The Colorado Avalanche gained some cap space, where do they go next?
Sportsnet: Corey Masisak of the Denver Post on the Colorado Avalanche having a little more cap space now after moving out Sam Girard’s contract, but they do lack trade assets. They could use a third-line center. Do they have enough to land one of the bigger names? Does it make for them?
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Matt Marchese: “They made a trade to clear up some cap space. And that’s that’s where I want to start here. My first thought was, they’re clearing up cap space, they’re doing something big here. Is there something big, or is this maybe a couple of moves that can fill out that cap space? Where do you think this is heading?”
Masisak: “Yeah, I think, I think my first kind of initial reaction to that trade, too, was, well, then the next trade probably needs to be a bigger win.
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Like, like, Sam Girard was a good player for them for a long time. Brett Kulak is a different player. You know, whether or not, like you want to say, like the asset management, like, whether or not the average quote/unquote won the trade or not. I think we’re going to need to see what happens over the next week or so before you can really make a final determination on that.
Yeah, I think, I mean, the biggest need that they have is a number three center. And that, they have cleared enough space now where they could make that a big splash: like they could go after one of the good, you know, one of the best centers on the market, and really, like, turn this thing into, like, okay, ‘What are you going to do with Nathan MacKinnon, Brock Nelson, and name that third guy.
Or, you know, if they, the other thing that I’m sure we’re gonna get to here is just there, they’re short on assets to trade. So if they get into a bidding war, was for somebody with, you know, if you know, if they’re trying to get a Ryan O’Reilly or a Vincent Trocheck or someone like that, you know, they might not be able to outbid other teams.
So if they just end up with, you know, a better 3c than they have right now, you know it’ll fill the need, but it won’t be the splash that maybe we’re thinking that’s coming.”
Marchese: “So when you say 3c, I mean our initial we thought Nazem Kadri is obviously a great fit. I don’t know what the, like what’s the appetite for taking on significant salary for multiple years with a looming Cale Makar extension there?”
Masisak: “Yeah. I mean, Naz is definitely the tricky one of the group.
Like to me, if you look at that group of guys that have been talked about a lot, like Ryan O’Reilly, is like a 475 foot home run for them. Because a he’s still really good. Him and Nathan McKinnon get along really well, and he’s only got one more year left at 4.5 million. It’s like, almost like a perfect storm of like, this is exactly what they need and what they would want.
Now, he’s got a bit of a history with this organization, obviously, and whether or not that, you know, whether or not that’s they can overcome, that is one thing. And then again, like, if the Predators just made Ryan O’Reilly available, 10 teams are going to want him, and it’s going to be a huge bidding war, and the ABS probably can’t win that.
So then there’s, yeah, there’s Nazem Kadri. He’s another, you know, another ex Av. Extremely popular in this market. I think the fans would love to have him back. But, like, part of the issue with that, like, they didn’t sign him long term because they did, they were worried about the back half of his contract. Well, he’s into the back half of his contract now.
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And so, yeah, I mean, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, what, three years left after this. I think for CADRE at 7 million, that’s a lot to take on for a third center, like you said, especially with you know, the blank check that they’re going to have to hand, kill my chart, kill my car, sometime between July 1 and and June 30 of next year.”
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