of miracle trade. NHL GMs as a whole just don't like little blueliners, there's not much of a market for him. I'm obviously a huge fan of the guy, but if there was some upgrade out there to be had who somehow fit under the Avs very tight cap, I'd be all for a deal of some sort. But I don't see it happening.

Also, I just don't want to give any oxygen to this moron in Calgary a couple years ago.

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[harmfuljays]

To be fair....3 or 4 years ago Girard was wretched and a liability every time he stepped on the ice (Mason Lohrei with much less upside). It is only in the past couple years that he has turned into a serviceable 2nd pairing D man.

They've already waded through the crap years with him, his contract seems to fit and I am sure his value isn't that high. If they wanted a D-man that's not Girard they could have resigned Lindgren before going all chinese finger trap with Nelson.

Don't they have better things to do like find a home for Necas before the season starts?

I am still a little flabbergasted at the Nelson signing.....there was absolutely no one else out there to court with that money? This just seems like a very interesting decision that's driving further questionable decisions.