- Feb 24, 2012
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I'm pretty confident we see at least 2 depth defensemen brought in to insulate from that. Players that are 6/7s, but ones the Avs can stash in the minors if Siemens beats them out.
Rumor: AVS Proposals/Rumors/Free Agents & Roster Moves (related topics)
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I'm pretty confident we see at least 2 depth defensemen brought in to insulate from that. Players that are 6/7s, but ones the Avs can stash in the minors if Siemens beats them out.
dahrougem2
Registered User
Sign Wiercioch for 2 years just so he can be exposed for the draft next year, stick Bigras back in the AHL and have him play 25 minutes per night in all situations. Re-sign MacKinnon and Barrie long term, re-sign Matthias, sign some players for the AHL club and that's all. Next year is for development
forsbergavs32
Global Moderator
Not thats its big news, but the Avs facebook page just posted that Mack, Barrie, Grigs, Siemens and Pickard have been qualified.
McMetal
Writer of Wrongs
- Sep 29, 2015
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Ugh, the last thing I want is an over the hill player who will bring guidance to our young players. That's what Stuart was supposed to bring, you know. I think Sakic has learned his lesson about bringing in veterans just for "leadership" purposes. This core has to lead and develop from within or they'll never go anywhere. That's one of the many things a good development year can bring for us as long as we stop relying on crutches like that.
- Feb 24, 2012
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So... let's say one is Wiercioch.
The lineup starts out like:
Beauch-EJ
Bigras-Barrie
Zadorov-Gelinas
Siemens
Wiercioch
EJ gets his yearly injury and it falls to:
Beauch-Barrie
Bigras-Zadorov
Wiercioch-Gelinas
Siemens
Beauch is old and has had some minor injury issues, entirely possible that during the same time he gets hurt and the Avs have to run this:
Bigras-Barrie
Zadorov-Gelinas
Wiercioch-Siemens
Geertsen/Boikov/Lindholm/Clark
One more injury or bug and the Avs are playing Geertsen in a lineup with Bigras and Z manning top 4 roles,Siemens who had a lesser role in the AHL than Guenin, and Wiercioch who the Sens just let go. That group would be the worst in the NHL by far.
A NHL team won't go into the season with 3 injuries potentially making them play completely unproven and struggling prospects if they want a chance at the playoffs. If a team is tanking, by all means they will do that... not if a team is trying to win. The Avs need depth for the 7/8 spots and for San Antonio. These are not players you sign to block Bigras or Zadorov, they are players that can take a bottom pairing shift in the NHL without rushing prospects or completely killing the team's chances to win. Relying on Geertsen to be the first callup is something that simply should not happen. He should be the #4 option at the very highest.
Foppa2118
Registered User
- Oct 3, 2003
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I can't understand why Sakic is so comfortable not sufficiently upgrading the D every year. I understand they don't like the prices but they never like the prices. If it's between overpaying and not upgrading the D and missing the playoffs, at some point you just got to be bold or go home. That's what all the other teams that have left the Avs rebuild in the dust have done.
The core needs to step up for sure, but if they keep running a poor D unit waiting for Z and Bigras it could be years before they make the playoffs and both Sakic and Roy will probably be let go by then due to the lack of improvement.
If their answer to the D is subtracting Holden and Stuart, relying on two 21 year olds, and insulating them with Gelinas, Bodnarchuk, and Wiercoch it could be another long season. Adding the same borderline NHLers every year to play defense is just short of madness.
The core needs to step up for sure, but if they keep running a poor D unit waiting for Z and Bigras it could be years before they make the playoffs and both Sakic and Roy will probably be let go by then due to the lack of improvement.
If their answer to the D is subtracting Holden and Stuart, relying on two 21 year olds, and insulating them with Gelinas, Bodnarchuk, and Wiercoch it could be another long season. Adding the same borderline NHLers every year to play defense is just short of madness.
- Feb 24, 2012
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Based off a comment that was less serious than the re-signing Benoit comments?
The depth they should target IMO are the Percy/Dietz/Merrill/Weircioch/Connauton's of the world. Players who have played some in the NHL incase there were injuries and could be excellent AHL players next season.
Yeah, you're right. But only one should get a 2 year deal, probably the cheapest one. And one needs to be fully buryable.
- Feb 24, 2012
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lonelybadger
Registered User
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So you must not have watched the first ~30 games of the year then? When he played probably the best stretch of hockey in his entire career. I mean honestly, he was a PPG for close to 35-40 games I think. Take the risk with a 6x6 contract if you can. The only way teams get these amazing deals on players is but taking a risk straight from ELC, if we do a bridge and he explodes then were looking at closer to 8-9 a year and thats a lot of money.
Avs44
Registered User
- May 16, 2011
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The Predators:
Forsberg, 6 more years at 6 million
Josi, 4 more years at 4 million
Ekholm, 6 more years at 3.75 million
Ellis, 3 more years at 2.5 million
THAT is what signing those deals to players who haven't "earned" it gets you. They've got a possible top 10 defender in the league in Josi signed at 4 million a year. They have a great young second pairing in Ekholm and Ellis signed at a combined rate under 7 million. Do you know what absolutely brilliant shape that team is going to be in after Jackman, Fisher, Riberio, and Nystrom get off the books next year? They can easily re-sign Johansen, keep both Weber and Rinne in the fold without it costing them, overpay both Smith and Wilson, and still have room for another big addition up front while filling out their depth.
Forsberg, 6 more years at 6 million
Josi, 4 more years at 4 million
Ekholm, 6 more years at 3.75 million
Ellis, 3 more years at 2.5 million
THAT is what signing those deals to players who haven't "earned" it gets you. They've got a possible top 10 defender in the league in Josi signed at 4 million a year. They have a great young second pairing in Ekholm and Ellis signed at a combined rate under 7 million. Do you know what absolutely brilliant shape that team is going to be in after Jackman, Fisher, Riberio, and Nystrom get off the books next year? They can easily re-sign Johansen, keep both Weber and Rinne in the fold without it costing them, overpay both Smith and Wilson, and still have room for another big addition up front while filling out their depth.
CalderKing21
Darth Calder
They really think that the way to fix the D is to be like the Blackhawks.
But the Blackhawks are sick with development. Same with the Red Wings for years. They develop guys over and over and over. The Avs...not so much.
Freaky Styley
Registered User
Barring anything drastic, after the extensions to the RFAs, with the remaining cap space I want Sakic to:
1. target Radulov (could be tricky working out the $$)
or
2. sign Luke Schenn + depth forward.
Option 2 is more realistic and gives us more flexibility. IMO Schenn is the perfect fit for this team. Fits the age, will come at a reasonable price (~3.5M IMO) and was good for L.A. in the playoffs - better than Polak for the Sharks. D first and did not struggle like Polak does with moving the puck. Gives us something like:
Beauchemin - EJ
Zadorov - Barrie
Bigras - Schenn
Gelinas
depending on the pairings. A guy like Vernon Fiddler would also look good on this team depending on the $$
1. target Radulov (could be tricky working out the $$)
or
2. sign Luke Schenn + depth forward.
Option 2 is more realistic and gives us more flexibility. IMO Schenn is the perfect fit for this team. Fits the age, will come at a reasonable price (~3.5M IMO) and was good for L.A. in the playoffs - better than Polak for the Sharks. D first and did not struggle like Polak does with moving the puck. Gives us something like:
Beauchemin - EJ
Zadorov - Barrie
Bigras - Schenn
Gelinas
depending on the pairings. A guy like Vernon Fiddler would also look good on this team depending on the $$
If the Pens can win with that D corps then lets just ride it out and not trade a #1 C/RW until it is the last option
- Jan 18, 2016
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I mean there are three ways to upgrade a defense. 1) Draft players and bring prospects up, which is what's happening with Bigras and Z next year most likely. But after that no ones really close to being NHL ready. 2) Trade for a D-Man, which Sakic said he has tried to do multiple times. But the reason he hasn't pulled the trigger is probably because it will cause another huge hole to trade for said defenseman and it wouldn't be worth it. 3) Sign a FA, which has gone poorly as of late other than maybe Beauch.
I think the Sakic is trying everything possible to upgrade it, but there's just not many realistic options to make said upgrade happen. If we trade Duchene for d-man, then we have a huge hole in our offense. We don't have the cap space to sign anyone and the options aren't really that amazing this year. And our D prospects either aren't ready for the NHL yet or are going to be there next year. It's not exactly the most simple fix out there. At least we know Sakic is out there making calls seeing what the cost is and not paying a stupid and crippling price for a defenseman.
tigervixxxen
Optimism=Delusional
I think the Blackhawks are better at recruiting than drafting/development but yes the only way to truly fix something is to do it internally but nobody has the patience of the faith that they can accomplish this.
Yeah, but instead we keep handing out bridge deals and keep getting burned, because...
lonelybadger
Registered User
I really think if Radulov could be signed we could three thirty goal scorers this year in duchene, mack, radulov. Roy would give a press conference and his head might explode because he would start yelling "the core!! The core!!!"
Drij
Registered User
- Mar 5, 2007
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- Feb 24, 2012
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What players have the Avs signed to a long-term deal coming out of an ELC that they regretted? Stastny is probably the closest example, and I wouldn't say they regretted that deal.
CalderKing21
Darth Calder
True, but the Avs do not have many trade-able assets. Our assets are all core pieces and we cannot easily replace them.
Duchene is offensively our best player and you cannot really trade him because you have no idea what Mack is going to do. You cannot trade Mack because he's a recent #1 overall pick and if he stays healthy then you might have a franchise guy.
Landeskog is the captain, it goes without saying why he is not getting traded.
So we have to find ways to develop the defense internally. With that said, if the best player available in the first round every time is a forward then only so much improvement will occur by development alone.
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