yave1964 Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 Colorado was faced with the almost certainty of losing top defensive d-man Ryan Graves to Seattle in the expansion draft instead made a deal with the Devils, sending him to Jersey for a second round pick and Mikhail Maltsev. Graves has quickly developed into one of the games best technichal d-men, a calming influence on a team with puck rushing blueliners like Makar but he has shown flashes of offense as well. originally drafted by the Rangers who literally gave him away to Colorado for Chris Bigras who has toiled in the AHL ever since. Graves led the league at plus 40 two years ago and was plus 15 last season. Maltsev is a nice add for the Avalanche, still youmg, he will bring nice secobdary scoring from the bottom six, the key for Colorado is the second round pick which they can use to stockpile assets. Rumor is that Colorado is close to signing Ryan Suter to replace Graves. Smart move for both, Colorado added nice assets for a player they were going to lose, the Devils get a very fine young blueliner with upside. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 2 hours ago, yave1964 said: the key for Colorado is the second round pick which they can use to stockpile assets. What a nice move for Sakic once again for a guy he had really no leverage on and about to lose and get nothing in return. Sakic and Yzerman easily two of the best GMs in the NHL. I'm jealous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 Yes, nice bit of GM'ing by Sakic to turn a likely loss into something. That said, bottom line here is, the Avs lost a pretty good defenseman and the Devils just gained one. Like Yave said, Devils gained something here. Graves may not put up sexy offensive numbers, but the man sure knows how to smother and snuff out opposing offensive attacks. I know +/- isn't the be-all, end-all stat for measuring defensive play, but Graves consistently finds himself well into the plus side of things. Will be more of a challenge for him to do so in NJ, but given his style of defense first, I bet he still can. Devils have had a porous defense for quite some time now....ironic for a team always known for their defensive structure and power......and adding a guy like Graves is a good move towards trying to re-establish that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 3 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said: Graves may not put up sexy offensive numbers, but the man sure knows how to smother and snuff out opposing offensive attacks. I know +/- isn't the be-all, end-all stat for measuring defensive play, but Graves consistently finds himself well into the plus side of things. Yes a big hole on the second pair for now Sam Girard will be missing his partner. I am sure Sakic has a plan for free agency but sold left hand defensemen are easier to find these days. However the chemistry is always a crap shoot.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 Didn't know where to put this overages penalty tracker so i said why not here. Luckily my Flyers didn't make this list but the Bruins lead the way. Followed by Avs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.