Rejoint: nov. 2015
Messages: 1,086
Mentions "j'aime": 324
I think Zadorov is dealt next summer. He’s going into restricted free agency for the third year in a row and has arbitration rights. His qualifying offer is $3.2M, and you have to imagine he’s looking for a longer term deal, coming off of two bridge deals in a row. The Avs look pretty set with Girard, Makar, and Timmins on the team plus Byram, Helleson, etc. on the way. Girard is the only one of those players on a long term deal, and the other three will eat up a good amount of cap space as they come off of their ELCs over the next two or three years. If Zadorov finally proves himself as a legit top-four defenseman this year, he’s going to want a longer term deal and the Avs could be hesitant to invest in another defenseman. He could become a good trade piece for forward help if Burakovsky or Jost struggle to break out. If Zadorov does not step up this year, the Avs could get comparable third-pairing play from Cole who only has one year left, or Rosen or Graves who would be far less expensive.