MHH Roundtable: Trade Deadline Aftermath
Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images
It’s been a week since Chris MacFarland shook up the roster. The Colorado Avalanche made some big changes to the roster making six trades in total over the last week leading up to the NHL trade deadline. The impact of those moves won’t be truly known until the postseason and beyond but our initial reactions are below.
Which trade did you like the most?
Evan: I absolutely love the Ryan Johansen for Sean Walker move. I was hesitant at first after seeing it was only for a first-round pick to start, but the fact the Avs got someone to take on the Johansen contract, plus didn’t retain any salary on it, and got a good defenseman in return was solid business to reclaim what they could from a failed project.
Jackie: Getting anything in return for Kurtis MacDermid and Ben Meyers was a win in my book. Neither were in the future plans and although their returns weren’t significant, it’s always a good idea to get some semblance of assets in return when so many are going out the door.
Ezra: Gotta be Middlestadt! If you listen to the podcast, you know he’s been my target 2C all along - the future is bright for him, and the immediate upgrade to the top six is major. He has offensive instincts and skills that no one else on the market could come close to, his defensive impacts have improved every year of his career, and he’s a major contributor to possession and transition metrics. He’s gonna fit in and reach new heights on the Avs. Pour one out for Bo, but you gotta give to get.
Casey: The Casey Mittelstadt for Bowen Byram deal is going to prove to be a killer deal for both sides. We’ve already seen both players get off to tremendous starts with their new clubs, with Mittelstadt showing excellent results through his first 3 games, while Byram has seemingly galvanized the Buffalo Sabres back into serious playoff contention. What Mittelstadt’s next contract ends up looking like could only sweeten the deal for me.
Which trade did you like the least?
Evan: I don’t love the trade away from Jeremy Hanzel for Yakov Trenin. Hanzel had just signed his ELC hours before being moved - likely what made the move happen in the first place. Regardless, Hanzel had been progressing well with the Seattle Thunderbirds and likely had a higher ceiling than another defender in the system such as Sean Behrens at DU. The Avs need to be aware of their farm system, or the lack thereof and need to continue building for the future as well.
Jackie: It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of the move to deem Bowen Byram expendable. The organization had the next three years to find the best return, see where the salary cap went, see the development of potential internal replacements, and to at the very least monitor what impact of removing Byram’s handcuff to Ryan Johansen had for his game. It had a significant impact this season as they were each other’s most frequent teammate at 274 minutes of 5v5 time on ice together. You can see below what a drag that was. Selling low on a special talent is never a good idea.
Byram also held a large role on the team playing the top five in total minutes overall and was only at 22 seconds less per game than Devon Toews at 5v5, giving the defensive core a dynamic competitive advantage over other teams with his special skill set and ability to soak up minutes at 5v5. The Avalanche are the only Western Conference contender that removed a key part of their roster in preparation for the playoffs.
The Ryan Johansen disaster no doubt was what created the impetus to do something drastic, which didn’t put the Avalanche in an ideal position. The return of Casey Mittelstadt is fine but a bit underwhelming. He’s certainly an upgrade on Ryan Johansen and at 25-years-old is someone who can contribute for the foreseeable future. But Mittlestadt is due a sizable long-term extension this summer with arbitration rights and now has a commanding amount of leverage. He’s also not a set-and-forget second-line center still growing into his game and with no playoff experience. Jared Bednar might be tempted to still lean on Ross Colton, especially in defensive situations. It’s a big gamble and the Avalanche better be right because their window of contention depends on it.
Ezra: Initially I really disliked the Brandon Duhaime deal - it seemed like too high a price for a guy who doesn’t bring any offense and looked likely to be the 13th forward most nights. The LOC injury changes that considerably, as he’s now definitely going to play and Duhaime’s high-end penalty killing became a big need. Still feels like a guy you can get for a fourth or fifth-rounder, though.
Casey: Based on early returns, I can’t say any of the deals have irked me in any way. If I had to pick one, it would obviously be the Brandon Duhaime deal. It reminded me a lot of the Andrew Cogliano acquisition back in 2022, where I didn’t understand the move initially, but it’s hard to be disgruntled by the move after hearing about the Logan O’Connor news. This feels like it’s meant to be a one-for-one replacement for LOC heading into these playoffs, and perhaps even longer if he continues to show like he has through his first three games.
Surprisingly the Avalanche did not trade for a goaltender, what are your thoughts on the decision?
Evan: I think it is okay. The goaltender market wasn’t very viable for the Avs, and we’ve seen improvement from both Justus Annunen and Ivan Prosvetov. Now, hopefully, they do not get used in the postseason because they’re certainly unproven in the playoffs. There may be issues which come up then, but hopefully, they do not need to worry about it.
Jackie: I am surprised the organization finally felt comfortable enough with Annunen as the backup to not force a move but he probably won’t be used much except for a few regular season starts. The salary cap has a big impact on what the Avalanche can do in net as well and they’ll have a lot of decisions to make this summer, preserving flexibility might have been the best move to make at this time.
Ezra: I’m excited for Justus! And I think ultimately there just wasn’t a veteran goalie available who felt like a real upgrade. They didn’t want to pay for two years of Jake Allen, and beyond him, the best goalie moved was Kaapo Kahkonen - a guy who is probably better than Allen, but doesn’t have playoff experience to lean on as a guru figure for Georgiev. That was ultimately the need since Annunen’s play in a vacuum is higher end than anyone they could have brought in, and once Fleury was off the table there wasn’t an obvious fit out there.
Casey: I’m iffy on the decision. I’m not against rolling the dice on Annunen as the backup, he has been excellent since the All-Star break, and it’s time to figure out what he’s all about. I really wish they could’ve found another option though. Depth is everything in the playoffs, we saw it with Vegas going out and adding Jonathan Quick to add depth to their goalie room of Adin Hill, Logan Thompson, and Laurent Brossoit. Ivan Prosvetov is only one injury away from dressing in the playoffs, and that’s a scary proposition.
Which team in the Western Conference presents the biggest challenge now?
Evan: The obvious answer here is the Vegas Golden Knights, who just always seem to add and make insane move after insane move and somehow make it all work. The trade for Noah Hanifin is big for their blue line, and the last-gasp move for Tomas Hertl from their rival San Jose Sharks. How they do it, whether or not you like it by utilizing the LTIR, is frustrating for Avalanche fans and fans across the league as a whole. But, it would be fun to take them on and try to get revenge from 2021 in a Western Conference Final showdown.
Jackie: To my eye, the Winnipeg Jets only got better. Their addition of Sean Monahan has worked out thus far as he’s scored eight goals for Winnipeg already. Getting Tyler Toffoli and Collin Miller on trade deadline day also helped fortify their already great depth and goaltending. My only pause would be the lack of playoff experience to propel the Jets all the way but as a possible early opponent for the Avalanche, they are who I’d be concerned about.
Ezra: Right before the Colin Miller deal came through I was saying on the podcast that Winnipeg’s defense looked like a major weakness. He doesn’t move the needle THAT far, but with the back end shored up a bit the Jets look a lot better. How quickly Hertl and Hanifin mesh with the Golden Knights will dictate a lot for this year, because both those moved were made for the future as much as the present - Vegas fully healthy is an absolute wagon on paper, but without Mark Stone and Alec Martinez they still don’t have a ton of depth upfront or downback.
Dallas is still the biggest challenge, in my opinion, as they’ve got established offensive weapons going strong and young players demanding ice time with excellent play. Chris Tanev was exactly the upgrade they needed on defense behind their elite top pair in Heiskanen and Harley, and Jake Oettinger can still be elite in the playoffs even if he hasn’t been so far this year - if that guy dials up his play, they’re gonna be an extremely tough out.
Casey: I’m in a weird position on this one. I’m going to say the Dallas Stars. They have the dynamic mix of talent, grit, and goaltending that posed issues for the Avalanche against the Seattle Kraken last year. I know, Philipp Grubauer hasn’t been good for Seattle, but remember in that series he posted a .926 SV% en route of the series upset. Jake Oettinger can do that exact thing for the Dallas Stars, they can roll four lines, their defense is massively improved with the breakout of Thomas Harley and the acquisition of Chris Tanev at the deadline, and the Avs have not been able to solve Pete DeBoer’s system in a playoff series to date.
What puts a wrinkle into this thought however are the Edmonton Oilers. The Avs play Edmonton for the first time this season on Saturday and have two more matchups in April. We still have no clue how Colorado and Edmonton stack up against each other under new Oilers Head Coach Kris Knoblauch. Saturday should be a must-watch for the Avs fans who have access. ...
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