Isn't COL trying to move Girard not Toews?

Avs can't move Toews this year, even with Soucy coming back. However, next year Seattle could make a lot of sense. Believe Toews is from BC, so it would be close to home for him. And, perhaps more importantly, they have the cap space to give him a big contract.

The only thing I'm not sure about is if Seattle would move the type of high end assets needed, or if they want to build through the draft and free agency.

I don't know that they're trying to but that is the speculation which is why I say it's "off the board". My argument is that it's better to move Toews. He's a great player but the Avs can't re-sign him in two years while Girard is locked up for another 5 years at a reasonable rate. Byram played a ton of big minutes in the playoffs and excelled so he's ready to be Makar's partner. This move allows the Avs to keep Kadri, maintain a D corps that can play the style they need them to, recoup some draft capital and maintain cap flexibility into the future. It helps Seattle by getting them the 1D that can help them move forward. This, IMO, is a good - if slightly counterintuitive - deal.

Sure they can move him this year. And this gives Seattle a 1D, something they might not be able to find through the draft.

They'll bone EJ before moving their #2 defenseman. I put the odds Toews stays at 250%.

I'm not saying C-Mac would do this but it is a perfectly cromulent proposal; this is a better return than they'd get for Girard and helps in a ton of ways. The team would be just as good, maybe even better since they sign Kadri and Heinen. Byram was HUGE in the playoffs - he played more minutes than Cale at times in the final; he can easily slide into Toews' spot.

Get the same return next off season. Move EJ/Compher this year. Not Toews.

In an ideal world, sure, but this isn't an ideal world. They aren't talking about moving EJ, they're talking about moving Girard and I don't think that's a wise move.

It's not, but the alternative is not trading the second best dman on the team a year before they need to.

Byram is a more than adequate replacement for Toews and that's saying a lot. It's a smarter play to move Toews than it is Girard.

The Avs aren't moving Toews under any circumstance. Even if he walks for free to UFA they still wont move him. He is too important to what they are doing

Long run i think it’s a good move, but trying to win the cup next year this weakens us too much. Toews is too steady for us to trade right now

It's not a smart play to move either at the moment, when the team can simply trade Compher or EJ instead. The Toews/Girard decision should come a year from now. The team would be shooting themselves in the foot if they did this now.

Sorry, but it's a bad idea. You're trying to avoid one bad idea (which might unfortunately happen) but are doing so by putting forth a different bad idea. And the weird part is that you get enough cap for that Kadri contract by just moving Compher. There is no need to move a key cog.

Do a year one with just JT moved, and then a year two when you trade Toews. Same destination and even a similar return. That I'm likely on board for.

There isn't enough space to just move JTC and have a functional roster - they need at least 22 players. Unless, of course, they waive MacD and put two league-minimum contracts on the squad, then it works but now you're talking about having three league-minimum forwards on the roster just to get Naz back and avoid trading a D. And any of this assumes Naz would take a contract at $6.5M which I'm not sure he would.

Which is poor asset management - I'm well aware that they probably do let him walk but it's still poor asset management.

Once they accrue space they can bring someone up on a permanent basis. Until then, they have MacDermid, who can play wing or D, and MacDonald on a two-way, who can also play wing or D. It's not ideal, but ensuring you have an additional player in the press box isn't worth moving Toews or Girard.

I'd just waive MacD anyhow - he barely even fought last year and is a huge liability when on the ice; he's a waste of cap space. Manson can do the fighting if need be. I don't think they'd be comfortable with MacDonald as the nacho guy but that would literally be the only way they could make it work to keep everyone except JTC.

Honestly, I'm moving more towards the "stop trying to make Naz work, they'll be fine" side of things. They have guys that can play 2C and they can just accrue cap space to make a deal at the deadline if they don't feel comfortable with their situation at that time and headed into the playoffs. I love the guy and the way he plays; he definitely makes the team better but all the gymnastics required and the cap headaches are starting to feel like it isn't worth it and the Avs are still the best team in the West even without him. Just let him go get paid somewhere else, keep the team intact, sign someone like Heinen for depth scoring and move forward with that.