Toews at $7m aav seems quite optimistic. Anything less than $8m would be a win for the Avs.

Olausson still has a long way to go before making the top 9 on the Avs.

Doubt the leafs do that

And yes it’s 8M X 6 for toews

7x7 is pretty fair for a guy on the wrong side of 30 imo. He could get more, but he wants to stay and may trade some dollars for familiarity and trade protection.

Olausson has work to do, but I think one of him of JLF will take a spot. He has taken some steps, so it's not inconceivable he'll be knocking on the door next year.

I like the sprinkling of youngsters throughout this lineup. Still mostly a veteran team but with an eye toward the future.

Why wouldn't the Leafs do that? They may need some dmen, and Manson is good when healthy. If he has a decent year, then that's a good deal for Toronto imo.

$48M on 8Mx6 vs $49m on 7Mx7. I don't see much reason why Toews would insist on the former.

7x7 isn't fair considering what Toews can get on the open market. He won't take a big discount on his only big payday. Maybe the AAV will be lowered by an 8th year though. 7.75m x8 seems solid for both sides.

Manson will also cost a decent asset to dump btw. He's regressing hard. He's also blocked a move to Toronto in the past so that doesn't seem like a logical trade partner.

Counting on two of Olausson, Kovalenko, and Foudy to be in the top 9 next year seems over-optimistic. Hope I'm wrong though.

Manson was hurt last year. He's still valuable if he can stay healthy. Not super valuable, but he isn't a cap dump. The only think that makes me nervous is that there are a fair amount of ufa dmen. But I still think he'll have suitors if he has a decent season.

I think people are overestimating what Toews is gonna get thrown his way. Orlov had to settle for a two year deal. Kadri got a big payday, but it took forever and he found someone who was desperate to save face after losing a superstar player for nothing. Sure some team might offer him 8M or so on a 7 year deal. But I don't see teams throwing much more than that at him with full term. I could be wrong here, but that's how I see it.

Toews is a top 10 Dman with relatively low mileage for an UFA. And the cap is going up. He's gonna get paid.

Because they probably resign Brodie and tanev for less and they still have Reilly lily and timmins so he’s not needed

I would do that manson trade all day long but maybe facilitate a 3rd team to retain a small portion. I’d even move Brodie to make that happen.

A different way to look at this: OP has Miles Wood on the 4th. Imo, he’s pretty much hard locked into that 3rd line role.

So really, you just need one ELC guy to step up into a 3rd line role. Hopefully Kovalenko matches the hype.

Behind that, I t’ll be easy to find a cheap guy for the 4th line: whether it be an ELC in the prospect pool, someone from free agency, or a waiver claim.

Good point. Avs are also pretty good at finding bargain deals for forwards (ERod, Drouin, Tatar, and even earlier Nichushkin), so there's also a chance they fill a 3rd line role with another good contract. If Drouin does well for example I think he may want to stay at a reasonable caphit.

I like how the core of the roster is locked in for the next two years, effectively giving the team a two year window before Rantanen, Byram, and Georgiev are up for renewals.

The only big one until 2025 is Toews but that should get resolved mostly by the rise in cap in 2024.

The last thing Boston needs is another bottom 6 prospect close to a one way.

Seemed to me that they might have a fair amount of spots to fill next year, and especially if they end up making a trade using some of their prospects. In any case, it doesn't need to be Boston. Really it doesn't need to be anyone. But I thought I may have seen a fit.

Because he gives up and extra year for 1M doesn’t seem worth

The Avs blueline looks super small when you remove Manson and JJ