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Sundays at the Rink: Trade chips begin to fall
Jesse’s Observations
Trade season is officially upon us, and while the Avs are chugging along on the East coast, things are starting to heat up around the league.
The first few trade pieces have fallen, and new injuries are causing concern for some of the league’s most sought-after trade assets still available. Let’s unpack it all from a busy week around the NHL.
Vlad Tarasenko and the St. Louis Blues
If you ask me, the teardown is officially on in Missouri, and the Blues made their first meaningful move in that direction this past week.
This is not an insignificant move. The New York Rangers added a serious offensive weapon to their top six, the Blues got what I think is a fair return given how restricted they were in how they could shop Tarasenko (he had some trade protection built into his contract), and most importantly if you’re the Avalanche, it takes Tarasenko out East.
This was the deal that I figured was a no-brainer for the Blues, given that it was an absolute fact that Tarasenko was not returning to St. Louis next year. Good on them though for getting a decent return. This move does also nod at the fact that GM Doug Armstrong recognizes that it’s time to move on from his slightly older core, and is going to begin to embrace the next wave of Blues that are already having and impact at the NHL level.
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I always felt that the 2019 Stanley Cup Championship for St. Louis was one of the flukier runs to the top of hockey’s highest mountain, and that they were always destined for a quick decline, the question was just always how long would they try to hang on and stay relevant.
Seems like we’ve got our answer. They’re ready to clean house and re-tool.
Ryan O’Reilly
Speaking of which, let’s talk about the Blues’ most valuable trade piece.
The ol’ Fact-Daddy himself, former Avalanche center Ryan O’Reilly.
O’Reilly has a complicated history with Avs fans. Personally, I don’t understand why people hold the fact that the dude wanted to get paid what he felt he was worth (and it turns out, he was TOTALLY justified) against him, but it is what it is. I’m not going to tell people how to fan.
The fact of the matter is, today’s version of the Avalanche are a picture-perfect match for ROR, and I think the Avs fully understand that.
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Make no mistake, O’Reilly will cost the most to acquire of the names that are out there available, but I also think he would make the biggest impact.
He fits the role the Avs are looking to fill perfectly, and he would give them an element that they currently don’t have. He instantly becomes their best defensive center, their best face-off guy (and he’s a lefty, so that gives you an option opposite JT Compher), and makes your top-six a matchup nightmare.
Nathan MacKinnon, Ryan O’Reilly would likely be the best 1-2 punch down the middle out West, and it would give Jared Bednar so many options in terms of how he wanted to configure those top two lines. He could split up Rantanen and MacKinnon and spread out the offense with two really strong lines. Or, he could Keep Rantanen with MacKinnon and Lehkonen, and then make one of the NHL’s premier shutdown line by combining O’Reilly with Nichushkin and Landeskog.
That’s a line that you would just say “good luck” to any other team’s top line when they matchup.
I think the Avs are absolutely going to do their homework here, and if they are looking to make the move that moves the needle by the largest margin, this is it.
Jonathan Toews
Here’s the guy you all have me talk about probably the most this season. I think Toews gives you great flexibility in your middle-six and obviously brings the playoff experience and that nobody could scoff at.
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I’m not going to dive overly in-depth here, as Toews has recently run into some health issues that are putting his status in question.
Two seasons ago, Toews had to miss the entire season due to long-term complications with COVID. So now that Toews has had to be sidelined for multiple weeks due to an illness, how do you not stop and say “well are we sure he can hold up for a long playoff run”.
I know this is someone on the Avs’ list, but I don’t think they’ll do anything without being 100% confident that what Toews is currently dealing with won’t be a problem going forward.
Continue to keep an eye on him, but pay extra attention to how he comes back out of this illness.
Cale Makar
Just wanted to drop a quick update.
Makar took a shot to the head at the start of the road trip from Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jeff Carter, he returned to the game, but then flew back to Denver and did not continue on the rest of the trip.
Early chatter is that Makar wasn’t feeling great the morning after the hit, but has been on the mend since.
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He’s been skating the last couple of days at the Avs’ practice facility and seems like he’s (at the very least) feeling better.
No supplemental discipline was handed out for Carter, which I personally don’t agree with but whatever. The good news is that it seems like Makar will be able to bounce back from this pretty quickly. At least, the Avs hope.
Meghan’s Observations
Bruce Boudreau is back
After the fallout of the catastrophically-handled coaching change in Vancouver, Bruce Boudreau is to remain in hockey where he belongs. He will join the NHL network as a studio analyst across a wide range of programming to include some NHL intermission game coverage as well as college tournaments like the Beanpot.
He had a stint on the network between August 2020 to December 2021. Boudreau recently wrapped 15 seasons of coaching spanning the Capitals, Ducks, Wild, and Canucks. There may still be a path back to coaching at some level, but in the meantime, he can continue to immerse himself in the sport he loves and share his immense knowledge of the game with the masses.
Two more years for Conor Timmins
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It’s been a rough go for the 24-year-old blueliner. Avs fans remember the hopeful spark of Conor Timmins. The 6’2” right-shot defenseman was a coveted second-round pick whose short ride in Colorado was compacted into highs and lows.
After experiencing a concussion in his final year of juniors (also following an ankle injury), lingering symptoms kept him from his professional debut in the 2018-19 season. He spent most of his first year in the American League before making the transition to the Avalanche early into his sophomore season. His comfortability and growing confidence come the playoffs endeared him to the fan base.
As an RFA that summer, he became a key piece in the trade that ushered in Darcy Kuemper. In Arizona, his misfortune continued. He experienced a season-ending knee injury and missed most of the 2022 season.
At the start of the next year, he experienced an upper-body injury and was listed as day-to-day. Understandably, he’d missed significant time at points in his tenure with the Coyotes. To prime him for return, he was assigned to the Tucson Roadrunners for a conditioning loan in the American League on November 8th.
When the conditioning stint was finished, Timmins should have reported to the NHL, but the perception was that Arizona wanted him to get even more reps in the AHL. To do this, Timmins would have to pass through waivers and there was just no way a young defenseman with so much promise – even in spite of injuries – would clear.
Arizona orchestrated a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Curtis Douglas – a 22-year-old 6’9” centerman who has yet to make his NHL debut. Through 18 games with Toronto, Timmins has solidified a full-time NHL role and has earned a goal and 11 assists.
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You can bet the Leafs have been satisfied with the return, and Timmins is closer to his family. On February 9th, they locked him into a two-year contract at $1.1 million AAV.
Sidney Crosby having a week
Following our conversation about faces in the NHL, Jesse proposed the idea of embracing more villains. I loved it. In news that relates these two concepts: Sidney Crosby as a current face of the NHL, and Trevor Zegras as a possible villain, the two had a terse moment in their game last Friday.
At that point, the Pens led 4-1, with Anaheim’s lone goal coming from Zegras. The play was whistled offside and Zegras can be seen ripping around for a shot after the whistle – intentionally or not – he whiffed on the chance and the puck didn’t actually move.
Even still, Crosby did not appreciate the gesture and gave him a shove. Pittsburgh won the game decidedly 6-3. It’s not the first time Zegras has drawn the ire of opposition.
On the same road trip, Crosby also earned his first career game misconduct following an incident with Mikey Anderson in their game with the LA Kings yesterday. Crosby was ejected in the third period, and the frustration of this game was palatable. The Pens were shutout 6-0.
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After taking a dangerous cross-check from Anderson, a penalty was called on the play, but Crosby was not satisfied and continued to mouth off to Anderson on his way to the box (complete with some shoves). The officials tried to break that up, and Crobsy continued to voice his displeasure to referee Garrett Rank.
Eagles update – d-corps in shambles
To prime you for an upcoming feature on defenseman Ryan Merkley – an intriguing piece in the return from the recent trade which brought Matt Nieto back to Colorado – here’s a little information regarding the revolving door of defensemen in Loveland this season.
The Eagles lost Rob Hamilton – an experienced utility player who could stabilize the second/bottom pairing – to the KHL earlier this year. They also lost Danil Zhuravlyov to the KHL: an untested, but promising defensive prospect who was billed as a defensive-defenseman looking to explore his offensive prowess with some time on the powerplay.
Brad Hunt played 22 games with the Eagles before getting called up to play for the Colorado Avalanche due to injuries. Before that, he emerged as the team’s points leader after feasting as QB on the Eagles’ first powerplay unit. His productivity earned him a bid for the American League All-Star game which he ultimately missed due to his call-up with the Avalanche. Hunt also wore an “A” after Jayson Megna was claimed off waivers, so he became an important voice in the Eagles’ leadership group. Today, he cleared waivers and was reassigned back to Loveland.
Andreas Englund also missed time with the Eagles due to call-ups with the Avalanche. He played just 15 AHL games this season. Enlgund stepped into a reliable role on the top pairing and penalty kill particularly in the Calder Cup playoffs last season due in part to the absence of Dennis Gilbert who went down with a foot injury. He has always been a gritty, foreboding force to be reckoned with. A heavy, physical player. But recently, he has hammered out the details defensively and has earned significant trust.
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Defensemen Josh Jacobs, Mitch Vande Sompel, and Wyatt Aamodt have each missed 11 games a piece due to injuries at different points.
Born from this, Colorado native Nate Clurman has had a huge opportunity to play with the Eagles after a call-up from the ECHL this season. Clurman has gotten to play a career-high 31 games in the AHL this season after receiving the call-up on November 11th.
On December 2nd, the Eagles traded future considerations for the Chicago Wolves’ David Farrance: a 23-year-old LHD who is still finding his footing with the Eagles.
In January, the Eagles experienced two failed professional tryouts from defensemen trying to earn a spot on the thinning blueline.
Now, Merkely has a chance to emerge as a top pair option, but his first six games have been a rollercoaster. He was a late scratch in the Eagles’ recent game against the Texas Stars. They dropped both games of the series though the first was a close shootout loss.
There is more on this to come, but in the meantime, former Minnesota State captain and second-pair defenseman, Wyatt Aamodt shared a little on the adversity the defensive group has faced.
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“There’s been a lot of guys coming in and out, but I think all that matters to us is (that) we talk,” Aamodt explained. “Whether on ice or off ice: Josh Jacobs, Keaton Middleton, (and) Mitch Vande Sompel have all done a great job with the younger guys, making sure we talk and get acclimated with each other before you get in the wars on the ice.”
“They’ve been awesome with that, and Aaron Schneekloth too, to make sure we’re all on the same page. At the end of the day, we’re all playing the same game, we’re used to it. Maybe it’s different partners, you have to feel them out a little bit. But like I said at the end of the day, we’re playing hockey. We’ve been doing it for all of our lives, so it’s not that big of a deal.”
LOC’s scoring drought broken
There’s something cosmically excellent about all the cries for the depth to produce following the disappointment of getting shut out in Tampa Bay being met with goals from Matt Nieto and Logan O’Connor in the next game.
It was a failed Nieto breakaway in Tampa that prompted some of the criticism. Coupled with that, Logan O’Connor had not scored a goal since his two-goal game on November 10th. It had been 38 games.
It was a perfect symphony that these two would open the scoring, and Logan O’Connor’s goal would come about shorthanded too.
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Though Nieto has only been with the Avs for five games and one of his goals was an empty-netter, two goals in five games is nothing to scoff at. There’s a predisposition that Nieto’s finishing will underwhelm due to his past. We ought to give him something of a clean-ish slate.
As for Logan O’Connor at 51 games with more to spare, he’s still set to exceed last year’s totals and narrowly set a new career high in points and goals. It’s not much, but it’s honest work. With two more years at $1,050,000, you factor in the stability he’s brought to the bottom six, his steady forechecking and undeniable effort all while a penalty kill specialist to boot, and you take that any day of the week, 365 days a year.
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