Avalanche trade deadline roundtable: Grading Colorado's moves

The trade deadline has come and gone once again and that means it’s time to try to overreact to the moves the Avalanche did and did not make. Instead of a regular grades format, I invited Rudo and Evan Rawal to hop in and provide their thoughts and grades on what the Avs did this past week.

No need for a bunch of fluff so let’s just get to it.

Avalanche acquires Patrick Nemeth from Detroit for 2022 fourth-round pick

AJ: Of the three, this is easily my favorite move from the Avalanche. Nemeth is a perfect fit for what Colorado really needed and his familiarity with the organization will make it a seamless transition. He won’t need to be relied upon nearly as much as he was when he was last here and that’s an important part of this deal.

Fit is an underrated part of the trade deadline conversation and Nemeth is an excellent acquisition with that in mind. Given Colorado’s strengths (skating, puck-moving) and weaknesses (physicality, stay-at-home mentality), Nemeth helps shore up the weaknesses without completely tanking the strengths of the unit. As we found out, the price was also very solid, leading me to give this deal an A-.

Evan: Boring, but I agree with AJ. The Avs didn’t need to go out and find a top-pairing defenseman, as they already have three of those. They just needed a bigger guy who could eat some minutes in the absence of Erik Johnson. That’s exactly what Nemeth will do, particularly taking away some PK minutes from Devon Toews. The added familiarity with the coaching staff is a huge plus. A

Rudo: Nemeth checks a lot of boxes for the Avs, he’s not going to blow you away but fits great in the opening the Avs have and his PK ability is a big plus. Now that the deadline has passed the Avs got good value on the deal. B+

Avalanche acquires Devan Dubnyk from San Jose for Greg Pateryn and a 2021 fifth-round pick

AJ: Dubnyk will play the least but arguably provide the most peace of mind of any of these additions. The cost was very cheap and the hope is he makes only a small handful of appearances this season. Dubnyk hasn’t been great but there’s plenty of reason to hope that he will be rejuvenated behind an elite defense and a Cup-chasing mentality. Nobody wants to be the weak link on a Cup run.

As with the Nemeth deal, the price was right here but Dubnyk carries more uncertainty than Nemeth and may only play a few games. This is a C+ for me.

Evan: Not a huge fan of this deal. The Avs needed a goaltender behind Grubauer that would make people feel more comfortable should something happen to him, but Dubnyk doesn’t really do that for me based off his last two seasons. I don’t really care that he played for the Wild and was hated by the fan base. I care more about whether or not he can play anymore, and I’m not sure he can. Hope he can prove me wrong, and he certainly will have a better defense in front of him to do so. Silver lining is it cost next to nothing. D+

Rudo: The Avs got better at a position of need, in that sense this trade is solid. The weirdness comes from the fact that they had to make this trade twice. First for Johansson and now for Dubnyk. An underreaction in the off-season is only corrected after a bit of panic first. At the end of the day, it’s a minor improvement at a position of need. C+

Avalanche acquires Carl Soderberg from Chicago for Josh Dickinson and Ryder Rolston

AJ: How I ultimately end up feeling about this will depend largely on what Soderberg’s usage becomes. Does he displace Tyson Jost at 3C just as Jost was finally coming into his own with a consistent role in which he was producing excellent on-ice results even though his points were lagging just a touch behind? If so, I like this deal a lot less, barring that line popping off and going ham, of course.

If Soderberg comes in and fills in some injury gaps (right now that means fourth-line duty), then I love this move. It’s a pure short-term rental for very cheap as the team had no reason to bring Dickinson back after this year and Rolston’s freshman year at Notre Dame was pretty discouraging. I don’t love giving up on a prospect just a year after they traded up to select him, but Rolston was near the bottom of Colorado’s forward prospects so it’s not a deep cut today. It really depends on how Jared Bednar uses Soderberg but I’ll give this deal a B.

Evan: Well, in the short term, he gets Liam O’Brien out of the lineup, so that’s a massive dub. It’ll just be interesting to see how he’s used, because I have no issue with the added depth, especially since they gave up nothing to get him. I, for one, believe the bottom six is desperately missing Logan O’Connor’s speed right now. With a healthy lineup and now Soderberg, I’m not sure LOC even plays. Considering the price and knowledge of the player, I like the deal, but just want to see how the staff adjusts the lineup down the stretch for him. B

Rudo: I don’t understand the fit of this deal. Does Soderberg make the Avs bottom-six better? Maybe marginally on the offensive side but not much. His game doesn’t really fit with what the Avs already have playing every night. I just can’t make sense of why you would do this beyond already knowing the player and making a trade for the sake of it. It’s fine, certainly better than icing AHL-caliber players but the Avs could have easily given a prospect whatever role Soderberg ends up in and the effect would be the same. C

IN THE END, DOES IT EVEN MATTER?

AJ: On the surface, none of these moves really move the needle. Together, they help fill the gaps that existed coming into the deadline and it looks like a group of cheap additions that fit really well with what the Avs already have going on. Colorado didn’t need a makeover, it just needed a touch-up and that’s exactly what Joe Sakic & Co. did at this deadline. I give them a solid B+.

Evan: Yes, it definitely matters. The defense, in particular, has already been stretched too thin, and adding known quantities that are still useful NHL players for next to nothing is a win no matter what. We saw in the playoffs last year that you can never have enough depth. If all goes according to plan, the Avs won’t even need Dubnyk. B

Rudo: The moves are solid if not particularly interesting. Will they make a huge difference, no. The idea here is that things like home ice and championships are won on thin margins. Two points here, a goal there, a blocked shot or two on top of it. In the end Avs got better but not significantly so. B-