I may be alone but personally I do still believe Kaut can become an effective NHL player, he had a decent camp until he got hurt so I would necessarily give up on him yet.

As for the trade for Hertl, it all depends on it Naz bounces back, if he does no need for him but if not a potential trade target indeed.

Realistic view of what will happen with Hertl at the deadline.

Sharks accept. Hertl will be a major addition for an already dominant team and just the thought of Newhook and The Gecko on the same line in a year or two is just terrifying.

A realistic Hertl trade with a realistic Hertl signing. Amazing.

Trading newhook

No thanks to that Hertl trade, 28 in Nov needs a new contract, I’ll take Newhook on an elc and 8 yrs younger all day.

Crouse sucks, I’d trade MacDermid for him but not a whole lot else. @pond_duck isn’t alone. One of the few issues I have with Bednar is he has a tendency to absolutely bury young guys in the bottom 6. Kaut is an NHL player imo and just needs a chance.

I agree that Kaut can still become an effective NHL'er. Sakic needs to be in win-now mode though while Mackinnon's contract is still cheap, and Kaut is an obvious trade chip. I'd love if our 4th line could be a monster to play against, which it would be with Crouse and O'Connor forechecking together.

Even if Kadri bounces back I'd still push for a Hertl trade. Kadri-Jost is pretty weak center depth compared to a lot of teams in the east like NYI, Tampa, and Carolina. Also need to keep Hertl away from Vegas.

I don't necessarily want to trade Newhook, but realistically that's what it would take to get Hertl with an extension ahead of teams like Vegas or NYR who are even more desperate for a top 6 center. Just trying to keep it real here.

Sharks take it. I totally get it would be tough to part with Newhook but if Kadri isn't getting it done, you know exactly what you're getting with Hertl @ 2C.

Good trade.

Can the Avs afford Burakovsky next season if they did this? Or is it presumed he's a goner anyway?

I dont care about what Vegas does, and NYR is irrelevant, they need to be prove they are a playoff team first.

I just think spending top prospects recklessly like that is what gets teams into trouble....so you treaded nehwook and signed hertl, great that works for right now,. Now avs cant keep Burakovsky and kadri is walkign regarless.

So you have no newhook kadri or bura to build a 2nd line around, just Hertl.

If Hertl was acquired and extended presumably Burakovsky would be allowed to walk as he'll price himself out. Notably Avs do have Olausson in the pipeline who looks like a Burakovsky clone and had a great preseason and has had a good start to the OHL season.

they cant and have 0 ready top 6 prospects to fill the wings with, its reaching to say any fo the current crop can be full time 2nd line wingers.

Ok... and Hertl has carried far inferior players to a solid 2nd line in SJ, and you guys are in win now mode and cant afford the "lets wait and see how al these kids turn out" mantra rebuiding teams are afforded.
this works for both clubs but it's sad to see Hertl go.

they can target hertl in UFA if they want, keeping newhook is key to their roster build on his ELC,

I get that! but I will bet you whoever has Hertl at the end of this season will have him starting next year.
meaning you snooze you loose.

Very realistic. This is what the sharks are probably asking right now, obviously teams arent balking on it, but they might in the future

Hertl isn’t the only ufa out there, he’s not can’t miss in trade and extend, rushing into it at the deadline

Hertl might be the 5th or 6th best player on the avs. Don’t need to go out of your way for that

He would help and be great for the team, but we are talking about avs needing a 2nd line guy, they don’t have to over pay to get that

Hertl would be your 2/3rd best forward. and that difference would get you between 1-2 more playoff wins and that could very well push you to making it to the cup.

I wouldn't do it as it hurts you after this season, hertl is a great add but not at that cost... the avs one of the top scoring teams in the league and you want to trade away a top prospect for more scoring?

You sign hertl to 6x7.5 and you lose bura, kadri, and nish which is your entire second line.. aj hefele said he was in phx at the rookie camp and talked to a scout who was saying how far oulauson still has to go before he's nhl ready.. so your second line becomes hertl, ranta, O'Connor/bowers.

Then you have the task of replacing kuemper who I assume won't be signing for less than the 4.5 he's already making, and then you have to look another year in the future and see you have to sign mackinnon, byram, ranta, jost...

In my opinion it turns a 5 year window into a 1 year window

That's a ridiculous statement

He’s not better than anyone in the top line. Come on man

he's at worst your #4 more likely he would be your #3 forward. with this group around him he would be set up to flourish and excel instead of carrying middle 6 guys on a top line.

We all know Joe doesn't go big-game hunting in UFA because you always overpay. Neither Hertl nor Forsberg are coming to the Avs if they hit UFA.

We aren’t making a crap trade for Hertl.

As I just stated he would be playing with middle to bottom 6 players in colorado