The Colorado Avalanche made the most of a difficult situation, with general manager Joe Sakic's patience paying off in dealing away Matt Duchene. This was going to be too big of a trade for his team's future to jump at the first deal that came along, and it appears he did pretty well with it.
As a result, the Avs acquired quality prospects in Samuel Girard and Vladislav Kamenev from the Nashville Predators, first-round pick Shane Bowers and goalie Andrew Hammond from the Ottawa Senators. The Avalanche also now have a first-round pick in 2018 (which could turn into a 2019 first-round pick if Ottawa gets a top-10 selection, per Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman) and a 2019 third-round pick from the Sens, plus a 2018 second-round pick from the Preds. They'll have four total picks in the top two rounds of the 2018 draft, which is looking pretty strong at this point.
Let's take a deeper look at what exactly they'll be getting in terms of the specific players acquired, and also what it means for their pipeline:
Sakic gets a good grade here
According to TSN's Darren Dreger, there were at least five other occasions when Colorado was close to trading Duchene. While we won't know whether those deals were better on paper than the one the Avs ended up with, this is a pretty nice haul for Sakic.
It's also the biggest trade Sakic has made as a GM since sending Ryan O'Reilly to the Buffalo Sabres in 2015. That deal, which also sent Jamie McGinn to Buffalo, brought back Mikhail Grigorenko, Nikita Zadorov, J.T. Compher and a 2015 second-round pick that was later swapped with the San Jose Sharks for three picks that became A.J. Greer, Cam Morrison and Denis Smirnov. Although Grigorenko didn't pan out and is now in the KHL, the jury is still out on Zadorov and Compher. Additionally, it's too early to say one way or the other about the prospects collected by trading that pick. It's not quite fair to judge this trade in total yet, but it probably hasn't gone exactly as the Avs would have hoped.
The Duchene trade is another asset-collection-type trade, with deservedly higher hopes for Girard in particular to be an everyday contributor to the Avs in the very near future. I'd imagine Sakic was hoping he'd be able to pry one of Nashville's more experienced defensemen away, but that probably wasn't going to happen with the Preds very much within their window of opportunity to contend for the Stanley Cup. And although there are no sure things in projecting prospects -- outside of the generational Connor McDavid or Auston Matthews types -- the Avs were able to cast a really wide net here. It gives them the chance to develop these players, or they can use their surplus of young talent and draft picks to make other deals. It's going to take a while to find out just how well Sakic did here, but it's a good start.
What's the plan for Girard?
Only a year removed from being selected at No. 47 by the Predators, Girard managed to make Nashville's opening night lineup at 19. Granted, it was partly out of necessity with Ryan Ellis on the shelf after surgery, but the Preds usually don't rush prospects. The fact that they felt Girard could handle the opportunity says a lot about how the organization viewed him as a prospect.
That said, the logjam of experienced talent on the blue line made Girard a little more easily expendable. Nashville's depth benefits Colorado, as it adds yet another highly skilled defensemen to its system, which includes the organization's most recent first-round pick and top overall prospect, Cale Makar.
Girard led all QMJHL defensemen in scoring in each of the past two seasons and averaged better than a point per game for his junior career -- 192 points in 190 games with the Shawinigan Cataractes. He showed glimpses of that offense translating very early with three points over his first two NHL games. However, the Preds used Girard sparingly, likely protecting his entry-level contract slide as long as possible. The young blueliner dressed in only three more games.
At 5-foot-10, 162 pounds, Girard makes up for his relative lack of size with a high hockey IQ. This shows in his ability to manage the puck and move it quickly up ice. His style translates very well to the NHL's rush-heavy league, where puck-moving defensemen are at more of a premium. I think that's a big reason Nashville felt confident enough to bring Girard into the NHL mix this season.
What happens next will be interesting. The Preds did Colorado a favor by not playing Girard in 10 games. It gives the Avs the option of sending him back to junior without burning a year of his entry-level contract. That said, Girard has done just about all he can do in the QMJHL. It's nice to have the flexibility to choose, though.
Kamenev's path to playing time
Kamenev is a really intriguing prospect. He has two full AHL seasons under his belt, which has been good for his development. He hasn't exactly lit the scoresheet on fire, but last season he was a top-10 scorer among players under 24 in the NHL's top farm league, with 51 points in 70 games. He was also a standout performer for Russia in the 2016 world junior championship, where he captained the team to silver.
It appears that Kamenev, who checks in at 6-2, 193 pounds, is becoming a more complete player in the AHL and has even added a little grit in his game, but I think hopes were higher for what he could become offensively when the Preds took him at 42nd in 2014. He still might get there yet.
The 21-year-old Russian is off to a good start in the AHL, with eight points through his first 10 games with the Milwaukee Admirals. It will be interesting to see what he does with the transition to the San Antonio Rampage, as the Avs should let him marinate a bit more in the minors.
The timeline for Shane Bowers
Bowers has shown some high-end flashes with Boston University this year, but he's a bit difficult to project. He was a standout performer in the USHL during the past two seasons with the Waterloo Black Hawks, and has six points through his first 10 games in the NCAA, but it looks as if he's going to require a little patience.
The good news for Colorado is that he's in a good place for development, working with BU coach David Quinn, who was an Avs assistant and worked with their AHL affiliate before taking the job at his alma mater. The Terriers are off to a sluggish start, but Bowers has been one of the brighter spots on a team that is struggling to string wins together.
Bowers has legitimate skill and an easiness to his game. I think he could be a bit better in his own end, and we'll have to see whether he can add some more explosiveness to his game. The Avs should probably let him take his time to get to the pros. He just turned 18 in July, so there's plenty of time for him to develop.
Impact on the Avs' pipeline
The Avalanche have 10 players on their NHL roster aged 23 or younger (some of whom are hurt right now). Among them, Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Tyson Jost look like long-term core players. Perhaps Girard can play his way into that conversation, as well, and one would project Makar to be in that mix in the future.
For as young as the NHL team is, however, there isn't a ton of high-end talent in the pipeline behind those guys, aside from the aforementioned Makar, who is a freshman at UMass. The Avs were ranked 20th in ESPN Insider's most recent prospect pipeline rankings, and that included Jost as a prospect; he won't be counted in the mix for the pipeline rankings after this season. If the Avs keep Girard in the NHL, Kamenev and Bowers would be considered among their very best prospects at this point behind Makar. Although that's an improvement, it isn't saying a whole lot of what else currently exists.
The Avs have done well with their first-round picks in recent drafts, Conner Bleackley notwithstanding. From the second round on, however, there haven't been many success stories. Right now they have two first-round picks and two second-round picks for next year. They'll have to make those count to keep this rebuilding process moving forward, whether they use them in the draft or package them for something else.
Still, the fact that they were able to acquire seven assets for a player everyone knew wanted out of Colorado is Sakic's biggest accomplishment as a GM yet. It's also a step in the right direction to building up the Avs' young core and providing their scouting staff more opportunities to build up that prospect base from what should be a fairly strong draft class.