Joe Sakic - Record as Colorado Avalanche GM - Part II (Updates in First Post)

[forsbergavs32]

The best move by Joe for this deadline, just let the kids play for now and see what we wanna do in UFA

 

[Pokecheque]

No real complaints for Joe at this year's deadline. Obviously I would've liked a little more activity when it comes to moving out expiring deals but I can totally see why it wasn't done. Guess we will see what happens this offseason.

 

[McMetal]

Neither a buyer nor a seller. Pretty much right in line with expectations. I think Bigras is way better than Graves though, that trade looks poor.

 

[Foppa2118]

Neither a buyer nor a seller. Pretty much right in line with expectations. I think Bigras is way better than Graves though, that trade looks poor.

NYR definitely got the higher upside, but Bigras needed a fresh start. Seemed pretty unlikely he was gonna work out here, and he's waiver eligible next year. So is Graves though for what it's worth.

 

[CobraAcesS]

I wanted that "smart buy" the insiders were talking about, but no real mistakes IMO. He maintained the newer baseline hes set as a good but not great GM.

 

[McMetal]

Also, anybody who doesn't buy the "selling when you're close to the playoffs hurts the team" narrative should read the Athletic article about the Stastny trade. The quotes from Steen and Schenn are really telling for how deflated their locker room is going to feel after management waves the white flag.

While it's true that the Blues were clearly not going to make it out of the West this year between Vegas, Nashville, and Winnipeg, and selling Staz makes sense from a purely asset management perspective, that locker room is going to be a defeated bunch down the stretch.

I'm kind of glad Sakic didn't wave the same white flag by moving Comeau. I think an extra 2nd might be less valuable to the team than the rookies getting to play meaningful games for a little while longer. You know they would be having the same feelings as those Blues guys if they had been told Sakic was taking them out of the playoff race on his own.

 

[Foppberg]

Also, anybody who doesn't buy the "selling when you're close to the playoffs hurts the team" narrative should read the Athletic article about the Stastny trade. The quotes from Steen and Schenn are really telling for how deflated their locker room is going to feel after management waves the white flag.

While it's true that the Blues were clearly not going to make it out of the West this year between Vegas, Nashville, and Winnipeg, and selling Staz makes sense from a purely asset management perspective, that locker room is going to be a defeated bunch down the stretch.

I'm kind of glad Sakic didn't wave the same white flag by moving Comeau. I think an extra 2nd might be less valuable to the team than the rookies getting to play meaningful games for a little while longer. You know they would be having the same feelings as those Blues guys if they had been told Sakic was taking them out of the playoff race on his own.

Yup, I just read that article. It makes me want him back that much more.

 

[RoyIsALegend]

For those who didn't see it, Sakic's presser after the deadline yesterday:



- Pretty quiet, knew it was going to be quiet. Not in the rental market, not in the selling market.

- Big homestand coming up, close to a playoff spot and weren't going to jeopardize that.

- There were options to improve the team in the long run, but the deadline is usually about the push for the rest of the season and it didn't make sense for them right now.

- EJ's injury didn't play a part in the decision making. With or without him in the lineup, decision was to stay the course and not give up assets.

- Wanted to give Bigras a change of scenery, believes it will be good for him.

- With three injuries on the blueline, and unsure of when some guys get back, Alt was a safe pickup and they will look to give him some opportunities.

- Asked about Comeau, he said no need to lie to us, they had offers on the table but didn't want to change the lineup, he's a good leader, and felt continuity was more important.

- Believes overcoming adversity and growing as a group is important, not just adding guys in for the good times.

- Asked about Staz trade, said he's not surprised, Blues took the best offer and Winnipeg wanted Paul pretty bad. Happy for him.

- "We're not 10 points out. If we were, probably would have taken a different approach." Seems comfortable falling short of the playoffs as long as this group grows together and continues improving.

 

[5280]

Poor Joe looks old.......

I responded to your post over here because they locked the game day thread

It is a pipe dream, I really don't see Sakic going after JT if he's available, even though he absolutely should. Sakic will probably just want to stick with youngsters and let them grow like Kerfoot, JTC erc... which means more years of no playoffs until one or two of those players hopefully become impact players.

It's really not too bad a way to go at the moment imo. I'm not going to jump all over Sakic's back if he's not able to/or doesn't even try to sign Tavares. I will be surprise if he doesn't at least make some kind of offer to Paul, just seems to have the warm fuzzies all over it.

I'm not sure sticking with the youngsters automatically means year of no playoffs. I actually think if Ghetto and EJ had played more this season we would make the playoffs this year. In reality we are only a couple of players away from being a pretty solid team, already.

I honestly see JTC and Jost as becoming steady, impact players in the NHL for some reason. I like both of their mental approaches to things. It will be fun for them to develop over the next couple of years. Kerfoot I'm not really sold on but he seems to definitely have hit a wall, so it's hard to judge at the moment.

 

[S E P H]

MacKinnon, Avalanche impress Sakic with turnaround

Sakic interview.

 

[Foppa2118]

MacKinnon, Avalanche impress Sakic with turnaround

Sakic interview.

That was actually a really good interview. This was my big takeaway in that, regarding his thoughts on MacKinnon.

"He's really taken it upon himself to become that leader and really carry the group."

That IMO has been the biggest difference in his mental approach. They never want to say it's because Duchene was traded, and Joe probably got the closest to alluding to it there, but that definitely was a factor IMO. Even if his outstanding play started a few games prior. The whole team new he was gonna get traded soon, and they probably heard whispers a deal was close. These things get around pretty quick.

Nate always took a back seat and deferred to Duchene. It was Duchene's team. That's how everyone looked at it, just based on seniority. Then it became Nathan's team, and now we're seeing the results.

Interesting to see how Joe responded to the question of if the Avs were ahead of schedule. His experience being part of multiple winning and losing teams told him they have another level to get to, and the Nashville game was an indication to him of that.

That is why they need to get into the playoffs. It's that final piece of experience, and development of their game, that they've been missing for so long. They need to get that experience in how to win hard fought, physical, close hockey games.

 

[Pokecheque]

I was reading the Stars mailbag article on The Athletic (dude there pulled no punches), I thought it was interesting to note that the both the Avs and Stars have found themselves in similar territory, they've taken wildly different directions since then, most notably when it comes to hiring coaches. The Avs have always gone with in-house choices or relative newcomers, whereas the Stars under Nill have made two of the most high-profile hirings in the league. This is not to say that the Avs were 100% right in not pursuing a more experienced head coach, I just found it interesting that the Stars have more or less "played it safe" and that seems to be backfiring right now.

 

[CobraAcesS]

I was reading the Stars mailbag article on The Athletic (dude there pulled no punches), I thought it was interesting to note that the both the Avs and Stars have found themselves in similar territory, they've taken wildly different directions since then, most notably when it comes to hiring coaches. The Avs have always gone with in-house choices or relative newcomers, whereas the Stars under Nill have made two of the most high-profile hirings in the league. This is not to say that the Avs were 100% right in not pursuing a more experienced head coach, I just found it interesting that the Stars have more or less "played it safe" and that seems to be backfiring right now.

I think Dallas has pushed harder with the UFA's as well. I haven't read that article yet though. I also think Hitch was a weird hire for that roster, but I'm not sure it was a horrible choice.

My biggest problem with them was that I didn't see a true path to fixing their defense while they were in the peak of their window. That team turning a corner relies heavily on a old slow injury prone goalie, and what little they do have in the way of high end prospects panning out.

 

[Pokecheque]

I think Dallas has pushed harder with the UFA's as well. I haven't read that article yet though. I also think Hitch was a weird hire for that roster, but I'm not sure it was a horrible choice.

My biggest problem with them was that I didn't see a true path to fixing their defense while they were in the peak of their window. That team turning a corner relies heavily on a old slow injury prone goalie, and what little they do have in the way of high end prospects panning out.

The problem (and pointed out in that mailbag) is that GM and coach don't appear to be on the same page. Nill said Julius Honka would be playing a significant role with the team before the season started. He's been more or less in Hitch's doghouse since Day One. That's not a good sign.

Still not sure if the hiring of Hitch was a good idea or not. It seemed to run completely counter to what Nill wanted to do when he arrived, but then again he's made the team significantly older and slower (and grittier) as time has gone on, so Hitch is probably the best choice to coach them, I don't know. Bottom line, they need a few of their prospects to hit and soon, because it looks like beyond the top line and Klingberg it's a bunch of aging vets and young grinders.

I think we've seen firsthand what happens when the coach and GM don't see eye-to-eye. If nothing else, it looks like Sakic and Bednar don't have that issue.

 

[CobraAcesS]

The problem (and pointed out in that mailbag) is that GM and coach don't appear to be on the same page. Nill said Julius Honka would be playing a significant role with the team before the season started. He's been more or less in Hitch's doghouse since Day One. That's not a good sign.

Still not sure if the hiring of Hitch was a good idea or not. It seemed to run completely counter to what Nill wanted to do when he arrived, but then again he's made the team significantly older and slower (and grittier) as time has gone on, so Hitch is probably the best choice to coach them, I don't know. Bottom line, they need a few of their prospects to hit and soon, because it looks like beyond the top line and Klingberg it's a bunch of aging vets and young grinders.

I think we've seen firsthand what happens when the coach and GM don't see eye-to-eye. If nothing else, it looks like Sakic and Bednar don't have that issue.

I agree with the premise they bring up regarding their young players experience, but I'm not fully buying into that. Bednar hasn't always followed Sakic's vision for incoming players either. Those comments from the GM don't hold water for very long.

He mentions in that same article that Seguin has a good relationship with Hitch too. I don't know enough to pick the entire thing apart obviously, but that teams issues don't rest with Hitch alone, and STL didn't have massive scoring issues under Hitch IMO.

I'd blame roster construction and the inherent holes more than coaching personally. Yeah Spezza maybe could have been used better, but hes also not Eric Staal either.

 

[McMetal]

Dallas is just a poorly constructed team. If you think the Avs rely too much on their top players to score, Dallas has it way, way worse because outside of the top line and Klingberg they don't even have a lot of guys with even the potential to put up goals.

 

[CobraAcesS]

Dallas is just a poorly constructed team. If you think the Avs rely too much on their top players to score, Dallas has it way, way worse because outside of the top line and Klingberg they don't even have a lot of guys with even the potential to put up goals.

Losing Eakin hurt them more than it's been given credit too.

 

[a mangy Meowth]

Dallas' problem is poor drafting. They've absolutely stunk the joint up with their drafting the past handful of years

 

[Pokecheque]

Fun side note--the Avalanche went from being the 6th-oldest team (actually tied with two other teams, Detroit and Los Angeles for 4th) at the start of 2016-17 to the 2nd youngest (and at times 1st) in the league in 2017-18. Bednar, albeit briefly, iced five rookies at the same time last night against Vegas.

 

[Foppa2118]

Dallas has seemed like the bizarro Avs for a while now. They seem to always have the same problems the Avs have.

Not enough depth scoring. A very thin blueline outside the top couple guys. One of them being an offensive specialist that's a liability defensively, making the depth problem worse in the D zone. Poor drafting. And too many injuries to goaltenders.

Their strengths are very similar too. They've built their teams very similarly to the Avs in terms of style, and team makeup.

Seguin - MacKinnon
Benn - Landy
Radulov - Rantanen
Spezza - Duchene
Klingberg - Barrie
Hamhuis - EJ

The big difference to me being that the Stars were a little ahead of the Avs so they kept trying to go with what they had. Then they lost a couple key guys, and now they're stuck in no mans land.

The Avs on the other hand committed to a reset with the ROR and the Duchene trades. They got younger, and traded for some talent on the blueline with Zadorov and Girard, plus some depth scoring with Compher.

They were also able to stockpile some depth pieces for the future in those trades with Kamenev, Bowers, and Greer/Meloche (depending on who you think they would have drafted if they only had one pick).

Plus an extra 1st, 2nd, and 3rd with the Duchene trade which could produce decent NHLers, especially that Ottawa 1st.

Also, because they were bottom dwellers they've been able to pick higher in the draft than Dallas and draft some high end talent in Mikko, Jost, and Makar.

For the same reason, they've also been able to add some good depth pieces via waivers with early picks in Nieto and Nemeth, who have played well this year. As well as Barberio and Alt who are decent depth options.

All of that adds up to the two teams kinda switching places in terms of who's on the upswing, and who's on the downswing.

 

[PAZ]

Also, anybody who doesn't buy the "selling when you're close to the playoffs hurts the team" narrative should read the Athletic article about the Stastny trade. The quotes from Steen and Schenn are really telling for how deflated their locker room is going to feel after management waves the white flag.

While it's true that the Blues were clearly not going to make it out of the West this year between Vegas, Nashville, and Winnipeg, and selling Staz makes sense from a purely asset management perspective, that locker room is going to be a defeated bunch down the stretch.

I'm kind of glad Sakic didn't wave the same white flag by moving Comeau. I think an extra 2nd might be less valuable to the team than the rookies getting to play meaningful games for a little while longer. You know they would be having the same feelings as those Blues guys if they had been told Sakic was taking them out of the playoff race on his own.

So far it doesn't look like it has. Since the trade the Blues have a 9-3-1 record. Sure players might get disgruntled, but locker room shakeups are needed and sometimes add just as much as acquiring a player.

I still agree that Sakic did the right move by standing pat because we were in the midst of a winning streak, but each team is different. St.Louis had a horrid record in 2018, and it was obvious things weren't working for them.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Sakic better not sit on his hands in the offseason. The Avs Will be a playoff team for years to come starting from next season if they fix their 2nd line.

 

[Pokecheque]

Sakic better not sit on his hands in the offseason. The Avs Will be a playoff team for years to come starting from next season if they fix their 2nd line.

We'll see. I'd rather he sit on his hands than do what the team did in the 2014 and 2015 offseasons. So long as he makes moves that improve the immediate future without torpedoing them long-term I'm all for it. I say that knowing sooner or later he's gonna overpay someone badly. Every team does it.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Well yeah obviously we should stay far away as possible from broken down vets like Iggy, Stuart and FB. Spend but be smart about it.

 

[lonelybadger]

I was getting pretty judgy of both Bednar and Sakic before the Duchene trade. I gladly eat crow on both.

Bednar I still think is not the greatest NHL coach, but he has proven himself to be an NHL level coach. If it was not for Florida handing the GM of the Year award to McPhee Sakic would win it.

I still feel Sakic has one more big move up his sleeve going into the draft and I am excited for this post season and next year.