Adrian Dater
I know this will be a very hot discussion topic on this site. People here are passionate on the subject of Sam Girard. My question: Are we about to see Girard get traded, after the Josh Manson signing?
I think you have to really consider it as a possibility. As I type, the Avalanche are down to $9.2 million left in cap space, and there is a guy named Nazem Kadri still unsigned. Plus, other good second-line centers (Andrew Copp, Vincent Trocheck) are off the board.
If Kadri is gone (and we don’t know that yet, but he is now taking other offers from different teams) the Avalanche obviously have a big hole at second-line center. And, let’s not forget too: they still have to sign restricted free agent Artturi Lehkonen
Lehkonen WILL be back, folks. He’s not going anywhere – unless another team sandbags them with an offer sheet. I would expect the Avalanche would match any offer, no matter what.
So, assuming Lehkonen gets something in the $4 million range, now we’re down to about $5 million in cap space. And, they still would need to sign another guy or two to round out the lineup. If Girard is traded, that frees up $5 million. The Avalanche could either use that to acquire another good forward to replace Kadri, via trade, or sign someone else still on the market.
I just don’t see where Girard fits in as much with the Avalanche moving forward, either. With Bo Byram establishing himself as a top young D-man, with Manson back to the fold and a D that still has Devon Toews, Cale Makar and Erik Johnson, now Girard is looking at fifth or sixth-D minutes.
Hey, I’m fine with Girard staying if that’s what happens. I’m not trying to move him out of town. He’s a fine puck-moving D-man who can skate and score some points. I guess the question is: do you want a little more high-octane forward talent with the losses of perhaps Kadri and Andre Burakovsky? Or, do you want to have a really loaded D and hope guys like Alex Newhook, Oskar Olausson and maybe Sampo Ranta can fill a lot of their void?
The Avalanche may just promote Newhook to 2C, and go with that. Could be. But I would bet the Avalanche will want another good forward to play on the top six, especially with Burakovsky likely on the way out.
If Kadri leaves, Sam Girard makes the most sense as a bargaining chip to good a good forward back.
We’ll see how this plays out.