Colorado Avalanche Rumors: Analyzing the Ottawa Senators as Trade Partners

Conclusion

In this kind of a deal, the Avs would most likely have to decide between a straight up trade for Cody Ceci involving Matt Duchene, or a trade for one of the prospects above and some draft picks.

Cody Ceci is a good defenseman who is only going to get better. However, some of his underlying numbers are troubling. For example, he has a Corsi-for percentage of 45.3, and he has 48 giveaways and only 13 takeaways.

More From Mile High Sticking: Analyzing the Avs’ Needs in the 2017 NHL Draft

So, it’d be difficult for the Avs to be convinced that he is the type of defenseman they need right now. However, Colin White and Thomas Chabot are some really good prospects, who could eventually fill the two most glaring holes on the Avs roster — defense and right wing.

Nonetheless, the Avs would only be able to pry one of those prospects away from the Senators.

So, if they are going to trade Matt Duchene, then they obviously need to go after Thomas Chabot. They would also need to ask for at least one draft pick, and a couple B-listed prospects as well.

I suppose it’s not entirely impossible for the Avs to get Cody Ceci and Colin White out of this deal. The Avs did a pretty good job of getting a real nice return for Ryan O’Reilly, after all.

Next: Nikita Zadorov Showing Good Development for the Avs

That trade is by no means a slam dunk at this point. However, with J.T. Compher, A.J. Greer, Nikita Zadorov, Cameron Morrison, and Mikhail Grigorenko all possessing tons of potential, the Avs look to be headed in the right direction with that deal.

To get a good return for Matt Duchene, the Avs need to go after a similar deal with whatever team they end up making the deal with. The Senators definitely have the prospects, as well as a young defenseman, and so a deal is conceivable, it just depends on how much they value Duchene.