You can get more than Bjork for those two players. Sabres aren't giving up on Thompson for Soderberg no matter how good he has been this year. Davidsson is another diminutive forward of the kind we already have too many of and Calvert was brought in to do exactly what he has done this season. Nieto should fetch you Davidsson on his own. Barrie for those two? WTF are you on? An undrafted diminutive kid out of the Q who may or may not make the step up even if he maintains point per game in the A plus another RHD to clog up the right hand side. If you trade Barrie you trade him for forward help and you get more than those two. Average winger, third pairing RHD (way to clog up the right even more and more) and a younger, equally erratic goalie for Varly, Andrighetto and Dries, that's about a break even and does little to nothing to improve the team. A second and three firsts for Stone even with an extension is too much to give up. Better to take the chance on getting him in free agency. Stone will be the same as Rants on an extension or in free agency, and those lines look awful! No idea why you think the Avs should be sellers either really. Teams on the verge of or just into their 'window' aren't usually sellers unless it's a guaranteed improvement. No idea why you'd want to re-sign Ferland to that much, Compher's money is too high as is Kerfoot's for me, though it seems similar to how a few others on here value him. Overall pretty bloody awful sorry!

Look at Avalanche last 35 days and tell me seriously that this team is going to win something soon. So absoluetely, they must be sellers and get the most talent young players as possible in exchange for their veterans. I'm just throwing some ideas here. All opinions are good ... or not! We are here to have fun. I just think that If prices are high for sellers this winter as the hockey world anticipate, you must take advantage of it. IMO It doesn't make much sense to keep guys like Calvert, Nieto, Wilson, Nemeth, Soderberg, Andrighetto, Varlamov for the rest of season if other teams want to give you intriguing young players and draft picks in return. So... If you can get more than Anders Bjork for Wilson and Nemeth, go for it !

You guys are funny having an obsession with small players. I don't think it's an argument... I prefer talented "diminutive" players 100 times to 6'4'' hams who can barely skate and who are there only for their "physical presence". Alex Barré-Boulet performed everywhere he went, at all levels. Look at his stats from Bantam AA to Juniors and look at his first pro season this year at Syracuse. He's pretty much good. He's a real talent but went undrafted just because he's small. Not even a 7th round pick!!! INCREDIBLE!! Tampa Bay made another steal when they sign this guy. So I would be very happy to pick him up plus a good defensive defenseman (Cernak) for Barrie. If you can add a pick, do it. OK.... just for fun I will name a few "diminutive" players that are not so bad at hockey: T. Johnson: 5'8'' 180lbs, B. Point: 5'10'' 165lbs, Y. Gourde: 5'9'' 170lbs (Tampa players of course...), a little 4th rounder pick superstar J. Gaudreau 5'9'' 165lbs, A. Debrincat: 5'7'' 165, K. Keller: 5'10'' 170lbs, P. Kane: 5'10'' 177lbs, The Pest B. Marchand: 5'9'' 180lbs, expansion draft pick J. Marchessault: 5'9'' 175lbs, C. Atkinson: 5'8'' 179lbs. Not to mention HOF's Marty St-Louis and Theo Fleury. Ohhh, the Next Thing Jack Hugues is also a small one at 5'10'' 165lbs. I think that Barré-Boulet has gone under the radar and that some will regret it. We'll see.

Maybe I give too much for Mark Stone... I don't know but my point is if you can pull this guy there and sign him for 8 years right before the trade deadline, do it! Stone will fit perfectly in COL. Defensively speaking I think it helps, it closes your defense to add guys like TVR and Cernak on the right side to replace Barrie. These may not be guys for the long term but they can help the team defensively right now while waiting for Timmins and Makar.

Are the Avalanche going to win something soon? Who knows? They have a good nucleus but not the depth and binning all your veterans for nothing won't win you a cup any sooner and puts the rebuild back and shortens the window for the likes of Landeskog & MacKinnon. My main point with the veterans was that you could get more for some of those players in a retool. I don't disagree with you on moving some of them, just that you could get more. The question of diminutive players isn't an obsession but if you've been watching the Avs over the last month or so you would have noticed one thing. Their small, talented players (Kerfoot, Jost and the like) getting knocked from pillar to post. I forget which team was first to do it and beat the Avs but everyone else seemed to pick up on it and that was when the losing started. (Sakic seems to share your obsession with smaller guys btw, so they would probably be ideal targets for him, forgetting that he was one of the few small guys on the cup winning Avs and that they had a good balance of size, skill, speed and chemistry). Therefore you do not overbalance your team even more in that direction. You add players with size who can play and stick up for smaller team mates (I agree you can't load up with '6'4'' hams who can barely skate and who are there only for their "physical presence"', you look at guys such as Stone who I recently read described as a bully with how he uses his body, or Josh Anderson of the Blue Jackets who can play with skill but finishes every hit and isn't afraid to drop the gloves).

I don't disagree that smaller players can be talented and make it in the NHL (I'd point to Cliff Ronning who if I remember was 5'7 and maybe 170lbs in a much, much more physical era) but you cannot overload with them and expect to win. Especially when you look at how much is let go in the playoffs (if you can get their with a roster full of midgets) compared to the regular season. It doesn't matter how many examples of them you throw up. Tampa (and we're talking arguably the best team in the NHL) as an example have 6 forwards and one D under 6'0. The Avs 7 & 2. So you think it's a good idea to go smaller? Especially with smaller players already in the system to come through next? Are you really telling me you can guarantee Barre-Boulet becomes the next St.Louis, Ronning, Kane? For sure I'd have taken the chance on him as a late pick or even trading a late pick or fellow prospect for but he isn't a guy who is involved in a trade for arguably the best attacking D in the NHL other than as part of a bigger package.

Stone is a great idea to pick up we're agreed there, but I think that's too much to give up. Probably only by a first round pick though. If you can do it for less, you do, if not then stand pat and try in free agency. Makar will likely be signed to his ELC before the end of the season, and Timmins may well be called up if his concussion issues are cleared up. If not then Meloche is worth giving his shot. They don't need Cernak or TVR, and neither is going to help to a degree that offsets the loss of Barrie's offence. I'm all for trading Barrie as I think a D needs to be able to play on D first and foremost but that is simply not the right package or anywhere near enough for how highly he is rated. You trade Barrie, then you make a killing.

I just feel your trades are off for those points, you can get more, you're overbalancing on too many little guys, and you're overbalancing on the right D.