CMC outright said they expect Ritchie a top 6 center, throwing him into the NHL as a bottom 6 winger as a teenager isn’t the recipe for success. I also think Behrens plays next year in the AHL as a top pairing guy. Somebody almost assuredly has to be moved and it kind of sucks but right now I would lean towards Colton being moved, he would return solid draft capital and the cap space would be a good fit to bring back Trenin and maybe Duhaime. Malinski is ready for a regular NHL role. Even though I love him Cogs is at the end of the line.

Here I disagree my brother from another mother (and father). There is a long history of playing rookie centers on the wing to allow them to acclimatize to the NHL without the pressure of being great defensively. In fact I would say that Mackinnon was moved to center too early. He took a step back after taking stazs center role.
Richie might well be a top center as his ceiling but he’s not going to be there yet. he would really benefit from time in the ahl that he won’t get so spreading out the learning curve will be important.

I think jones/jj and malinski will be the 3rd pairing next year with Behrens spending time in the AHL.
I might also switch Richie and Loc depending upon how Richie performs on his strong vs weak side.

MacKinnon was the #1 overall pick going to a bad team that’s a whole lot of different situation, he was also dropped into the top 6. The Avs are win now and Bednar expects a lot from his bottom 6 in terms of defense and forechecking in not a lot of TOI. Playing 20 minutes a night playing special teams pk as well as pp for a year benefits both the player and team because I am 100% certain Bednar isn’t playing a rookie on the pk or when the game is tight. I’d be even more confident in that path if it weren’t for the atrocious record the Avs have in developing players though.

Taking a step back is indicirive of learning a new position, no player moving from wing to developing at C at the NHL level is going to not have a hit in their points totals, especially doing so in a top 6 role.

Swap Ritchie and Lehkonen here then, to get Ritchie in the top 6 instead.

Ritchie can't play in the AHL next season. It's either NHL or juniors.

Thanks elaborating my position. Sometimes I forget to explain the reason behind my logic.

He is not eligible to get Ahl time but he probably needs it. Trying to step from junior to the Avs will be a harder transition than most.

That’s a reasonable position. I would argue that the harder step is transitioning from junior to a nhl playoff team. That one way to reduce the step is to allow him to focus on competing at the less demanding wing position.
Ideally we want him to play 3rd line center behind mac and mitt on a scoring 3 line (with Landy stapled to his left side and Drouin on the top line 😀). As we don’t typically use a shutdown 3rd line… However that’s a lot to ask of a young man.

Specifically with Mac it took him multiple years to find himself after the move to center. It might have been better to stay on the wing for another year and work on developing his nhl skills.

After mac was promoted to 2rw that line (Landy staz mac) was the best in hockey. However Macs shot was not what it is now and keeping the defensive pressure off his plate may have given him time to develop his offensive game. Then when he moved to center the development curve would have been less pronounced.

It worked out ok with a lower 2rd contract that became the best bargain in the nhl.

Thanks for the arguments everyone. I love having these type of discussions.

Miles just scored the GWG in OT of Game 1, Round 2. DELETE THIS TRADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!