The Colorado Avalanche made the first trade of the almost trade season in making a deal with the San Jose Sharks to bring back familiar face Matt Nieto as well as disgruntled first round defenseman Ryan Merkley in exchange for Martin Kaut and Jacob MacDonald.
The writing was on the wall for both Kaut and MacDonald. As Kaut struggled to keep his position with the club at the NHL level, and even though MacDonald was playing nightly for the Avalanche, was playing bare-bones minutes.
We break the trade down, how we feel about it and what does this mean for Darren Helm of all people?
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21 Comments
Well I was hoping Kaut would pan out(lol)… but I got tired of him sluffing around the ice. McDonald was just wild kind of out of control but had good energy. This will be a lot of fun to watch it play out now that Kaut is out.
Isn’t McDonald the dude that ran into the goalie?
As I am not sad that Martin Kaut is gone (welcome back, Matt Nieto!!! 😎), I am a bit surprised that MacDonald is gone.
For now I’d put Nieto with Meyers. That gives Meyers a proven guy to play on his wing and actually makes the 4th line serviceable
I remember when macDonald had 1 minute of ice time. saw it coming
I'm liking this trade. I do think Nieto helps immediately for the Avs. Kaut and MacDonald probably both need a change of scenery and I agree that they both might flourish in a different system with different responsibilities as long as they take the right attitude into the situation. As for Who Nieto plays with, i'm envisioning a 4th line of Cogliano – Meyers – Nieto and hope those guys can find some good chemistry and be the one line from now through the end of the season that doesn't get messed with. count on those guys to give you 10 mins per game of super high energy play where they just go out there, hit everything that moves, get the puck deep, tire out the other team, change momentum, and get off. Offence from those guys is an absolute bonus but you need that consistent energy and work ethic. Merkley is, as you said, the big wild card in this deal. His big problem to this point in his career has mostly been attitude related along with some bonehead suspensions. Can the Avalanche culture kick start his career? He was drafted 5 spots after Kaut in the same 2018 draft. I don't see him as a likely option for the NHL roster any time this season or playoffs as I think Cronin will need some time with him to get him fully squared away and ready for prime time. And if you seriously want to talk about in house Girard replacements, there are none for at least another season and the most likely one for that would be Behrens over Merkley right now.
Soooo excited to have Nieto back, that guy can grind so hard in the corners. Funny you bring Soundcheck for this trade because my choice happened to be blasting when I got the trade notification lol Welcome Home- Coheed and Cambria
With some good development Merkley could be a great pick up.. or atleast down the road a great trading piece
The Long Beach native has returned
"Compher has disappeared " what? I like you Kyle, but I'm not sure which Avalanche team you're watching, because J.T. has logged a lot of important minutes lately, and has performed admirably as a face off specialist, puck distributor, and game manager.
Right handed Ryan Merkley is not going to be replacing a left handed d-man, btw
Had to throw this out there. Not trying to sharpshoot you guys but the singer of Yellowcard wasn’t the one who replaced Tom Delonge for those few years. It was Matt Skiba from Alkaline Trio, who are outstanding as well!
You can never have too many Matts. Welcome back Nieto! Should we rename "super Joe" as "Loyal Joe"? GoAvsGo… and "Ocean Avenue" nice pick!
happy to hear that nieto was so liked by the avs fans. because he didn‘t get the appreciation he deserved from a lot of sjs fans.
i think merkley has a huge untapped potential. but he wants to play his game and this can collide with the coach or system
Always liked Nieto. Martin Kaut just was never going to make it. I really liked Jacob McDonald. Dude just wasn't the same after that huge hit and injury last season.
I'm sorry but Kaut is not a NHL caliber player
Great trade! Go Avs Go
Sneaking into the playoffs to win the cup like LA
I think you guys nailed it. I would not be surprised to see Helm retire without playing another game.
All good that they moved on from Kaut, not going to cry about it. But Nieto was around for some of the bigger losing seasons, why was he the one the Avs wanted? Seems weird.
I was a Jacob macdonald fan. I wanted to see him get more TOI. The Avalanche trade him for another SMALL, unproven dman that has no experience at all and who DEMANDED a trade. Doesn't seem like a good locker room guy if he's done nothing and demanding trades. The last thing this team needs is ANOTHER Sam Girard and that's what this Merkley guy feels like (and Kyle he's under 6', besides height doesn't matter he's too light). A seemingly unnecessary pick up.
for how seemingly big and strong Kaut was he sure lost a lot of battles, i hope he finds his stride in SJ
Guys, hold your horses. First, JT plays well. Second, Newhook played a bit better, just wait if he can establish that. What I worry, why do the Avs like these short forwards? Look at Boston, big and bulky forwards and they are VERY effective. If you check guys like Newhook, Nieto, or Girard at the boards, most of the time, you get the puck. Kyle, JT is a good player, by far better than Nieto!