Island of misfit toys over here

Why would the Avs want Jost back. He isn't a top 6 player. Paying Johnson $3 million is ridiculous, even if it's at 50% The rest of the players no thanks. Also the Avs don't give a 1st to any team.

Agreed

Jost has passed waivers so you can keep him in Loveland for the rest of the year or call him up if there's injury need. EJ isn't $3m, he's 50% of what's left of that contract and you need him if Bo goes. The first and Bo is to solve the 2C with Middelstadt, and to get UPL as a quality backup, that's not worth nothing



I mean kinda, but that's how you solve the problems of a contender in one go. The Avs need a 2C, backup goaltender, some extra forward depth, and some cap room. This solves all that and replaces a defensive spot that was lost. The price is steep but fair compared to what you're getting back. And it puts Bo in a place where he's able to grow with a young talented team, and Dermy could be the veteran Cogs-type roll.

Mittelstadt is an iffy 2nd liner who (I think) has been sheltered a bit defensively. Is he really a 2C on a contender?

Backup goalie - UPL has upside but is he really that much of an upgrade over the existing options in Colorado?

If you’re considering Jost to be the extra forward depth: he’s a $2M forward playing in the AHL. Too expensive for a call up and he takes up cap space in Loveland.

Erik Johnson is a significant downgrade on every roster defenseman from Colorado. He would play below JJ and maybe even Jones/Malinski for double the salary.

So at the end of the day you have:
Avs give up:
- 22 year old top 4 defenseman on a good contract
- a 1st round pick
- a 5th round pick
- a mediocre middle 6 C
- a bad forward who can be fully buried on waivers

For:
- a slightly less mediocre middle 6 C
- a slightly less mediocre backup
- an overpaid 6/7D on an awful contract
- a bad forward who cannot be fully buried on waivers

This is a really bad proposal.

Look, I love Bo. But he's NOT a current top 4 defenseman. He's young and has the ability to be top pair. But he's not there and barely played like it this year. He's riding the struggle bus something heavy.

Man, your read on Casey Mittelstadt is wild. All the stats online says he's an underappreciated 2C. 59pts last year, 35 in 42 games this year, CF and xGF% well over 50. Put him on a line with Rants and Val? He's gonna be the next Kadri. Quality C is on a shortage this year and they're not likely to bid high enough to win Lindgren. This is a reasonable price to fixe 2C for probably a while

UPL is an okay goalie RIGHT NOW, but with some help from Jussi Parkkila he could be at the level of Frankie. You need that for the rest of the year to give Georgiev some rest and have a better space for Annunen to grow. When it's time, UPL will be a great trade piece, or options for who they want for backup/starter. No more getting left at the altar like with Grubauer.

EJ is better than you're giving him credit for and cheaper than you say this late in the season, half retained. He'd slot above JJ, and pair well with Malinski like he did with Girard. Makar/Toews, Girard/Manson, EJ/Malinski, JJ/Jones seems like a great Cup defense

Jost is what he is and if you don't agree than you probably never will. The money and bodies needed to make sense, and the org likes retreads. Plus he's fast, tenacious, and I think learned quite a bit from what he's been through and would put everything into a chance in CO again, especially in the playoffs. That and we know he's liked in the room.

My personal rule is, if it feels like a bit of an overpay but the other team probably is a bit unhappy, it's likely closer to reality. That's what I tried to hit while solving the issues.

Let’s break this out into two trades. Byram+5th for Mittelstadt. RyJo, a 1st, MacDermid, Prosvetov for UPL, EJ, Jost.

Bo plays top 4 minutes now. He’s a young guy with a top 5 pedigree who has played huge minutes on a cup run. He’s been up and down lately, but his absolute floor is #4. There’s top pairing upside, but jury is still out on if he hits that.

The read on Mitts is that he had a good season last year and was very productive. But the knock is he lacks defensive engagement. When your 1C is Nathan MacKinnon, you want your 2C to be an effective 200 foot player so MacKinnon can feast. That’s not the player Mittelstadt is. If the trade boils down to Byram for Mittelstadt 1-1, I think that’s an easy no. Mittelstadt is certainly a fine player, but a trade centering on Byram should get a higher end return.

On to trade number 2:

I’m actually fine with UPL. I love a reclamation project and he’s probably better than Prosvetov. But this doesn’t move the needle much this year. If he’s an offseason target, that would make sense.

EJ would absolutely play below JJ in the lineup. We have proof of concept from last year when EJ was scratched in the playoffs in favor of JJ. The Avs signed JJ instead of EJ. Even half retained, EJ costs double what Jack costs. This is a bad value. That contract is awful and EJ is nothing more than a bottom pair guy AT BEST. You have 3 of those on the roster already making near league minimum.

Similarly: Jost is a $2M cap hit playing in the AHL. You have cheaper options than him that provide similar if not better production.

So you have the Avs acquiring EJ and Jost: two bad contracts that I wouldn’t even take for free. I assume you have the 1st round pick included so the Avs can ship off RyJo? On what universe do EJ and Jost have positive trade value and RyJo is that negative?

You should post this on the ACGM forum if you want more engagement. Would definitely recommend you split your trades up though because this is a confusing mess