Jonathan Drouin leads signings for Colorado Avalanche in NHL free agency

Jonathan Drouin leads signings for Colorado Avalanche in NHL free agency

[Music] welcome in the Toyota Lounge for the dmvr Avalanche podcast powered by your Front Range Toyota dealers ships free agency day one it’s not over yet but a lot of the heavy lifting has already been done I’m going to be honest I think a lot of teams made mistakes today the ABS were not one of them they do every July 1 yeah yeah you can torpedo some teams on July 1st that’s to be sure the ABS I think did a lot of smart business though yeah yeah not saying they’re done they have more work to do this off season it remains an incomplete roster and we’ll get into that uh as well as what they did today it’s let’s start here i’ I’ve been talking about it what is everyone else’s feelings on the day so far for Colorado um I just what we’ve been talking about this whole offseason is that the ABS have to be cost efficient and I think so far they’ve accomplished that still age more time for them to not not do that yeah to make a a deal that confuses all of us but really cost efficiency is what you’re after today it sure looks like they’ve accomplished that goal just like their draft approach felt like they were keeping their eyes on their own test and not worrying about what the other people were doing felt like it was their free agency approach too they had pretty specific goals in mind for what the Avalanche needed to accomplish and so they didn’t throw big money contracts in term at any defenseman that hit free agency and I think that was really wise to do and they got Jonathan drwan back in Colorado for another year so I thought it was an excellent day so far and we’ve watched the ABS later on into the off season find extremely value valuable deals for players so the parts of the lineup that need to be filled in still I have every confidence that they’re going to wait it out and not act from a place of desperation and continue to find high value deals they weren’t going to be on in the in that crazy shopping we knew that right I mean that’s and thank God teams made mistakes today we all know that everybody makes mistakes it is just the best single number one day that you make mistakes in the National Hockey League so it’s today um history proves it it’s not just me comment it’s it’s the truth um I think the ABS are an we’ve been talking about this since you know it happened from from from Chris McFarland’s mouth to everybody on they’re handcuffed with with the Val situation and the gab situation and and that’s okay you know like I think what they had to do today they did it they nailed it drwan was number one thing they did it adding a defense man they did it starting to add some depth a little bit they did it they’ll be patient like Megan just said they’ll be fine there’s still some guys out there they will find some good deals they weren’t going to go and sign a guy for five six seven million bucks first they don’t have the room for it yeah so I mean it’s it’s not like they didn’t want to or whatever it is I’m sure they’d love Jake gensel sure I mean who doesn’t like him I mean that’s you know or oh they should have taken a run at Stam Co with what money like you know what I mean like so somewhere somehow they’re still a good freaking team they’re still an upper echelon team in the National Hockey League they’ll still be picked by a lot of people next year to be Stanley Cup winners and that’s okay so today I think they did what they had to do a little bit like the draft it wasn’t sexy you know what I mean but it was important what they did today y you have to start somewhere and it’s pretty pretty good start for Colorado for sure let’s jump in first let’s take a look at some of the guys that left Colorado uh and we can get through that and see what kind of holes that the Colorado has already started to fill but some that are remaining too Yakov trennan ends up signing with the wild for an outrageous price at three and A5 million for four years uh yeah no way the ABS were bringing them back at that price remember when I was like hey he’s going to get that NCO Sturm 2 by two what little more than that is this contract it just seems so outrageously over the top yeah I don’t know what to tell you I was talking to my friend over on the devil’s reporting side Christy flry and she liked trenin as a depth option for the devil’s forward group and the way I explained it to her is it’s whatever he’s going to be worth is too rich for the ab’s blood because they only available role for him is on the fourth line so if you have a team that is interested in paying him more like third line money he’d be a good fit so she still thought the fit existed in New Jersey now obviously Minnesota has that kind of money to spend if they’re planning to utilize him more in a middle six role it’s a little bit of a stretch but it also just makes more sense for Minnesota than it would have in Colorado here’s what I’m going to tell you and I know that for a fact he had multiple teams multiple at that number happy for those teams oh yeah the ABS couldn’t do it at that number I’m just saying they can but he’s a hot commodity he he there’s a reason why Nashville let him go last year they knew that he knew he was getting that number they weren’t going to pay that number yep he got the number also really to me his best work in the NHL has come as a wing yep he’s being signed in Minnesota to be a wing the ABS paid a hefty enough price for him to come in here and then played him out of position the entire time they did it was a choice yeah he had he had moments like there were times where he looked great yep and then he had plenty of others where you were just like man Blended in Blended in uh then you had Calvin or not Calvin Dean that’s a guy they signed then you had Brandon duim uh two years 1.85 million for him in Washington just didn’t make sense for the apps at that price point if he wanted like a million dollars Colorado probably would have been interested but for a fourth line guy at close to 2 million given Colorado’s cap situation it’s just doesn’t make a ton of sense let me I know we’re going to talk probably too much about him but kiv Ron comes back back to Colorado for 775k yep duim gets paid 1.1 more to do essentially the same thing how much better is duim than kibir R is it a million dollars better no and that’s free agency for you because I like d more than kivir but for that money I don’t here’s what I’ll say about do though I thought um I love the acquisition I loved it um I was really excited um I’ve seen him in his environment where you he’s got a lot more bite than what he showed here um I would have liked uh seen a little bit more when he was here you know I sometimes you get traded sometimes you you’re not yourself and it takes a little bit of time and I don’t feel that he was himself I don’t think that he looked like himself um and sometimes just a question of I don’t know you you just you know you just don’t fit or but I thought he was below average when he was here and do I think the contracts outrageous no if I’m the as would I give him that money no but you know some teams were going to be willing to to pay that and I think he’ll do more than fine there I just would have liked to see him you know a lot more from him when he was here especially in playoff situations and bring your heartbeat up a little bit and create a little more you know again I’m not conduct condoning violence you know that but just a little bit more oomph you know a little bit more Jam a little more more Pizzazz you know I didn’t see it the AVS are just different from other teams and what they’re anchored to in terms of where they’re spending their money that kind of money 1 mil Plus for a fourth line player is a luxury they just can’t afford right now and it’s not to say it’s not something that they value or that isn’t a player that would have continued to make sense in Colorado it’s just a luxury they couldn’t afford for the fourth line similar to trenin a position that they need to fill but they just can’t justify spending that kind of money yep uh next up Shawn Walker Going to Carolina the details of the contract aren’t available yet but everyone agrees there’s a deal in place with Carolina based on today it’s probably six mil something some outrageous number for sure or league minimum that would be something I mean Matt Roy got 5’7 right yeah they came in the league together they’re here’s no way he got below that uh danan maybe one of the guys that leaves a little bit more of a hole in the ABS lineup on that bottom pairing of the defense Walker did I see danan again God clearly I have Calvin danan on my mind uh SE walker uh can you bring that list back up Tiff please for our sake I do like that list let he’s throwing different names everywhere right I know I can’t even say people’s names right so we need the list and then Riley CH to the Bruins who really cares that was that was more of the because a large portion of our listeners ask about Riley tufty all the time that’s true it’s it’s fine he’s going to clear waivers in October and of course there go of Providence and Y he’ll play down there and be a good AHL again sure yeah there are a couple others obviously but this isn’t necessarily free agents with cagliano and periz retiring and then Jack Johnson is a free agent that is still unsigned as of this moment so so is Caleb Jones true the fact that they’re not resigned tells you that probably not coming back yeah they’re certainly not in plan a yeah territory for the fs so we see this every years long summer you never know how it’s going to go you get to training camp some guys don’t have jobs guys hopefully they find takers too you know what I mean so and especially for the AVS they have they have pto’s that show up out of nowhere every training camp you get a couple where you’re like huh that’s a guy Okay cool so we’ll see but at the moment it doesn’t look like those guys are uh part of the equation they’re not in a hurry yeah on the flip side we do have the ABS incoming guys where I can actually get to say Calvin H’s name but Jonathan drwan Returns on a one year $2 and5 million deal Yol kib ronto Returns on a one-year deal that doesn’t have official money but it’s going to be like 800 it was it was at 775 there you go as like as we were walking down here yep over five yeah uh Calvin danan a Oney year 800k and Jacob McDonald a 2-year 775k uh which we’ll dive a little bit deeper to all of these guys in just a second but with those four in the lineup uh you look at it and realistically what the ABS still have to fill is at very least one more forward probably two more forwards probably another defenseman and then a third goenda can get that stuff done yeah okay it’s not hard work like this isn’t the I hear you you know like this isn’t the oh God how are we going to find this guy what are we going to do here you know like December 5th of last year we’re looking around going Jesus what are they going to do about the 2C thing yep that’s a really important spot so they they need a third pairing defenseman and they need fourth line guys yep and like your blue fourth line guys cuz there are internal options that exist right now that you could slate as like the 13th forward already and I think just to be clear I’d like to see them Target somebody that’s more full-time NHL fourth line player a center specifically probably that’s where I’d like to see them because that’s probably going to be where they have to spend more of that money yep yeah they they clearly need a fourth line Center but it’s January 1st there’s time there’s time they’ll they’ll they’ll have some guys targeted they’re they have plans you know what I mean and then you know free agency is not that easy to I got to clarify that people sometimes think like oh my God like you know use uh your boy there rudo uh French kid that was in Nashville this year J know no actually he’s French name he’s not French um poil uh people oh yeah should how do you know they didn’t give him a deal like that sure and the kid when you’re free like this you choose what’s the best situation for yourself so that doesn’t mean that he didn’t have any other offer and I’m I’m not saying the ABS offered in this I’m just using that as an example so you know the ab have targeted some people to to fill in in that role um who knows what’s going to happen with those targets um do they have trade targets for guys in that role probably you know um you know but then obviously looking at free agency first cuz you don’t you don’t have to give up an asset for they’ll figure it out they they saw that there was a whole last year they saw that now you’ve lost you know trenin and you know guys like that and so I I I I do believe there’s a plan in place I do believe they’ll be fine they’ll they’ll it’s early guys fall through the cracks um well they’ll figure out that position there’s still some names out there whoever they end up signing the ABS will pick them up 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and the official vehicle of dnvr and once you got yourself a Toyota maybe put a couple of bets down you can get that with bet 365 when you sign up today with code dmvr 365 you get a choice of an offer either on your first $ five bet you get $150 in bonus bets or you can get a first bet safety net of up to $1,000 on your first bet for qualifying bets where your bet gets refunded in bonus bets if you lose it whatever the sport whatever the moment it’s never ordinary at bet 365 so make sure you get with them maybe you want to put a bet on what Jonathan drwan can do next season maybe Calvin Dean’s about to have a pop off year in Colorado whatever you bet on you must be 20 are older and physically located in Colorado please gamble responsibly if you are someone you know as a gambling problem and wants help call or text 1800 Gambler today second period of the dmvr Avalanche podcast let’s actually dive in dig into some of these signings for Colorado let’s start with one of the guys that was already here last year in Jonathan druin the ABS get him back gosh on a oneyear two and a half million deal I mean that value is it has to be one of the best value de deals of the day right it was last year too true one really good year got him a raise not as big of a raise as you might have all the way to 2.5 no this is a great this is a great deal for both of them I think I think it shows that drwan just badly wanted to stay here and the ABS badly wanted to make it work and for drwan this is more of a I’m going give you guys a discount for a year and then when all this cap stuff is sorted out next season it’s my time we we’ll get you yeah yeah he has to have another good year obviously he’s got to he’s got to do his thing U but as long as he’s just the guy he was for the last 70 games last season he will be just fine and the ABS will be just fine he was Al I mean he was really good in all three of those playoff games I’m going to inter just to make Eric sad I just you heard my woof I did vny D two years two million to the Canucks it’s what we thought two million yep anyway yeah back to drwan look this is not a normal contract this isn’t something that Chris McFarland could have done with random free agent that didn’t play for the Avalanche last year yeah there was a there was a level of relationship here that allowed this to be possible nonetheless still great business from McFarland right well for me that was what they had to do today I think I’m not the only one that thinks that way they needed to get that done doing that was a win day for the Avalanche today because you know personally became one of my favorite players this year I didn’t see it I was wrong I didn’t see it I disagreed with everyone on this panel and especially AJ with his Mozart or whatever you call that Shakespeare sorry same thing um analogy I didn’t like it but I took my hat off to him you know he played hockey the right way and when you play hockey the right way you get rewarded um it’s funny you think you’re going to cheat and then you’re going to actually produce more when actually if you play the right way and you don’t cheat he has his best career year right so there is a method to theci I mean you know a little is that you say science or method to the madness you sorry not not science but whatever it’s not rocket science how’s that um so I I I like it I think it was important I think it’s important for next year I think it’s a big piece to go with mac and and if he’s with them or not or you know but it’s on the power play he just adds a guy that this adds a guy that learned a lot last year about himself and learned a lot about being an avalanche now this is year two I agree with you you know let’s let’s let’s get going here and then you know hopefully you remember what I did today and we have an even better marriage you know down the road so um we’ll leave it at that but that’s uh you know I think that was great deal of business from the player from the team from the agent Allan Walsh catches a lot of flak it catches a lot of flack from people you know right there it tells you that have the best interests for the you know for his client what’s best for him we all know we don’t have to talk about again what he’s been through the last few years so I think that was really cool for all three people involved meaning the agent the team and the player to come up with something like this and kudos to everybody and that was the order of business that the ABS had to do today and nailed it you know the other team’s interested in him there’s probably even more significant interest outside of St Louis Boston and New York with Jonathan Drew and I think it goes back to the significance then of these relationships and the decision to choose Colorado in the end yep it’s where the team is headed you know the sentiment McKinnon can’t help but Express and talking about where this team is going is frustration because he felt like this team is right there and they deserved a better fate this season and they deserve a better fate next season and Jonathan drwan wants to be a part of that yep it if he had signed in St Louis it would have hurt me personally that have been sad yep I wouldn’t have handled that well he didn’t though so you don’t have to deal with it he signed here what you do have to be sad about is Blake lazat getting signed by Pittsburgh go this is a tough couch moment right now we’re losing every on the couch all right can we go back upstairs right now let’s hear that Walker contract too yeah Walker 5 years 3.6 that is a good number I’m sorry compared to some of the D contracts that got signed this I just said two minutes ago crazy I just said two minutes ago it’s going to be like Matt Roy why would I mean whatever wow that’s a huge difference yeah that is a nice number for the team exactly good for Carolina Carolina should be fist pumping on that one for sure man uh after drwan the a signed their first new guy for the free agency time period this off season in Calvin danan one year 800k so the deal is A1 a guy that we have talked about for multiple years as a potential Target for Colorado on this podcast whether it be trade deadline or otherwise AJ this is your baby this is the one you’ve wanted for a decad so this was satisfying it’s been a long time coming for this one long time coming for this one no T Calvin Dahan was just uh it’s the right time for him while he’s taking cheap ass contracts to come play in Colorado good defensive defenseman um he is rugged physical fits the archetype very nicely right can can kill penalties and he’s all about suppression not give you any offense yeah it’s not going to do anything in transition not going to get out into open spacing you’re going to go wow what’s this he is going to battle in front of his own net and hopefully make that part of the ice a little bit better because that’s one of the areas where the ABS weren’t good last year yep um really good was on Zone entries really good denying them and good on retrievals and all of a sudden you see an ad yeah exactly so that profile very similar to Jack Johnson’s except he’s better than Jack Johnson certainly better at moving the puck the right direction the area of the game that he’s not better at Jack Johnson is availability yeah Jack Johnson indestructible human will play 8 games Calvin Dean very destructible human so signing him you need you need to have another guy you need to know that you you’re going to go to your seven and eighth defenseman at some point this season yep but fits what they needed good uh you know good better bottom bearing guy good good player and for $800,000 easy easy dub this is exactly the kind of signing that you just needed yep you just had to have something like this It Feels supplemented by Jacob McDonald coming back into the fold like there’s a guy in waiting in the balance to help step up and fill in some gaps if there’s some time missed from those 30 games that he misses inevitably crop up for sure uh I think a key part of this piece which AJ did mention Calvin Dean a penalty killer yeah the av’s decor needed penalty Killers to come in we we’ve talked time and time again and how that kale marar Devon Taves penalty kill pairing together was just a problem for Colorado last season and you know still work to do they still probably need to go out and get another defenseman but you add danan into that you now have danan Josh Manson and Sam Gerard all going to kill penalties for you next year you really only need that one other guy or you can you know Moonlight a Tas and Mars there instead you should it should really be Taves sure that is where you should be resting Kil ma car I agree danan helps with that and well especially if Jack Johnson leaving yeah presumably leaves minutes that need to be replaced that he took up because Gerard and Manson did make huge strides in taking on more PK responsibility you just have to make up then for the L ground if Jack Johnson does not return yep he’s a veteran player he knows what he’s doing AJ likes him so there you go great fit but it’s nice that they keep listening to the pod that’s it front of the Pod it really was nine of 10 they lost one point for panding he’s uh he’s going to be a great fit for for for what he is like you said he’s not I don’t think you’re going to see Calvin danan from 10 years ago but you’re going to see a solid player and you know they need a little bit of depth we all know that we saw it last year we hoping they add more you know what I mean like than than just him right right and uh but then again in the situation they’re in what can they do I don’t know I mean that’s you know I don’t know but that was certainly a good deal at 800k that’s perfect yeah and he’s going to frustrate people he’s a third pairing defenseman mhm yep it’s not he’s not going to come in here and just be like oh hey kill my car no problems ever again it’s yeah he’s a third pairing guy yep there are pock marks there but but hopefully fewer than Jack Johnson yeah I mean it’s the same profile it’s just better yep exactly uh those are probably the two biggest signings of the day for Colorado not that either of them are gargantuan or anything but drw’s pretty big yep it really is the money in the term make it feel smaller than it is but that was a Fair Point that’s a that’s a 60-ish point player uh that you really needed they came into the day with four top six players they really needed that yeah you can sneak another guy in there somewhere like a kubal or a Skinner what you know whatever well is he next on the go now ever since we sat down they’re all going you could you could sneak one of those guys into your top six and if landeskog comes back if NuSkin comes back whatever it you have a really good problem on your hands because now you’re like wow look at all these forwards but if those guys don’t come back yeah you need one yep you should plan we should not be planning for Landa scog to be ready at the beginning of the season and we know that they’re n without nin for the month yeah is November 15th I believe so they somebody has to play there for a month you know yep it should be Jean Luke Foody but it won’t be of course it’s it’s the it’s some of the work that they have left to do but getting Dru and done was an really important piece of business for them yeah fully agree it’s well I think we all said that was the biggest thing the ABS have on their plate in a round table last week so mission accomplished as far as that one is concerned that’s an A+ move at that at that number yep there’s I really no complaints at all when it comes to that and honestly most of the ABS situation thing is oh God here we go Jonathan drwan had to take a little bit of a haircut oh God on the price right yes rudo but better to take a little bit of a haircut when you’re doing smart business with a team as opposed to someone like Dallas who’s shaving their balls with a 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shady Rays on and keep it good clean I don’t know what do the kids say these days dude I don’t know I’m not a kid are they on fleek uh I haven’t heard that oh are we done with that one oh no I don’t know what the phrase is but either way Shady rays will have you looking good wherever you go look and fly look and fly super cool swag just be who you are man busing oh that’s not who you are that went the opposite direction that is not who you are 35% off all of their polarized sunglasses at Shady ra.com with code dnvr given five stars by over 300,000 people jump on with them they’ve been with us for a while we appreciate them over here the best part is uh you can replace them if you break them lose them don’t like them in the first 30 days it costs you nothing they’ll send you a new pair third period of the dmvr AAL H podcast we’re talking about danan is there anything else we wanted to add no no he’s perfect and can do no wrong and if any of you come for him I come for you there you go you heard it here first the other two deals well three Deals technically that the ABS made today are a little bit smaller first bringing y kivir Ron back on a one-year deal we talked about this on the live quite a bit but I’ll speak for myself probably would feel better about this deal if he ends up being more of a 13th forward than in your starting lineup but I no complaints this is a depth forward ad for you guys that you know more or less what you’re going to get out of he gave you a good playoffs that you can kind of lean on a guy a coach can trust a little bit a little blanket you know security blanket for the coaches and you know doesn’t matter if you’re 6 months old 2 years old 12 years old for you know you like your little blankie you know what I mean so coaches like their little safety nets you know so I think they did a good job they spent a lot of time last year as a coaching staff especially Ry and uh you know with them to mold them into someone they can trust and like you said in the playoffs he was trusted and he did the job and you know again personally would I like more from that guy yeah you know do I think he’s capable of more maybe not so I think it’s what he is is exactly what I’m saying so it’s a two-way guy and it’s a safety blanket and gu that’s familiar now with the system if needed then you play him if you don’t need him then he’s not hurting you I mean you he’s on a twoa and is what it is maybe most importantly the erism lives on I like that he gets rewarded for the patience he showed in coming to camp and going to the Eagles and earning that NHL contract in time I think you know other players opted out of that situation they didn’t want to continue on and he put the time in trusted in the organization and himself to get there eventually and I think what he showed in the Winnipeg series when he had to step up and play with that third line I don’t expect that to be where he slated next year but it does show promise that he fits in with the way that the bottom of the lineup wants to play and that’s a little easier to move into a year two with than taking a gamble on somebody totally new who needs to make that adjustment from scratch and and credit to him as a guy who I know it’s not one to one because some of these guys were playing Center but Freddy Olson was there and does not look like he’s going to be coming back to Colorado so kivy Ron earned a job over some of these other guys a Chris Wagner as as as well who is still in Colorado but kib ronto almost certainly ahead of him on the depth chart unless there’s a center situation so a guy who at least in the avalanche’s eyes did all the right things to earn a job over some of these other dudes okay I don’t think he’s very good and he’s not I just why I’d rather him be a 13 yeah and I would think I would I think I would rather be more like 14 or 15 that’s that’s to op optimistic for my blood but I get it I think it’s too optimistic for 13 I think they are looking at him and saying yeah you’re Andrew kagano now go and that makes me want to light myself on [Laughter] fire boy fair enough I just don’t think it’s good enough maybe at 775 I I’m not going to throw a fit about it but when he plays cuz right now we always have the same conversations on July 1st every single year oh yeah well somebody can outplay him and then they’ll just take his job and they’ll move him down it never happens we have a super chat about that so we’ll get to that it never happens and now you are talking about uh Jean L Foody or an Oscar olison or Jason Poland or Andre pavell you know any of these guys that you are trying to invest and develop and whatever I have no shot body to climb over yeah I have no shot at it because it’s not like they’re looking at him as it’s fine it’s if he was getting the Chris Wagner treatment of we’ll put him here and we’re going to continually try to upgrade at this position but we know we’ve got this guy here I wouldn’t care at all but it’s just going to be the same as it always is with these guys where the coaching staff’s going to love a guy and they’re just you know he’s going to be your new Jack Johnson in your lineup where you’re like this is clearly the weakest link he’s going to have some good games he’s not brutally bad or anything you’re not looking at him going you’re the worst player in the NHL but you know he’s just he’s just not very good for the vast majority of the time he’s out there the best you’re hoping for is neutrality and I would take that if I get it out of him exactly that’s exactly what I’m saying a guy who maybe it’s fine did end up in more of that Chris Wagner situation in Jacob McDonald yeah getting brought back for 2 years uh look I I think we all agree he’s probably going to start the season with the Eagles but a guy who checks that magical box of can play forward and defense both for a team that is going to be cap strapped cost efficient you know the ABS loves to do that flexible well we’re going on a road trip we need one body hey Jacob McDonald come on down y yeah makes sense from the salary cap standpoint I would buy a lot more that they want him on the NHL roster for real for real if they had not given him $525,000 to be in the AHL which is a monster number for that League yep that anecdotally it’s the highest number I can recall the ABS having ever given out to somebody I know they’ve given a few 400 K 400 is usually where they where they give like their Tip Top AHL guys for them to give him 525 is a monster AHL number yep after everything after everything shakes out and he there won’t be a significant difference in how much money he actually takes home true depending on where he goes the eagles need a captain you know Brad hunt his future has not been decided yet and I think the organization learned a lesson after the year where guys like MN and McDonald were tied up significantly Eagles without a captain was too much and so they made a point to the next year have Brad hunt more or less be a fulltime AHL player so that the Eagles had a captain I think it just makes sense that they’re anticipating McDonald will spend more time in Loveland than not especially if Brad hunt doesn’t return they do value having a player like that to help mold some of the younger guys and Brad hunt did that really well and Jacob McDonald did it really well before him yep it good depth signing I mean that’s I agree with rudo it’s on a neat basis you know if you it’s also a guy that has some familiarity with your systems right they know him good person he’s a good player he’s a good he’s a good call I mean he’s going to clear waivers you say well last time he didn’t no I know it was during the season you talking about the start of the Season waivers he will clear waivers um that’s not a knock on the player it’s just the contract the way it is you will clear waivers and yeah he gives you a nice uh nice guy for down there and then a nice guy to uh to call up as a forward or as a d and familiar with the system and good order of business today on that signing yep uh uh somebody in Chad keeps asking about the chase Bradley contract we’re about to get to it okay yeah the ABS did sign one other guy not particularly NHL relevant Chase Bradley to a 2-year ELC deal coming out of University of Connecticut put up 22 points in 30 games I think it was this year um I’m a little confused because it did say he was drafted by Detroit and he went only to three years of college might have been a like first year USHL whatever I mean I don’t I don’t know but I don’t know the details either he’s a free agent yeah they signed Chase Bradley they get a Yukon guy go Huskies throw it into the same pool of players that you did like the Jason Poland and Andre pel of last year yeah a little bit younger but same kind of deal this is Logan ok Conor 2.0 sure very Sim very similar profiles yep I think what’s interesting about him too is he’s taking a chance on himself cuz he had another year of eligibility in college and his linemate a highly coveted Nashville Prospect Matthew Wood entered the transfer poal and left and that would have given him more Topline opportunity going into next year instead of seizing that he’s making the transition to Pro where it’s going to be in extremely competitive environment he’s going to be battling for a job in the American League and it’s not going to be prom yep and so I think it’s intriguing but he did kind of at least in college profile as a top six Winger I think that’s going to change and they’re going to be parts of his game that also need to adapt to that at the pro level but it is interesting to see a player like that take a chance on himself it always speaks to a level of confidence that you want to see how that translates on ice so excited to see him absolutely envisioning this though as an American League guy who can take you know the I Ivan route and and try to get to an NHL path yep along the way but I mean it’s already built in for him here so it is interesting and I’m excited to see him in person can they sneak him into Dev camp tomorrow yeah I want I want to see him in person exactly just for our sake please Chase cuz he’s it’s intriguing the route that he’s taking the path that he’s taking it’s interesting it’ll probably be there can’t see why he wouldn’t be there tomorrow you know I mean assumingly assuming he has a flight out I mean I’m sure he signed today he might have signed earlier he might have signed yesterday he might have you know what I mean might still be here right now maybe call the hotel find out we’ll see well I mean he’s coming from stores he won’t have to fly Frontier he’s going to have to fly Delta he’ll be fine Delta will be okay he’ be good with Delta or Southwest I flew Southwest to Connecticut Southwest be fine too yeah uh that is all five of the guys that the ABS have signed today so far we do expect the slew of AHL guys to come maybe at the end of the day or maybe it’s it’s not till tomorrow or or whatever it might be but and then we’ve mentioned they do have more work to do at some point with some forwards and defenseman and probably a third goal tender still to sign so it’s not like the ABS done but the work they have done I think you have to feel pretty darn good about okay uh an interesting day AJ I know you put out the stocks tweet stons yeah people apparently don’t like my stons okay well I want to hear about your stons who won who lost today um I mean it was really more about like what they’ve done this off season than just free agency day but like just cuz I had Utah in there where like they did all the trading Chicago’s gotten better which is funny because it’s like they were so horrible that it not going to be hard for that to happen I don’t like what Dallas has done I agree and it’s not that it’s not that I think Matt Dumba and Ilia lbushkin are bad players but you’re swapping out Chris tanv and Yanni Haw andpa for those two guys and those two guys are going to cost you $7 million yep that’s a lot of money for those two that’s a lot of money for those two those are both third pairing guys Matt Dumba got more than Shawn Walker that’s why I’m like the Walker numberers wrong is a hell of a way to look at that that makes me feel even better for Carolina and even worse for Dallas but you look at right now Calvin Calvin danan Sam melinsky as a third pairing 1 point just over $1.6 million yep Matt dum Ilia leushin 7 million $7 million assuming they play together they’re not if they don’t then Jesus they’re not $5.4 million better than the ABS third pair leave my leushin alone I like leushin I’ve been leushin for many many years but he’s a one $1.5 million caliber defenseman that is crazy quarter yeah for multiple years he’s going to make more money than Jeff Petri and they’re all bad together like they’re they should not they they’re rotational guys yep agreed they’re rotational guys and they’re not getting paid like it and multiple years it’s not a y it’s a commitment yeah not a one year like H you know like Jason Zucker got one year $5 million again but cool as long as you’re under the cap that dollar amount is almost irrelevant on a onee deal but that I don’t like that it’s not that they don’t have players there but it’s that the players that they’ve committed to are very questionable yep so I don’t like that their forward core gets a little bit worse with though Joe pavelski Matt Shane stays at the same number I haven’t seen them do anything else in their forward core I haven’t noticed any so they get they they they go from HCK and paaw suor tanv to adding leushin and Dumba and I just don’t think that’s better yeah that face exactly I agree a I just don’t think it’s it’s it’s not great it’s not like they’ve like bottomed out or anything I don’t think it’s significantly worse the same thing with Winnipeg don’t you forget Brendan Smith that true I did actually so my bad they did bring back lennquist as well but yeah but with like Winnipeg trades a first round pick for Sean Monahan that’s their second line Center and now he walks Brenan Dylan walks what are they going to do there so something yeah right now they haven’t filled those spots they’ve signed Keo kinan and Eric comry for their go tending position neat yeah like you’re like okay you signed the position in which you’re best player just won the vzna all right but at least they have Rucker mcy who’s not going to their Camp by the way no surprise but he’s not going to their camp and and elers yeah that continues yikes dude weip Peg down bad yeah so I do feel bad for them there’s this Mass Exodus and then this uncertainty of can we get guys to play here which is weird cuz last year they resigned shyle and huk and all of a you know everybody’s throwing a party like see the J can keep players and then this happens and you’re like maybe that was maybe those guys are weirdos little Prem the Yukon guy’s name again last CH Chase Bradley um so Winnipeg’s a little bit worse Dallas is a little bit worse Colorado is probably a little bit worse just because they still have question marks on their roster just an incomplete more than anything same thing with Winnipeg like a little bit worse Nashville significantly better yep with an asterisk of Stam Co marcheso and Brady is a lot of money yep and a lot of term yep Stam coast and marcheso are getting a little older 34 and 33 I think and you’re now going to be paying them for a while deep into their 30s Y and uh Steven Stam Coast at 5v5 has fallen off hard still great on a power play he should be fine but going from Ryan O’Reilly to going from Nikita kucherov to Ryan O’Reilly as your power play guy yeah guy is a downgrade yep hey I know I know careful marcheso Stam Coast make them better Brady Shay makes them better but now they have spent a shitload of money with that and the Soros extension bringing back Alexander kerer it has all added up to and that’s a ton of money that they just spent yep they’ve got to do something in the next two or 3 years otherwise cuz they’re pretty committed to each of these past this season so like this year coming up it looks great on paper it’s just a little risky with the commitment they’ve made to all of these players y four years for Stam Coast 2 and for the record with all these moves with 20 players on their roster which is a full roster but no scratches they’re sitting at 8 87.4 so they really only have 600k to fiddle with on that roster and I believe they still need a backup golender linoln left they might have just a back they sign Woodley uh Wedgewood Wedgewood they do have Wedgewood on here wed is their backup for two years all right so that’s fine but not uh don’t love that not not great for to see a team get better in significantly better so you’re not going to like like I you would like it if it was on your team but what Stam coast marcheso and O’Reilly bring Nashville desperately needed and it’s not going to be fun to play opposite of no yeah Bry sh is a sneaky good ad there as a guy who was really good in Carolina but he’s always kind of been like he’s pretty good but he’s never really broken through that’s a lot of money and and exactly you just gave him a 7 by seven for like a pretty good player you’re saying the same thing I said earlier was I like him but really yeah second shot of the can too right what was he making before like pretty yeah the Rangers gave him a big big deal so not not sure if I buy that they’re going to be good enough to win a cup that’s where I’m at which is the whole point of this yep but you put you know you have O’Reilly there you have my guy Tommy Novak Stam Co marcheso Philip forsberg got a good team Gus nqu good team BS you filled up your lineup just go ahead and send Phil thomasino our way yeah you don’t need him anymore so straight up I’d rather I’d rather he steal Jean Luke F foody’s job than y kiv ronto [Laughter] yep it’s fine with me uh rounding out the rest of the division St Louis basically didn’t do anything yeah they traded away Kevin Hayes and I don’t think they’ve done anything significant in free agency yeah I think they signed like one guy but it wasn’t very big so neat yeah on St Louis’s side uh Minnesota did the weird thing with Yakov trenin at a way overpay haven’t done a ton else uh who am I for oh yeah Utah Utah always has been all over the place this off season as a whole Kevin stenland and Nick buad down the middle big dudes LGE yeah well then you have Barrett Hatton and Logan couy not big dudes true neat obviously the sergachev and John Marino Editions a lot them a lot of quality construction on the defensive end for that team I love what they did with the the draft the pi stuff and yeah it’s all that’s really encouraging I think they’re going to be they should be build on last year’s Arizona team push for the postseason a team that was in the postseason conversation until about February when they imploded last year might be a team that continues to stay all the way in that conversation yeah so you know Chicago gets better because they almost had no choice yep he can only go up from here baby is that every I feel like I’m missing someone but I don’t think I am the terrain thing was strange to me just the term of it the three years yeah why not more but I’m not surprised to see a lot of three-year deals that’s when the next CBA ends and cap go boom yeah you never know so I think there’s some some Just Some solid Planning by the players at least yeah but well I think the teams are like yeah we’re fine make it work yeah so we’ll see I with an incomplete off season so far I would still put the ABS in the top half of the Central Division so far as far as NHL roster moves um yeah I mean it’s a mid Max to go from Jack Johnson to Calvin de Han you keep Jonathan drwan that’s fine yep it’s it’s not that’s top half not top three or whatever yeah but the I mean the reality is the Avalanche the Avalanche have a top four in their defense that is set yep they have both of their goenda star player on wing and moo ranin they’re good they’re going to be good yep yep a couple more pieces around the edges that they that’s all they really need at this point and he’s navigating a genuinely unprecedented situation with nushin and landeskog happening at the same time either of these situations happening on their own is frustrating but to happen simultaneously is crazy not fun I think it’s like they didn’t get better they stayed the same I don’t think that’s necessarily an incorrect nois but I do think it’s under selling Jonathan jiren coming back on a oneyear 2.5 deal that by itself is pretty impressive yeah and to get Casey midad on the deal that they got him on like you’re walking into next year with a legitimate second line Center and it came in under projections still you look at that trending contract which the projections even underestimated what he would get not to put too much value in that too but I think even the Casey middle that contract was good work and the Devon extension like coming into this year and seeing how much money is being thrown around at some of these defensmen of his caliber or lesser it has aged really well I really don’t know how much better Chris McFarland could have done this off season when it comes to navigating the Ridiculousness that he has to deal with this year is it absolutely perfect no of course there’s always going to be a guy where you’re like wow could have had him that price or whatever but he hasn’t done anything stupid and he’s had at least a couple of deals that you feel are pretty smart yeah and look this is what happens with trade deadline when you’re up against the cap you go big at the deadline you try you give up some assets you get a handful of players and you deal with because you can’t pay them like that’s how this works should you not have done it at the deadline you’d be f the [ __ ] out about how they didn’t do anything at the deadline yep I know this because I was there 2 years ago when that’s exactly what this fan base did the only the only thing that you could possibly do is win a Stanley Cup which he did mission accomplished yeah and we know we know that he was a gigantic part of that front office yep not and and all that credit goes to Joe sakic and look Joe’s great he’s done a lot of great work but we know how involved Chris McFarland was in building that team yep want to Stanley Cup and people think Chris McFarland doesn’t know what he’s doing it’s genuinely incredible whatever fan base is going to do what it’s going to do if you could only just convince every person under the sun to play for your team for the number you want them at GM job’s pretty easy You’ win a lot of cups if you could do that yeah GM Job’s real easy uh that’s all I had for today anything else you guys want to add on no no I think we did have one Super Chat to talk about I just before we get to it real quick we have a lot that we’ll be able to get into of remaining free agents oh yeah over the next yeah tomorrow we’re going to talk a lot about the dev camp roster cuz for the first time ever it’s really exciting Dev camp roster should be a lot of fun looking forward to that and then we’ll be at Dev Camp the rest of the week yep so lot more stuff to come the Super Chat from broker for $10 says do you guys see any prospects making a jump to the NHL roster anytime soon similar to how Dallas had success with some of the young guys coming up thanks for all your work and you all do I messed up that last part but you got the gist uh depends on what you consider a prospect is Nikolai kovalenko a prospect yes then yeah I think we’ll see some of him everybody else I mean is Sam molinsky a prospect cuz I think we’ll see some of him the rest of them not super confident we’ll see a whole lot [Music] of I would love to say you know what I hope John Luke Foody gets a chance to show whatever I would love to say Oscar owon has a great year and is so good in the AHL that they have to at least give him a showing but kick down the door man yep kick down the door I want Cal Rich Cal Richie to punch Us in the face I would love that I’ll stick my chin out for him even but I just don’t see him making the team we could start out with the 4C conversation in training camp we’ll see him on Ice in person for the first time this week yeah that would be the biggest I’m looking forward to start from same with Baron you know seeing him how he ranks among his peers here because he should separate from his peers at Dev camp and that’s only the first step though there’s still some levels to Baron’s getting into NHL conversations it’s real hard to see any of them making the NHL jump unless they play way way above expectation yeah I don’t see it that’s why um they’re going to sign a few more depth guys like you know like we just saw like danan I when I say danan no disrespect not calling him a depth guy but you know lower end at this point in his career that’s what he is yeah like death in the lineup was that yep it it’s just seems like the reality of where this season is going for the EVS so that is what it is we do have to get out here like AJ said if more signings come in we’ll talk about those tomorrow and then it’ll be onto the dev camp roster and and all the dev Camp stuff through the rest of this week oh at some point this week we have a big announcement to make yep it’s true you’ll hear that when you hear that yeah uh other than that we are out of here for today we appreciate yall and we will talk to you probably tomorrow [Music] [Applause] sitting like the mayor

Colorado signed four players on Dat 1 of NHL Free Agency including: Jonathan Drouin, Calvin De Haan, Joel Kiviranta, and Jacob MacDonald, all of which on smart cap concious deals that leave the Avs some flexibility with some more work to do.

Intro – 0:00
Thoughts so far? – 1:10
Departures – 4:40
Acquisitions – 12:15
Drouin is back – 17:55
De Haan – 24:00
Kiviranta is back – 33:00
MacDonald – 38:30
Chase Bradley – 41:25
Who won, who lost? – 44:23

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