Add Grubauer, replace Zacha and the pick with Blackwood and a 5th

Interesting proposal but I don't think NJ would consider moving Blackwood!

Yea and new jersey laughs at that

There is only one Big Z in the NHL.

I can't believe I disrespected the original...I feel shame

LOL I'd say that someone will soon need to take the torch, but seems like Chara will never retire HAHA

Why would the Avs want to add Zacha a C when the already have MacKinnon, Kadri, Compher, PEB, Jost and you signed Kamenev. Then you also have Bowers who you completely omitted, and Newhook.

You have some guys being signed that it isn’t likely to happen at all. Smirnov isn’t going to get a contract offer, he hasn’t really progressed at all at Penn State. Greer is almost assuredly gone, Dries if signed is getting an AHL deal not a two-way deal, and I think it is very unlikely that Kamenev wants to come back, bad luck on injuries derailed any prospects he had here.

Whilst Zacha would be a nice addition to the team, I don't know if it makes sense to acquire another young struggling center given that we already have Jost and Kamenev, along with Newhook and Bowers on the way soon. We could do with a reliable PKer and defensively sound 3C in the short-term though so if the price is right we may be interested.

Zacha does seem like the kind of guy Sakic would target given that he has some untapped potential and solid analytics (defensively), which is reminiscent of Nichuskin and Burakovsky (other 1st round reclamation projects).

Value-wise Zadorov is worth a 2nd + 3rd, and Zacha = a 2nd or 3rd at this stage, so a 2nd or 3rd should be going Colorado's way, not to NJ.

Excellent feedback, that makes a lot of sense. I can't say I follow COL super closely so I forgot that they already had Bowers/Newhook in the wings. Thanks!

I could see a 3C being brought in for 1 year, as there's a bit of a need in the short-term until Newhook and Bowers are ready.

- Kamenev will likely be traded to get an opportunity somewhere else (eg. Florida/Ottawa/Detroit).
- Jost is ok defensively but hasn't made the 3C spot his own despite many opportunities. Barring a great playoffs I think he'll be getting traded if we get a good enough offer.
- Compher isn't a natural 3C, more of a north-to-south winger, so ideally he plays at RW rather than at C. He's ok as 3C, but excellent as a 3rd line RW.
- Newhook is still 1 year away from making the team.
- Bowers is probably around 1 year away, but another year in the AHL probably wouldn't hurt; or he could simply start out on the wing and work his way back to C after a year in the NHL.

With that in mind I could see Sakic wanting to target Zacha as another "Burakovsky/Nichuskin" type buy-low option to see if he can fill the 3C spot for us next season. If he does well at 3C in 2020/21 then we could keep him in a 4C/1st PK role once Newhook makes the team in 2021, and then in 2022 when Kadri hits UFA and Newhook slides up to 2C then Zacha would slide back up to 3C.

Generally speaking I agree with your assessment, but there is no need to bring a guy in for 1 year when you have Compher, Jost and PEB for 3 and 4 C. Jost particularly if he continues to surge on the defensive end and on the PK could be a very viable option. I don’t think the effort and expense to acquire a guy like Zacha moves the needle enough on team improvement to warrant doing it. Roll with what got you there.

Take more then a bottom pairing LD+3rd round pick to get Paval Zacha. And Matt Puemple is staying in GR he loves it there and Yzerman plans on resigning him.

Yeah I agree with you. Though I presented the case for how it "could" make sense, acquiring Zacha feels very much like a sideways move. Swapping him with what we currently have doesn't really make the team better, nor worse. It's just moving the chairs around, so to speak.

I'd probably give Jost one last try in his D+4 season and if he falters then move him a month or two into the season. If he's signed to a decent caphit then I'm sure there will be plenty of teams making offers.

I just think the Avs, read Sakic desperately wants to see what his drafted players can do given how they have rebounded after the atrocity of the 48pt season. Remember there was much speculation that picking Jost was the tipping pt in the Roy Sakic relationship ending. Or I could be reading to much into it.