Offseason Thoughts: Your Take.

[freeboy]

I like this motto
Warning avalanche danger

 

[AslanRH]

"You want to be a UFA? We can help!"

Now just need a Home Depot Colored Avalanche Logo

 

[Congo Jack]

"We put our balls on the table, and lost them to the Sabres"

 

[GirardSpinorama]

Briere Trade - Meh. I think it could work out. Got a shorter term deal. Pass.

Losing Stastny for nothing - Fail. Major Fail. Stastny would have cost someone the moon. We should have traded him to the Blues.

Stuart Trade - Bad value trade, but good fit. Pass.

Iginla signing - Love it.

O'Reilly - Hate it. But it was mostly on Sherman and O'Reilly's agents. Pass.

Depth signings - Love Redman signing. Like Winchester signing. Don't know enough about the rest.

Overall thoughts - I felt we are weaker than last year and didn't do enough to match last year's record. Not a disaster, but generally disappointing.

 

[Nihiliste]

Stastny leaving for nothing really sucked.
O'reilly signing for 2 years is great - we either have a great player or a very valuable asset.
Iginla signing is good as a stopgap but the term and money are pretty worrisome.
Briere/PAP trade - hate it.
Stuart trade - a 2nd was too much to pay for another bottom pairing guy. Hope he can play well here but it's been a while.
Redmond signing - great depth
Winchester signing - good depth
Depth Euro signings - good to see they're looking for out of the box solutions but I doubt they have one for the big club here.
Going into the next season with Mitchell/Briere on the 3rd line - hate it

Pretty 50/50 on the offseason. Lets see how it plays out.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Ok, I haven't given my 2 cents yet.

Briere: I'm ok with it. I'm not really going to base my expectations off of how he did on a team he was for a year in not the greatest situation. That said I'm not expecting much but I understand he fits the role much better than PA. I didn't think PA was worthless but getting a team to take on 4m more salary can't be downplayed. We have no idea what the Avs might do with that savings so I don't think we should dismiss it before seeing how it plays out. Nobody thought they'd be a cap team this year.

Iginla: love it. Nothing more to say than excited to add a probable HOF player to our team. 3 years doesn't bother me and I actually think he might be rental bait in that third year to send him to a team cup hunting if we are not.

Stuart: I'm ok with it. Clearly not plan A but for one year we can manage just like we did with Sarich and he might contribute more. I don't like giving seconds away but that pick is at minimum 4-5 years from helping us and we just don't know what our situation will be by then.

Redmond: Optimistic. Think it's a great situation for him, glad others around here are excited too. If we had traded that second for Stuart instead for him I don't think many would have complained.

Winchester: don't know much about him but sounds like a great bottom 6 guy

Noreau: curious on the plans for him but intrigued. Seems like more of a potential gem vs just a warm body for Lake Erie.

Holden extension: had a feeling he was going to get one soon. Surprised at the length but interesting Friedman noted it as a smart move by the Avs. Around the league they must have noticed his play.

Stastny: won't rehash but I understand why it unfolded the way it did. Think the Avs were ok with and knew they'd lose him for quite some time.

O'Reilly: considering how fire it was just 24 hours ago I'm ok with basically an agreed upon postponement. Getting 2 more years of him is worth something. Won't really know how to judge for at least 5+ years how to feel about the saga.

Draft: thrilled with Bleackley. He's the perfect prospect for us. Other good high upside picks, 3 of them have only played 1 year of CHL so a lot of potential is unknown. Draft last 2 years have looked better for prospect depth.

Lake Erie signings: like them aggressively looking to infuse new talent vs just sticking with existing prospects. 2 AHL vets look fine, interesting one is Talbot's BFF.

Overall: I'd give offseason a B. Nothing sexy, nothing intended for immediate fixes or solutions other than Iggy, which is kind of the win now portion of the long term plan. A lot of ground work for financial flexibility and options going forward. Better depth, better prospects in the pool. More sense of direction. This team won't win a cup but I don't think it's any less likely than last year's team from a talent perspective.

 

[the_fan]

I agree about losing Stastny for nothing sucks, but with the kind of season Avs had, they weren't going to trade him in the middle of one of the best seasons this team has had. Stastny would of been traded if the Avs were at the bottom of the standings.

I would of liked the Avs to try trading Stastny couple of years ago, but with his 6.6 salary and the mediocre season he had last few years, i doubt many teams would give anything more than a 2nd rounder or an average player in return.

That being said, i'm very glad Avs didn't pay him 7 mill to stay, because i have a feeling Stastny will put on his disappearing act again and regress, and have bunch of frustrated Blues fans regretting the signing.

 

[Avsboy]

I think every choice Avs could have made was made correctly.

Stastny was needed for the playoff run, the central division championship, and the deep series against Minnesota. It would not have been worth it to trade him for a 2nd and some scrap player. Then, in failing to re-sign him, there is no way in hell an aging and overrated Stastny should have gotten much over $6 million, let alone $7 million. Very happy he was not signed for that contract, especially with the future contracts this team will have to dole out.

Iginla was a great contract for a player who will likely contribute 50-60 point for ALL three years of his contract. He's a big, skilled, fitness freak going into the HOF. A Hejduk he is not. I'd prefer Iginla now over Stastny now (at their current ages) for THE SAME PRICE. I'm not just being bullish here; I think Iggy is the superior player, even at this age. I think he will continue to be the superior player for at least two of the next three years.

Stuart I am not thrilled over, but I'd prefer his one year contract over any contract given except Stralman and Ehrhoff, and those two were simply not Colorado-bound. And he could surprise - he had his good days at one point.

Holden extension - great value.

Redmond - great.

Winchester - great.

Briere - PAP: We save a year and get a player more suited for the third line. I like it. Not love it, but like it.

ROR - Probably the best possible deal that could be achieved.

 

[Gabe the Babe]

Stastny leaving for nothing really sucked.
O'reilly signing for 2 years is great - we either have a great player or a very valuable asset.
Iginla signing is good as a stopgap but the term and money are pretty worrisome.
Briere/PAP trade - hate it.
Stuart trade - a 2nd was too much to pay for another bottom pairing guy. Hope he can play well here but it's been a while.
Redmond signing - great depth
Winchester signing - good depth
Depth Euro signings - good to see they're looking for out of the box solutions but I doubt they have one for the big club here.
Going into the next season with Mitchell/Briere on the 3rd line - hate it

Pretty 50/50 on the offseason. Lets see how it plays out.

If you really believe some of this stuff then you may have some of the most radical/ridiculous views of some players I've ever seen.

Stuart a bottom pairing guy? Wut? He's not a top pairing guy but he's a good to great middle pairing guy. Anything lower than a #4 is being unfair to put it nicely.

Mitchell and Briere aren't good enough to be 3rd liners? What, in your opinion, constitutes an acceptable 3rd line? Not every team has a Soderberg, dude. If you can get 100-120 points out of your third line in today's NHL you should be extatic. That's exactly what that line can give you.

You need to lighten up...

 

[5280]

I think every choice Avs could have made was made correctly.

Stastny was needed for the playoff run, the central division championship, and the deep series against Minnesota. It would not have been worth it to trade him for a 2nd and some scrap player. Then, in failing to re-sign him, there is no way in hell an aging and overrated Stastny should have gotten much over $6 million, let alone $7 million. Very happy he was not signed for that contract, especially with the future contracts this team will have to dole out.

Iginla was a great contract for a player who will likely contribute 50-60 point for ALL three years of his contract. He's a big, skilled, fitness freak going into the HOF. A Hejduk he is not. I'd prefer Iginla now over Stastny now (at their current ages) for THE SAME PRICE. I'm not just being bullish here; I think Iggy is the superior player, even at this age. I think he will continue to be the superior player for at least two of the next three years.

Stuart I am not thrilled over, but I'd prefer his one year contract over any contract given except Stralman and Ehrhoff, and those two were simply not Colorado-bound. And he could surprise - he had his good days at one point.

Holden extension - great value.

Redmond - great.

Winchester - great.

Briere - PAP: We save a year and get a player more suited for the third line. I like it. Not love it, but like it.

ROR - Probably the best possible deal that could be achieved.

This is what I think, too. I am pretty happy with the off season, and if Patrick Roy seems to think we have a better team than last year, who can argue with that?

 

[AslanRH]

If you really believe some of this stuff then you may have some of the most radical/ridiculous views of some players I've ever seen.

Stuart a bottom pairing guy? Wut? He's not a top pairing guy but he's a good to great middle pairing guy. Anything lower than a #4 is being unfair to put it nicely.

Mitchell and Briere aren't good enough to be 3rd liners? What, in your opinion, constitutes an acceptable 3rd line? Not every team has a Soderberg, dude. If you can get 100-120 points out of your third line in today's NHL you should be extatic. That's exactly what that line can give you.

You need to lighten up...

I'm ridiculous too then, because nothing I've seen from Stuart in the last two years says he's a good #4. He may be an upgrade on Benoit due to style of play, but not worth the trade IMO.

I'll be pleasantly surprised if Briere does any more than he did in his "bad situation" Montreal performance. He may get more playing time and linemates to start off and therefore better numbers, but his impact will be minimal IMO.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

As long as Barrie is signed, sealed and delivered I believe the AVs will be a better team on October 9th than they were on April 30th.

Lots of angst around here but I actually give the off-season a passing grade. Maybe not as great as I'd hoped for but a passing grade none-the-less.

Personally, I think getting MacKinnon to center full time while picking up Iginla was awesome. We probably aren't contenders this season anyways so I like the idea of Nathan getting full time duties at center now so he can learn over the course of the year and be comfortable the following year when I think we have an outside chance of making some real noise. I wasn't too butt-hurt over Stastny's departure. Over his tenure here I liked him alot at times and hated him at others. Very inconsistent player IMO. I look at this as an upgrade by getting MacKinnon at center over him. Teams lose players to UFA all the time...not the end of the world. Iggy even if his play drops in the third year would add an incredible dimension to the 3rd line. I really loved his signing and am personally not worried as long as the AVs have players (Hishon, Bleackley or others) who can challenge him for playing time in that final year of his contract.

Getting ROR signed today for 2 years helps the first line tremendously. We would never have gotten equal value from a trade. I still maintain hope that the paradigm shift from RFA to UFA will allow the AVs and him to come to a long term contract based on the level of play he sustains this season.

Getting Stuart (even at a slightly higher cost than I would've liked) improved the D. I would've liked a bigger improvement but it is what it is...The D is better now.

Winchester will be a good addition. Not sure how much fans will appreciate it as he's a 4th liner but he'll be good there.

Briere...it was all about losing a year of PAP. PAP wasn't liked by Roy so this has to be considered a good deal in my mind. Roy got rid of a player he didn't like or trusted and picked up one he could manage that has playoff experience and leadership skills and was able to dump a two year contract for a one year contract in the process....This frees up money and allows the AVs to begin thinking about a long term contract for ROR on top of raises for EJ and MacKinnon and others.

Redmond, seems like a good pickup but I don't know enough about him or others to make much of a call but they all seem to increase the depth and make the fight for roster spots in September better.

Sorry for the brick wall of text y'all...

 

[the_fan]

Avs didn't get Briere to put up huge numbers in the regular season, they got him because he can still score those clutch, timely goals in the playoffs. You know, like a goal that would win the game 7 in OT against Minnesota.

 

[AslanRH]

Avs didn't get Briere to put up huge numbers in the regular season, they got him because he can still score those clutch, timely goals in the playoffs. You know, like a goal that would win the game 7 in OT against Minnesota.

Gotta make the playoffs first. Hopefully he'll get his chance to be Captain Clutch.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

If worst comes to worst and the Avs are on the outside looking in, expiring veterans like Briere, Stuart, Hejda, and even McLeod may have value at the deadline. Just saying.

 

[Nihiliste]

If you really believe some of this stuff then you may have some of the most radical/ridiculous views of some players I've ever seen.

Stuart a bottom pairing guy? Wut? He's not a top pairing guy but he's a good to great middle pairing guy. Anything lower than a #4 is being unfair to put it nicely.

Mitchell and Briere aren't good enough to be 3rd liners? What, in your opinion, constitutes an acceptable 3rd line? Not every team has a Soderberg, dude. If you can get 100-120 points out of your third line in today's NHL you should be extatic. That's exactly what that line can give you.

You need to lighten up...

Stuart has not been good lately and was not trusted on the Sharks come crunch time. Look at this way, would Stuart have played in the top 4 of the cup winning Kings or last year's Hawks? I find it doubtful, considering his skating. I know that's a high standard to hold a player to, but the goal is to build a winner, and teams and players should be measured by that standard.

Mitchell and Briere are both fine in isolation but our bottom 6 has no identity. What exactly does a Mcginn - Mitchell - Briere line play like? In what way is it going to be effective? I suspect this one will have us pulling our hair out, at least until the first injury puts one of them in the top 6. Sorry I'd rather have an effective checking line in place of Malkin's dangles and Briere's lackadaisical regular season play.

If I have the most radical views you've seen you need to get out more.

 

[Nihiliste]

If worst comes to worst and the Avs are on the outside looking in, expiring veterans like Briere, Stuart, Hejda, and even McLeod may have value at the deadline. Just saying.

It's possible, though not for Mcleod I think. Hopefully it doesn't come to that.

 

[AslanRH]

If worst comes to worst and the Avs are on the outside looking in, expiring veterans like Briere, Stuart, Hejda, and even McLeod may have value at the deadline. Just saying.

That is my optimistic hope as well.

I hope I'm wrong, but I see the Avs in the hunt, and getting edged out this year. Problem is that they will unlikely sell off anything if they are close to making the post season.

 

[CoachBadkitten]

Briere/PAP- Not bad, clear we did this to get out of a contract one year earlier, but I do think PA may have had a bit more value around the league. Briere will definitely step up come playoff time.

Losing Stastny- Obviously sucks, but I wouldn't have given him 7M. If he would have signed here for 6.5 that's a different story. Asset wise it may have been smart to trade him at deadline, but they were convinced to make a run, and would probably have sent a bad message to the fans and the team. Especially fans. Not to mention, I think we would have gotten a poor return, looking at what others got.

Iginla- great signing. Will be exactly what we need in our top 6. The 3rd year might be a bit ugly though.

Winchester- incredible signing, he's very underrated. One of the best 4th liners in the game, super hard worker.

Redmond- Another great signing. Expecting him to play and look good. Next Holden maybe.

Stuart trade- Understand why they did this, but don't like it at all. We overpaid for a mediocre d-man. I'm not convinced he'll be much better than Benoit.

Noreau- Not sure what to expect at all. But I do think he'll make the team.

ROR- He's on the team for another 2 years(barring trade after year 1) and Joe and his agent finally agreed to something. Both good things. Avoiding arbitration was obviously key for both sides.

Berra(gonna include this in here)- I know Roy and Allaire really like him, (and you guys have probably ranted enough about him already)but I still can't stand this move. Giving up a 2nd for a pretty pooor backup, when we could have waited to see what's out there in UFA(Bryz, Thomas, etc.) and used one of the kids in the meantime.

And I really, really hope we can sign Hayes. That would be awesome.

 

[the_fan]

Gotta make the playoffs first. Hopefully he'll get his chance to be Captain Clutch.

I have a hard time believing Avs will miss the playoffs after the year they had. If you look at the off-season moves as a whole, all they did is replace a 60 point guy with another 60 point guy. But Iginla brings much more to the table than points, he will be a great leader on ice and in the locker room.

I look at Stastny for Iginla basically as a win for the Avs. The rest are just minor moves. PAP barely contributed to the Avs success last season, so losing him wont do anything to the team.

They lost Benoit who again, not a big loss at all and gained Stuart. Stuart is not a huge addition to the D, but overall that blue line is pretty much the same as last season which was enough to win a division.

Varly will be Varly IMO, solid.

 

[Mupster]

I think the front office had a clear plan to add experience, keep the core intact, and maximize financial flexibility. While they maybe didn't get all of their plan A's, they were still able to do a reasonably good job.

Losing Stastny sucks (I have his jersey) but it was going to happen sooner or later. If we have to pick four out of Mackinnon, Landeskog, Duchene, ROR and Stastny, I pick the first four every time. Iginla + the maturation of the aforementioned guys (and maybe a little bit of luck health wise - Tanguay I'm looking at you) and we more than make up the loss of Stastny's offense. Defensively is another story, but I'm optimistic someone can pick up the slack.

With the market for good defensemen being bone dry, I like the approach of bringing in a lot of younger, diamond in the rough types. As has been said many times before, we can't keep all of the d-men we have on the big club, so hopefully they will realize this and it will motivate them to be at their best come training camp. The competition should bring out the best in everyone, and will hopefully benefit the Avs.

I like the added experience of Iginla, Stuart and Briere, but especially like it because we maintained flexibility. If Stuart and Briere don't perform, they're off the books next year. I'm lukewarm on Briere as a player, but think Stuart can bounce back under Roy.

If we had lost ROR it would have been a big blow, but with him back in the fold I think we are looking good. Just need Varly and EJ to show up again this season.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Stuart has not been good lately and was not trusted on the Sharks come crunch time. Look at this way, would Stuart have played in the top 4 of the cup winning Kings or last year's Hawks? I find it doubtful, considering his skating. I know that's a high standard to hold a player to, but the goal is to build a winner, and teams and players should be measured by that standard.

Mitchell and Briere are both fine in isolation but our bottom 6 has no identity. What exactly does a Mcginn - Mitchell - Briere line play like? In what way is it going to be effective? I suspect this one will have us pulling our hair out, at least until the first injury puts one of them in the top 6. Sorry I'd rather have an effective checking line in place of Malkin's dangles and Briere's lackadaisical regular season play.

If I have the most radical views you've seen you need to get out more.

Pardon me for jumping in here but I'd like to start by saying, you don't have anything close to the most radical views I've seen.

I'd also acknowledge that Stuart would not have been top 4 for LA or the Hawks.

Why am I quoting you? Because...Seriously, EJ is the only AV that would've cracked either team's top 4. Having said that, I fail to see your point. The AVs play a completely different game from these teams. The needs from a d-man are completely different. Put another way, Hatcher was a fantastic shut-down dman most teams would've killed to have had in the mid-late 90s. In his prime, he would've kinda sucked for the AVs last season. Simply wasn't mobile enough which is what this team requires. No doubt Stuart is a stop-gap but he I also think he is a clear upgrade for the top 4 here. I simply don't understand why you wouldn't think so. Which of our top-4 from last year do you believe he is worse than? I agree, he's no EJ...the jury is out for me from there on though...