Is Brayden Schenn a target for 2C? What would a trade look like?
I find this one fascinating because it came out of nowhere.
Schenn is not the player he used to be, which is to be expected at the age of 33. His 32 points in 56 games isn't exactly bad production, but if you look at his points-per-60 at even strength, it's about the same as Casey Mittelstadt's. He sits at 1.55 while Mittelstadt is at 1.52. Not a huge difference.
If you're swapping Schenn for Mittelstadt, you're making a bet on a few things. One is that Schenn will be a better fit in Colorado's system. It's starting to seem like the Avalanche don't think Mittelstadt is. The other big bet is that the Avalanche have a greater need for a player like Schenn as opposed to the player Mittelstadt is.
The Avalanche don't really have a physical, nasty player like Schenn in their top six and unless Gabe Landeskog makes a return, one of them isn't showing up any time soon. Is that something the team would rather have than a guy like Mittelstadt? It's possible and that's why I'm so intrigued by the idea of Schenn becoming available. Coach Jared Bednar talked recently about the team not having enough players getting to the net. That wouldn't be an issue with Schenn. This team could use some snarl up front.
Any deal for Schenn is tricky because it involves a division rival, and he still has three years left on his contract at $6.5 million per season. He'll be 36 when that deal ends and there's always the possibility that his game falls off a cliff soon. He's the Blues captain so they won't let him go cheap and I'd be wary of giving up valuable assets for a player his age.
It should be noted that Schenn is good friends with Nathan MacKinnon, so he'd fit in well in the Avalanche locker room. That would be the case with a lot of teams, so I suspect quite a few contenders will be checking in on what it would cost to acquire Schenn.
Please explain the cap implications of Landeskog for next year. If he retires, what room do we have to work with in the off-season?
If Landeskog decides a comeback isn't in the cards and that his career is over, there's no reason for him to actually file his retirement papers. He's under contract for four more seasons and if he does retire, he's throwing away $23.5 million.
Instead, what will happen is the Avalanche will just place him on long-term injury reserve (like they have been) and they will have the ability to go $7 million over the cap in season.
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Build your ideal trip as a member of the media who travels with the team. Airport, city in general, how easy it is to get to/inside the arena, best seats, food available, etc.
That's a tough one because all road trips usually occur in the same general area, and there's always one arena/city that isn't great. Take the Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa road trip coming up. I'm skipping that one, but Ottawa is the real outlier there because the arena is in the middle of nowhere. That's ignoring the fact that Toronto's airport is a nightmare.
The first West Coast trip that comes to mind would be some combination of Seattle, Vegas, and Salt Lake City. Three very different cities but I really enjoy each of them for different reasons. Outside of Madison Square Garden, Climate Pledge Arena is my favorite NHL venue I've visited. It's just a unique setup.
Out east, I enjoyed the Bruins/Rangers back-to-back. You can take a train anywhere on that side of the country. If I had to throw a third team onto that trip, it would probably be the Philadelphia Flyers.
Do you see a world where the Avs re-sign Mikko Rantanen?
I do not. It would be very difficult to put the numbers together on that one and have it make sense. If Martin Necas keeps scoring the way he has, his next contract will be a doozy, so that only complicates things.
The entire reason the Avalanche traded Rantanen, besides not wanting to make him the highest paid player on the team, was to avoid becoming too top heavy, so it just doesn't make sense unless his agent completely overestimated his market value.
How surprised are you Avs haven’t locked up Joel Kiviranta at this point?
A little surprised but it's the smart thing to do. Kiviranta is having the best season of his career, and you don't want to overpay for a season that he's not likely to repeat. The Avalanche already have a few bottom six forwards signed for decent money and term, so they've got to be smart not to lock themselves into too many similar players.
