Kuat won’t be waived. Maybe Maltsev.

Is it’s Kaut vs Maltsev, gotta keep Maltsev there, no? Besides, Kaut may get through waivers unclaimed. Little chance Maltsev gets through.

He'll have to pass though waivers to go to the AHL if he doesn't make the Avs

They won’t waive their former first imo

I would say Maltsev simply because he plays C and has more NHL games.

IDK, they haven't really given him a shot and he may not really fit the team. I think they should trade him but they don't have much leverage to get a lot back.

How did Colorado burn a year of control tho? He has one more year on his ELC. Shouldn’t he be waiver exempt?

Not sure but I think it's his age or maybe it's that he had two years of ELC slide. Whatever it is, he isn't waiver exempt this season so he either makes the team or ends up somewhere else most likely.

Maybe he played a certain number of games one year? Idk. I know this is happening with Alexeyev but he was playing professionally so that’s a little bit different.

Hunt probably won't be on the NHL roster, as indicated by the fact that he got a two-way contract. So if the Avs want to they can carry both Maltsev and Kaut on a 23 man roster.

Carrying 23 wouldn't be ideal though as it would limit capspace to <$1m which wouldn't be close to enough to cover bonuses.

Assuming there are no injuries they'll probably try to sneak them both through waivers, though I think they'll look for a trade for Kaut before doing that if he hasn't taken a spot in preseason.

If the Avs were to choose I think they'd take Maltsev over Kaut since Maltsev probably fits the roster better as a 4C who can win faceoffs, but they'll also be mindful of Kaut having higher upside and higher trade value and not want to lose him for nothing.

Hard to tell right now which way the front office will want to go. Kaut and Maltsev are likely both going to get plenty of opportunities in camp and preseason and then the Avs will assess from there.

Knowing how shrewd and analytical CMac and Sakic are I'd also hazard a guess that they probably have some trade options lined up should they decide to part with Kaut.

Hunt hasn't been in the AHL in six years. I'm assuming he makes the NHL.

Avs aren't going to have him sitting in the stands as 7/8D using up valuable capspace when they have up to $3.5m in performance bonuses to cover. He'll probably be first call-up on D though.