Friedman: Colorado will likely sign Patrick Wiercioch

[Bone Breaker]

since I saw he was hitting free agency I knew the Avs would sign him. this organization can not stay a single off-season without signing some bad defender (a #6 or #7) to play on their top 4.

 

[the_fan]

Avs sign yet another bad defenseman.

Seriously, who are their Pro Scouts?

 

[Vesa Awesaka]

he might do okay. He showed glimpses in ottawa and tbh i dont think the speed the sens played at and the rush offensive style suited his talents.

I like it. He might have a lot of upside but it just wasnt going to work in ottawa. I like his chances to be an NHL regular over Cowen

 

[Helistin]

Why the Avs would sign him out of all people is beyond me.

Need someone with a big cap hit to replace Stuart on the IR / healthy scratch.

 

[Drury_Sakic]

I don't get the hate unless the contract is terrible.

The Avs have all but certainly jettisoned all of Holden, Guinen, Redmond, Gormley, Stuart, and Bodnarchuk. Their rookie depth that was NHL ready last year is graduating, so that is also not there anymore --- the next batch of talent is 2-3 years away.

They are going to sign 2-3 project guys or vets with little in the tank this off season at the very least for depth. They might end up playing real NHL time....but more likely they are 7/8/9th guys on the depth chart. There has to be a vet you can burn if the rookies end up not being ready.

Also, the Avs have had a bottom 5 D core in the NHL for a very long time, and while they have some prospects ready to hit and might make a bigger move, they are going to need to take a chance on a few guys.

Again, unless the term or cap hit is waaaay out of line, its a solid signing.

 

[Avs44]

I don't get the hate unless the contract is terrible.

The Avs have all but certainly jettisoned all of Holden, Guinen, Redmond, Gormley, Stuart, and Bodnarchuk.

They are going to sign 2-3 project guys or vets with little in the tank this off season at the very least for depth.

Yeah...didn't we same the same thing after the Avs brought in guys like Redmond, but let Benoit and Sarich go? Or when the Avs let O'Brien, Hunwick, Zanon, and O'Byrne go, but brought in Guenin, Holden, and Benoit? The cycle continues.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

Yeah...didn't we same the same thing after the Avs brought in guys like Redmond, but let Benoit and Sarich go? Or when the Avs let O'Brien, Hunwick, Zanon, and O'Byrne go, but brought in Guenin, Holden, and Benoit? The cycle continues.

Benoit was okay. Holden was okay. The rest were awful. I just wish we use the bottom pairing to grow our inhouse prospects.

 

[SpezDispenser]

You could do worse as a 7th dman.

 

[Drij]

Yeah...didn't we same the same thing after the Avs brought in guys like Redmond, but let Benoit and Sarich go? Or when the Avs let O'Brien, Hunwick, Zanon, and O'Byrne go, but brought in Guenin, Holden, and Benoit? The cycle continues.

you are being over dramatic. Since those guys are pretty much all on the same level, they pretty much are letting go the more expansive guys for cheaper guys.
Except Sarich who retired.

 

[danielpalfredsson]

Not a surprise considering COL was rumoured to have interest in Wiercioch for the last 27 trade deadlines....he also played for the University Of Denver which is a nice little backstory with him coming to Colorado.

He looked good during Ottawa's big run, and played for Canada at the World Championships, but he wasn't able to put it together consistently for Ottawa. There's a bit of upside with Wiercioch, but I wouldn't get too excited.

 

[Drury_Sakic]

Yeah...didn't we same the same thing after the Avs brought in guys like Redmond, but let Benoit and Sarich go? Or when the Avs let O'Brien, Hunwick, Zanon, and O'Byrne go, but brought in Guenin, Holden, and Benoit? The cycle continues.

Its what you have to do while you wait for the rookie guys to get there. It is no different than what Toronto is doing with their forwards right now.

The Avs were just SOOO far behind on D that it is taking a 5-7 year window to rebuild/recover the core, as it is harder to draft and develop D men. Of all the things Roy and Sakic have been criticized for, they have held fast in developing the D core.

We hopefully are on the last cycle of rejects, as Bigras and Zadorov hopefully will both hit.... but we might get one more beyond this if they don't....and they have to have a few guys to eat minutes if they are not ready.

 

[Pual Statsny]

Sens fans: how's his breakout pass? I've noticed that a consistent theme is lack of physicality and bad skating, does that fit your recollection?

 

[IranCondraAffair]

Sens fans: how's his breakout pass? I've noticed that a consistent theme is lack of physicality and bad skating, does that fit your recollection?

His passing and general offence is good. He just doesn't have the elusiveness or speedy decision making to when he gets pressured.

I found his skating fine for a guy his height. His physicality was atrocious and his shot was weak.

 

[Pual Statsny]

His passing and general offence is good. He just doesn't have the elusiveness or speedy decision making to when he gets pressured.

I found his skating fine for a guy his height. His physicality was atrocious and his shot was weak.

Cool, thanks. Scared about the decision making, but outlet passes are what the Avs need. I'm fine loading up on young guys since defensemen do take longer to develop.

 

[Agent Zub]

Sens fans: how's his breakout pass? I've noticed that a consistent theme is lack of physicality and bad skating, does that fit your recollection?

He's a great passer. everything else is below average.

 

[Drury_Sakic]

His passing and general offence is good. He just doesn't have the elusiveness or speedy decision making to when he gets pressured.

I found his skating fine for a guy his height. His physicality was atrocious and his shot was weak.

So, Nick Holden.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

Nick Holden couldn't pass either, but he was somewhat physical. So trading some physicality for passing is not bad.

 

[Six Assets]

He's slow and weak. Has decent puck skills and a solid shot though.

 

[Drury_Sakic]

He's slow and weak. Has decent puck skills and a solid shot though.

The upside is that you cannot teach puck skills. However, you can mitigate skating by both slightly improving it, pairing the guy with the right player, and using proper matchups.

 

[strictlyrandy]

People bashing Holden's passing... Dude made sweet tape to tape passes.

Right to the other team.

 

[AMDZen]

Avs are a joke. Almost as big of a joke as Canadian teams. Just move them back to Quebec and let them rot

 

[SmellOfVictory]

He's no Nick Holden or Nate Guenin but sure why not.

Poor Avs.

 

[Dr Quincy]

So, Nick Holden.

Holden > Wiercioch

I won't say AINEC, but it's not squeaker either.

 

[Helistin]

Avs are a joke. Almost as big of a joke as Canadian teams. Just move them back to Quebec and let them rot

Wait a minute. Colorado isn't in Canada?

 

[McMetal]

he might do okay. He showed glimpses in ottawa and tbh i dont think the speed the sens played at and the rush offensive style suited his talents.

I like it. He might have a lot of upside but it just wasnt going to work in ottawa. I like his chances to be an NHL regular over Cowen

Unfortunately, the Avs are a speedy team that play off the rush...