Trade Rumors and Free Agent TalkTrade rumors, transactions, and free agent talk. Rumors must contain the word RUMOR in post title. Proposals must contain the word PROPOSAL in post title.
Colorado Re-Signs David Jones [4 years/$16 million]
I'm pretty stoked to have Jones in fold next year. We still don't have a sniper who'll break 40, but we now have a bunch of guys that can chip in 20-30 goals with a few having a shot at 35. Jones, McGinn, Stastny, Landeskog, O'Reilly, Downie, Mueller, Duchene and Hejduk, will mean plenty of goals scored.
As long as Jones and Stastny are playing together I have absolutely no concerns about this deal. Jones does a great job along the boards, even with his diminished speed is deadly in transition, has a good wrist shot that he's smart with, has great chemistry with Staz, gets to the front of the net well, has stepped in and killed penalties very well when called upon, like after the trade deadline when we shipped out Winnik and Galiardi. All in all, he's a guy who'll score 25+ if he's with Staz and ginner, who can help out on the PK while giving us a very physical and defensively strong scoring line.
I know it's cause I'm Avs homer, but I really like the forwards the team currently has. The McG-Staz-Jones line is a reliable big, strong line that defends well and is dangerous offensively. The Skog-RoR-Duke/Downie line is a similar, physical, defensively sound and productive line which could feature our current captain and the two kids most likely to get the C after him. The Mueller-Duchene-Downie/Duke line is the most offense line but still isn't a defensive liability, if they stay healthy this line chould be the Avs most productive line as Mueller and Duchene both have PPG talent and chemistry. That leaves you with the defensive 4th line of McCleod-McClement-Olver/Kobasew, chippy and defensively sound, that's a strong energy line even if there isn't much offensive bite.
If they wanted to pay 4mill, they should have just kept Stewart. Stewart is a much better player than Jones.
Jones is ideally a 3rd liner who can put up 35-40pts on a contender but a top 6 forward if hes played with very good mates.
I disagree. Stewart may have the potential to score ~5 more goals a season more than Jones, but he's a lot lazier, much worse defensively and isn't at good at winning puck battles along the boards and in the corners. I'd much rather Jones than Manbearpig now a days. I loved Stewart when he was busting his ass alongside Staz, but when he'd get disengaged he'd be infuriating, even moreso than drunk Jones.
Jones struggled a lot this year playing on the lower lines and didn't really hit his stride until late in the season when he got put back with Stastny on a line with McGinn, so ideally he's playing on a two-way scoring line with another goal scorer on the other wing.
If they wanted to pay 4mill, they should have just kept Stewart. Stewart is a much better player than Jones.
Jones is ideally a 3rd liner who can put up 35-40pts on a contender but a top 6 forward if hes played with very good mates.
Ya... Stewart was the main piece of the trade when his value was the highest. I'll take the trade 10/10 times. Even when the trade happened, there were Avs fans who were upset losing Stewart, but not everyone.
Stewart is a beast when he's hustling because he does have more talent then Jones, but he's just way too inconsistent (I won't call him lazy, but he definitely isn't the hardest worker either).
The trade last year wouldn't have happened if it had been Jones instead of Stewart. And even now, I'd rather have Jones. Stewart's a better player certainly, but I'd rather have Jones along with Johnson, McClement and Siemens than Stewart, Shattenkirk and... whoever they picked with the second rounder.
Stewart may be a better player, but Jones is going to do more for this team than Stewart would.
