i can see this point of view as it comes from an outsider who most likely didn't watch the avs much last year. it's a fact that they did get older, and they did get slower.
but in all honesty they needed to get older and they needed to get slower. last year in the playoffs they were inexperienced, lacked veteran leadership (sarich and tanguay hurt, giguere on the bench), had virtually no scoring depth after the top two lines, and when their run-and-gun, fast break style wasn't working (on the road) they were unable to score goals.
iginla is 37 but is one of the best leaders in the league and was good for over 60 points last year. he also brings the ability to score dirty goals that come out of seemingly innocent plays, something that was also lacking in the playoffs last year. the briere for pa trade is not what was expected by most anyone but briere brings excellent leadership, the ability to play on the third line and always seems to score clutch goals, especially in the playoffs. stuart is roughly on par with hejda (ie the avs 2nd or 3rd best dman) in my mind but is proven warrior, especially in the playoffs who has won a stanley cup which roy and sakic seem to value and was something which was missing from the back end with the loss of sarich. winchester is no all-star but can play solid defense on the fourth line and chip in a few goals (unlike cliche). the redmond, noreau signings do nothing but add defensive depth to a team that looked helpless after the loss of barrie.
the writer sees a "bad" offseason. i see a team that identified their weaknesses and did what they could to address those weaknesses while staying cap conscious now and in the future.
