Pinto would have been such a good target for COL
Don't think they had the assets OTT would want tho

Steep price to pay for a 3C. If RJo didn't work out, getting a 2C would have still been a priority. Also, the Tatar signing was made to ensure that they had enough goal-scoring depth, and considering that he had the same amount of goals as Pinto, and just cost 1.5M in cap, they made the better move even if this trade was available to them.

What assets do you think Ottawa would want?

Colorado have all their 1st round picks as well as a center prospect drafted in the 1st round this year (i.e. Calum Ritchie). That should be enough to make a competitive offer.

Newhook is a pretty easy baseline for a Pinto contract imo.

My bad, yes COL could make an excellent offer, I think OTT would rather pay a 1st/2nd to get rid of cap space then losing Pinto for future assets

Honestly if this is the cost to acquire Pinto right now, I guarantee other teams will outbid Col with better/higher draft picks. I don't think anyone is valuing Colorado draft picks very much right now, they're poised to be late rounder across the board for the foreseeable future.

Avs could offer Calum Ritchie instead of a 1st. That way Ottawa get a C prospect who can contribute sooner than anyone they pick with a draft pick.

It's not going to be helpful to define Pinto as a 3C though. He was actually a 2C in his 22 y/o rookie season even though he was not ready for that role after missing a whole season to injury. Any team acquiring him would pay for the long term...


No idea with Dorion but I guess a similar young player with good projectability

Sure but that doesn't change the fact that Ritchie himself was also a late 1st rounder just last year. They could just draft a late 1st round center in 2024 with that Colorado pick too. I think my point was more that I don't think Colorado has the quality of asset to offer for Pinto. They have quantity which more than half the league can probably beat simply because of how good Colorado has been the past couple years and will likely continue to be for the future.

He has 2C potential, but he is currently a 3C, and what they needed was a 2C. Maybe Pinto is more sound than Newhook as a C, but it would have basically just been expanding that experiment which isn't something that they wanted to do.

Like I already said, any team acquiring him would pay for the long term... so if you want to acquire him now (an AVs fan made this ACGM), you have to pay for the whole thing and not just what he would be this season (3C as you mentioned initially)

Not sure why we need to say these things, you know this, everybody knows

I don't disagree, I get what you are saying now but that's not what I meant when I said "steep price for a 3C". I probably could have worded it better, but I was talking in the context of whether it was worth it for COL in terms of the situation of their team and the role he would play, and not his trade value per se because I was replying to the OPs description.

The trade is COL effectively trading Newhook for Pinto which might have made sense with Pinto being better at C, but it's still more or less a lateral move. If they couldn't be patient with Newhook anymore, I don't think Pinto would have too long to prove himself. I know you said Pinto played as a 2C last year but there's definitely a difference when a guy gets a good opportunity to prove himself due to injury on a non-playoff team vs when he's expected to do something on a championship-caliber team. My main point though is that spending like that when there's uncertainty at the 2C wouldn't have been too wise. Had there not been that uncertainty at the 2C, then maybe it would have been worth getting Pinto even if we were capped at a 3C. I had no problem with TB paying the price that they did for Hagel or even Jeannot because of the situational context. One is looking great now and the other not so much even though it is early.

Sorry for the delay, was very busy last week

I see but what is the future at Center for the Avs? Wouldn't be smart for a team like Colorado to go after a guy like Pinto if he was available? RyJo is UFA after next season and will be 33 y/o. Pinto would then be ready to replace him

Also very important, him being at 2C in his 22 y/o rookie season was actually detrimental because he was not ready for that role and was coming back from missing a whole season to injury. He still has shown pretty good things.

I think the Avs trading Newhook is more because they don't see him as a Center long term, or good enough defensively. While Pinto is projected to be better defensively than offensively





This would be a very smart trade for the Avs but won't happen

No worries.

The future of the 2C is definitely something to think about, but at the same time that might be a position that they have to spend little on for a while considering that they will start to face a crunch as they try to keep their core players. I know the cap is rising, but Pinto is likely to get a 1-year deal, then another 3-year bridge deal or long-term deal. So, he'll be pricing himself out most likely. Probably would make more sense to draft someone with their pick or to use it for a impact rental to try to win now.