It can be addressed, the assets are certainly there--just depends on what Joe is willing to do and how creative he's willing to be.
Joe Sakic - Record as Colorado Avalanche GM - Part III (Updates in First Post)
- Thread starter Foppa2118
- Start date
It can be addressed, the assets are certainly there--just depends on what Joe is willing to do and how creative he's willing to be.
Sea Eagles
Registered User
- Feb 7, 2012
- 5,740
- 6,351
Be fair everyone. We have improved three seasons straight in the standings. We came 1st overall last season (won the presidents trophy). Surely we can't change our choices until the seasons at least underway. I promise you all, you'll all be pleasantly surprised, and very happy. Please believe me.
- Aug 25, 2006
- 9,387
- 7,514
Sorry for the long post.
I try to keep my comments on Sakic's work to a minimum until each of the major events (TDL, draft, free agency, and even just prior to roster freeze at Christmas) are passed because he tends to spring trades and/or signings on us at the least expected time. This is a good time to finally put forward my comments on the roster as he might be finished for the summer (although I still think he has one more deal up his sleeve).
First off goaltending: Let me say first of all that I did not like the way the Grubauer situation went down. I think Sakic waited too long to deal with Gru and by then his plan B was gone. It might be for the best though as I believe we ended up a better goalie (Kuemper vs Andersen) but unfortunately he is more injury proned. The way I see it as far as goalies as concerned is that we have two new goalies this season. WE have a great starter and a great backup unfortunately, again, they are both injury proned. However if they stay relatively healthy IMO we are set up great. Yeah it is risky but if they don't go down for lengthy period of time and most of all they don't go down at the same time we will be fine. Backup goalies don't play usually in the playoffs as games are every second day so obviously we need Kuemper healthy for the playoffs. We are also in a better situation with JJ as our #3 this season.
Next forwards: IMO we have lost secondary scoring which is not a good thing especially if we have injuries in the top line. I am concerned in the playmaking ability of the second line. Kadri is in a contract year and people say he will do better this season because of that. This can actually go against us as well as he might have in his head that he needs to score more to get a bigger contract next year. This might bring him to hug the puck more like he did last season. Probably more toe drags as well instead of using his teammates to create better scoring chances. We are also banking on Newhook taking a big step in the right direction. That in itself is a gamble. With that said I'm happy to start the season with those guys and see where we stand by Christmas.
The 3rd and 4th lines should be very good defensively but there are major concerns there offensively.
Next defense: I don't get when people say we are weaker at that position. Our top-4 is better with EJ than Graves. People say we don't have a 2RD if EJ goes down. We still have Girard if that happens with Byram moving up in the top-4. G is not ideal on the right side but that is a temporary solution until EJ comes back.
Others say EJ is done. I'm sorry but until he gets hurt again he is a major addition to last year's roster. And if he does get hurt again what makes people think it would be for the rest of the season? His concussion? EJ's game doesn't lend to concussion. He doesn't get hit like G, Byram or Jost, etc do. The only reason reason he got a concussion was because of the way he fell on the ice. Very unfortunate. There was nothing wrong with the hit itself. So if he gets hurt again hopefully it is for a short period of time and he is available for most of the season and the playoffs. For depth at D last year to start the season Timmins and Byram were our main guys. They had basically no NHL experience. This year we have MacNorris, McKeown, Gross and Barron. IMO that is pretty good depth. McDermid is a huge deterrent even when he won't be playing.
Overall we are still a top team and a Cup contender. Health will play a big factor in this but it always does anyway.
I try to keep my comments on Sakic's work to a minimum until each of the major events (TDL, draft, free agency, and even just prior to roster freeze at Christmas) are passed because he tends to spring trades and/or signings on us at the least expected time. This is a good time to finally put forward my comments on the roster as he might be finished for the summer (although I still think he has one more deal up his sleeve).
First off goaltending: Let me say first of all that I did not like the way the Grubauer situation went down. I think Sakic waited too long to deal with Gru and by then his plan B was gone. It might be for the best though as I believe we ended up a better goalie (Kuemper vs Andersen) but unfortunately he is more injury proned. The way I see it as far as goalies as concerned is that we have two new goalies this season. WE have a great starter and a great backup unfortunately, again, they are both injury proned. However if they stay relatively healthy IMO we are set up great. Yeah it is risky but if they don't go down for lengthy period of time and most of all they don't go down at the same time we will be fine. Backup goalies don't play usually in the playoffs as games are every second day so obviously we need Kuemper healthy for the playoffs. We are also in a better situation with JJ as our #3 this season.
Next forwards: IMO we have lost secondary scoring which is not a good thing especially if we have injuries in the top line. I am concerned in the playmaking ability of the second line. Kadri is in a contract year and people say he will do better this season because of that. This can actually go against us as well as he might have in his head that he needs to score more to get a bigger contract next year. This might bring him to hug the puck more like he did last season. Probably more toe drags as well instead of using his teammates to create better scoring chances. We are also banking on Newhook taking a big step in the right direction. That in itself is a gamble. With that said I'm happy to start the season with those guys and see where we stand by Christmas.
The 3rd and 4th lines should be very good defensively but there are major concerns there offensively.
Next defense: I don't get when people say we are weaker at that position. Our top-4 is better with EJ than Graves. People say we don't have a 2RD if EJ goes down. We still have Girard if that happens with Byram moving up in the top-4. G is not ideal on the right side but that is a temporary solution until EJ comes back.
Others say EJ is done. I'm sorry but until he gets hurt again he is a major addition to last year's roster. And if he does get hurt again what makes people think it would be for the rest of the season? His concussion? EJ's game doesn't lend to concussion. He doesn't get hit like G, Byram or Jost, etc do. The only reason reason he got a concussion was because of the way he fell on the ice. Very unfortunate. There was nothing wrong with the hit itself. So if he gets hurt again hopefully it is for a short period of time and he is available for most of the season and the playoffs. For depth at D last year to start the season Timmins and Byram were our main guys. They had basically no NHL experience. This year we have MacNorris, McKeown, Gross and Barron. IMO that is pretty good depth. McDermid is a huge deterrent even when he won't be playing.
Overall we are still a top team and a Cup contender. Health will play a big factor in this but it always does anyway.
shadow1
Registered User
- Nov 29, 2008
- 16,592
- 5,237
Me in 2017 said:
Me in 2018 said:
Me in 2019 said:
My yearly post. With a little over $2M in cap space and more than a week removed from the start of free agency, I assume the Avalanche are done.Me in 2020 said:
For the first time in a while, I have a bad taste in my mouth about how an Avalanche off-season has gone down.
Cale Makar was re-signed without much fanfare, but the negotiations with Gabe Landeskog were tumultuous, which put a dark cloud over the club heading into Free Agency. Ultimately the captain was re-signed in the 11th hour, but -- despite a negotiation so lengthy the Avalanche's reported "Plan B" (Frederik Andersen) had already committed to another club -- Vezina Trophy nominee Philip Grubauer was lost via Free Agency.
One blockbuster trade (Kuemper) and two value signings (Helm, Murray) later, Sakic appears to be done. And it's extremely underwhelming.
With a fully healthy roster - sans (1) suspended Nazem Kadri - Colorado's forward depth was exposed during its second round defeat to the Vegas Golden Knights. After losing (and not replacing) forwards Jonas Donskoi and Brandon Saad this off-season, forward depth is even more of an issue now.
While I understand low salary cap space was prohibitive to addressing the Avalanche's forward depth woes, Sakic had options to create more space -- such as buying out the final (2) years of Erik Johnson's 7-year contract or including JT Compher in the Kuemper trade -- that he chose not to exercise. As a result, $9.5M will be allocated to two players who played very little role in Colorado's successful 2020-2021 season.
Ultimately the Avalanche are still one of the best teams in the NHL, but there's only one cup winner every year and Sakic didn't do enough this off-season to put Colorado over the top. On the contrary - the team is objectively worse.
But I'm still going to give Sakic the benefit of the doubt. He's been one of the best General Managers in the NHL the last half decade and has positioned the Avalanche in a very good spot overall. But I think he'll have his work cut out for him this season as center depth and top-6 scoring appear to be glaring issues.
A couple random thoughts:
- The situations are wildly different, but I keep seeing parallels between this off-season and the 2008 off-season (I'm old). Back then, Colorado replaced LW Andrew Brunette, LW Peter Forsberg, D Jeff Finger, D Kurt Sauer, and G Jose Theodore with LW Darcy Tucker and G Andrew Raycroft. Woof.
- I also see some similarities to the 2018 off-season. Sakic added LW Matt Calvert and D Ian Cole - moves that added depth to areas of strength - while failing to address needs on the 2nd Line.
- I'm still both simultaneously optimistic and concerned about the prospect pool. Alan Hepple is out and Wade Klippenstein is in, but Hepple's finger prints will remain on Colorado's prospect pool for a while. Will any of Hepple's non-layup picks pan out? Why haven't players like Shane Bowers or Martin Kaut been able to crack Colorado's line-up when the competition has been players like Liam O'Brien and Kiefer Sherwood?
- Players linked to the Avalanche in rumors this off-season: C Christian Dvorak, LW Jaden Schwartz, LW Tomas Tatar, RW Ondrej Kase, D Seth Jones, D Jamie Oleksiak, D Ryan Suter, G Frederik Andersen, G Darcy Kuemper*
TruePowerSlave
Registered User
- Jun 27, 2015
- 7,022
- 8,499
Sakic has done a fabulous job building a contender quickly out of the hilariously awful 16-17 Avs team.
My biggest issue is the Avs not taking full advantage of their cup window so far.
18-19 team could have clearly done more as the Avs had a ton of cap space and never did anything with it. They could have addressed the forward depth issues, but decided to sit on their hands.
3rd straight season during their best cup window and the Avs continue spending almost 10M on EJ and Compher. They had obvious ways to ditch those two and ice better rosters that could have gone all the way thanks to the improvements, instead they decided to have worse teams. Never have they added anything decent at the deadline either.
These are decisions that might have cost them a cup or at least a finals appearance.
My biggest issue is the Avs not taking full advantage of their cup window so far.
18-19 team could have clearly done more as the Avs had a ton of cap space and never did anything with it. They could have addressed the forward depth issues, but decided to sit on their hands.
3rd straight season during their best cup window and the Avs continue spending almost 10M on EJ and Compher. They had obvious ways to ditch those two and ice better rosters that could have gone all the way thanks to the improvements, instead they decided to have worse teams. Never have they added anything decent at the deadline either.
These are decisions that might have cost them a cup or at least a finals appearance.
Last edited:
ChicagoBlues
Sentient
- Oct 24, 2006
- 14,264
- 5,444
Joe Sakic is the reason I’ve become an Avalanche fan.
Your team is sooooo close to winning it all again.
No GM is perfect, but Sakic’s vision is clear.
Your team is sooooo close to winning it all again.
No GM is perfect, but Sakic’s vision is clear.
Sea Eagles
Registered User
- Feb 7, 2012
- 5,740
- 6,351
Fantastic post mate, and spot on. Sakic is a proven winner. He's turned us into a league heavyweight. Won the presidents trophy last season.
I'm excited for what's to come. When we win the Cup this coming season, I hope Pepsi Center (Ball Arena) if overflowing with fans.
Kuemper’s good, but were timing a bit kinder when Carolina made it known at all that Nedeljkovic was available, kicking the tires on a package including he - and Denver native Jaccob Slavin - would have been solid.
Mid 20’s, minutes-munching defenseman who could have been a good step to decreasing parity on defense.
May not be a bad time to call Florida and see if they’re drunk enough to let Spencer Knight go. I want better depth in net and I’m not fully sold yet on Kuemper “today” or Francouz/Werner “tomorrow.”
Mid 20’s, minutes-munching defenseman who could have been a good step to decreasing parity on defense.
May not be a bad time to call Florida and see if they’re drunk enough to let Spencer Knight go. I want better depth in net and I’m not fully sold yet on Kuemper “today” or Francouz/Werner “tomorrow.”
Slavin would be absolutely perfect for us but there was no way Canes would give him away, even if he offered an enormous package.
To the topic of the thread, Sakic needs to pick up a 2C, elite 3C or second line winger. We're lacking forward depth, even if defense and goalie positions improved.
Yeah, Slavin would be phenomenal to add but...no way in hell is Carolina parting ways with him. There's a reason they lowballed Hamilton with a series of insulting offers. They knew he would walk.
My issue with the roster at the moment is that there's an elite, top-tier 1C, followed by a low-end 2C and a merely adequate 3C. This is the issue that ultimately gets them every year in the playoffs. They HAVE to find a way to upgrade at center, no matter what the cost.
My issue with the roster at the moment is that there's an elite, top-tier 1C, followed by a low-end 2C and a merely adequate 3C. This is the issue that ultimately gets them every year in the playoffs. They HAVE to find a way to upgrade at center, no matter what the cost.
Foppa2118
Registered User
- Oct 3, 2003
- 52,308
- 31,428
I honestly don't think the center issue is as big as it seems to some. The secondary scoring from Kadri would have helped against Vegas, but this wasn't one of those series where I felt the Avs just couldn't score.
They didn't score a ton of goals, but in most of the games I think they were fine, and probably would have put up more goals if they held their leads, and got Vegas to open up more to comeback.
The issue wasn't they couldn't score, it was they couldn't defend. They couldn't keep Vegas from scoring back breaking goals. Kadri would have helped, but I think he would have helped more defensively having him at 2C instead of Compher who isn't that good defensively.
If Kadri has the kind of contract year I expect him to have, and Jost takes another small step in his development, they could easily win with this center group. They just need the usual things you need to win the Cup. Get good goaltending, don't get unlucky with injuries, and don't throw games away with bad mistakes.
Against Vegas they didn't always get good goaltending and they made too many bad mistakes.
AnimalMother73
Registered User
- Sep 17, 2009
- 1,074
- 412
Another year of experience for their young D will go a long way in minimizing mistakes next playoffs.
Well, the bad defending ties right in with the issues at center. They have an elite offensive center who's below-average defensively, an insanely streaky offensive center who is horrid defensively, and a very good, but not elite defensive center who isn't good offensively. These are flaws the Avs were able to cover for rather expertly in the regular season, they cannot do so in the playoffs, and a lot of that has to do with Jost going from adequate 3rd line center to complete liability once the rulebook gets thrown away. He goes from not being able to score, but able to defend, to not being able to score OR defend. Right there, the depth at center goes from barely adequate to a huge issue.
I'm hoping Newhook offers a level of two-way play and consistency that Kadri obviously can't. This team desperately needs more two-way players, way too many of the forwards are either all about offense or all about defense, there's not really anyone outside of Landeskog who can consistently play well in all three zones. That's why IMO when they made mistakes it loomed large, there just wasn't enough safety net there, certainly not with Grubauer playing rather average down the stretch.
Foppa2118
Registered User
- Oct 3, 2003
- 52,308
- 31,428
I think we view Kadri very differently. I don't view him as horrid defensively at all. I think he's definitely above average defensively. He's been good in matchup roles in the past, when given that role, and an assignment to focus on. Even McDavid has praised him for shutting him down.
Also I think Nate has become average defensively. He's improved a lot in that area. When he hustles, he's very good defensively, but I don't blame him for saving some of his energy for offensive attacks. That's his biggest strength.
Jost I'm not sure what to take out of that Vegas series. I'm not sure I agree that he becomes a liability in the playoffs. I need to see a larger sample size from him in that area.
Ohhhhh no, he most definitely is not good defensively, McDavid can sing his praises all he wants, but just because Kadri got in his face doesn't mean he covered the guy well. He's very similar to Compher in that he's scrappy and when he puts a full effort in, he can pester opposition players and create turnovers and disrupt plays by virtue of that, but his actual defensive prowess is below-average at best. Too often he misses defensive assignments or just misreads plays, there's a reason Bednar doesn't want him anywhere near the penalty kill.
And MacKinnon has put in a much, much better effort in the defensive zone, but that doesn't mean he's become good in defensively, or even above-average. He's no Leon, mind you, but I'd still rank him below-average defensively. I saw more than a few boneheaded turnovers from him this last season/postseason, especially when he was frustrated and trying to force something. That said, he's one of those players who's so good with the puck, you don't care too much what he does without it, plus, Landeskog works well as his "defensive conscience." Calvert worked well in the same capacity for a limited time last season after Landy got hurt too. Of all the various players on this team, he's the one I'm worried about the least, but I think he'd work sooooo much better if they had a more complete player in the 2 and/or 3C spots.
As for Jost, you just need to take a look at his underlying numbers in the postseason when they get matched up against a big, physical team. That "third" line of Jost, Compher, and Namestnikov was so bad Bednar had to deploy them as a de facto fourth line, and even in heavily sheltered minutes, they got completely run over. The same thing essentially happened in the Vegas series--he gets pushed around way too easily and as a result just becomes a liability defensively. His one strength almost completely goes away, and he can't make up for that with any sort of offensive production either.
Foppa2118
Registered User
- Oct 3, 2003
- 52,308
- 31,428
Getting in a players face, disrupting plays, and creating turnovers is what a good defensive player does though. That's how Mark Stone defends just without the nastiness. He doesn't give you any space. That's what Kadri does too, just not quite as well. Compher doesn't do this at all though defensively. He gets in players faces every once in a while in the O zone but not the D zone.
I've also watched Kadri make quite a few good reads defensively, where he correctly recognized that a dangerous situation was developing, so he charged right at the puck carrier to take away their time and space and then finished his check on them after they passed. That takes good defensive awareness to recognize those situations and react quickly to them.
IMO, Kadri is definitely one of the better defensive forwards on the team. I'd only rank Landy and Nuke ahead of him. He's close to Mikko (I think Mikko is very underrated defensively) and Jost for me, but Naz gets the edge over Mikko because of his positional advantage at center, and over Jost because he has less physical limitations.
With MacKinnon, I rank him average defensively in general. Like I said, when he hustles he can be very good defensively, but he doesn't always use up his energy defensively, which I think is probably a good decision for the reasons you mentioned.
With Jost, I don't put a lot of stock into underlying numbers with a small sample size. Too much can influence those numbers with that kind of sample, that doesn't involve how good a player is defensively. tWhich is why I'd like to see a larger sample from him in that area before making my conclusions on him in the playoffs. Not calling penalties in the playoffs benefits the defensive player though, so this would only help him, it wouldn't make him less effective.
Last edited:
Oh no, I can't even begin to agree with you there. Kadri is not only not good defensively he's probably the very worst defensive forward on the team outside of Compher. His overall vision and awareness at both ends of the ice is abominable, and you can see that when he ignores wide open teammates to take a low-percentage shot at net or try to deke through four guys. He's a talented player who can put the puck in the net when he's on his game and can scrap his way to some greasy goals, but that is hardly a two-way player. Bellemare, O'Connor, Nichushkin, Landeskog, Saad, Jost, and even Rantanen and MacKinnon are better defensively than Kadri. Burakovsky is probably the same but he drives play at such an elite rate that he helps defensively just by being on the ice.
As far as MacKinnon goes, I don't want to belabor the point, I think we're mostly in agreement here. I just rate him lower defensively than you do but not by much. My point there is that he would be even better if there was a really good and reliable two-way center behind him in the lineup.
Not calling penalties doesn't help Jost at all because he can't do the obstruction thing like a lot of other players do, because he's not big or strong enough to do so. He only uses that giant halberd of a stick he has and unfortunately it's a lot harder for refs to avoid calling those sorts of plays, even in the postseason. But overall he gets his ass handed to him in the postseason because he can't secure the puck, nor can he hold onto it the few times he does get it. If the Avs are foolish enough to use him as a 2C or even 3C this next postseason, we'll see more of the same.
Foppa2118
Registered User
- Oct 3, 2003
- 52,308
- 31,428
I don't see the bolded as evidence that Kadri sucks defensively. It's evidence of his desire to hot dog plays in the O zone, it doesn't have anything to do with how he defends. I've seen plenty of good defensive plays from Kadri, so we're just not going to even remotely see eye to eye on him if you think someone like Burakovsky is better than Kadri defensively.
With Jost, I'm not saying not calling the penalties helps him. I'm saying it would only help him. Not calling penalties doesn't help the offensive player it helps the players defending. If he gets worse in the playoffs (again I'm not sure I agree with this) it's not because the rule book gets thrown out.
I still have Sakic as a four. We really have improved the last three years even though we haven’t made it past the second round. To make it far in the playoffs you really have to have some luck or at least lack of bad luck. I feel we were in a good enough position the last few years to make a good stab at it. I give him good cred for that.
Regarding last year I feel Sakic should be criticized for his deadline pickups, reliance on Kadri as the 2C and the goalie issues.
The deadline pickups made our team worse, not better. I’m not sure how he thought this was the best chance we would have with this core and ended up picking up the dudes that he did.
Also, he had to realize Kadri might do something stupid and get suspended like he did. Having Compher as the next man up is a major fail.
The goalie situation ended up working out ok enough. Even though Grubs shit the bed at times near the end we didn’t have to play our freaking 3rd string goalie, so that’s a win.
Going into next year I am cautiously optimistic. I like our d core and think we will improve there. Makar and Byram can only get better. I hate that we lost Saad and feel our offense got worse. Contrary to some, I really like the Kuemper acquisition and have wanted him ever since we play AZ a couple of years ago in the playoffs. Although I think Joe paid a bit much for one year of him, I am super excited to have him.
Regarding last year I feel Sakic should be criticized for his deadline pickups, reliance on Kadri as the 2C and the goalie issues.
The deadline pickups made our team worse, not better. I’m not sure how he thought this was the best chance we would have with this core and ended up picking up the dudes that he did.
Also, he had to realize Kadri might do something stupid and get suspended like he did. Having Compher as the next man up is a major fail.
The goalie situation ended up working out ok enough. Even though Grubs shit the bed at times near the end we didn’t have to play our freaking 3rd string goalie, so that’s a win.
Going into next year I am cautiously optimistic. I like our d core and think we will improve there. Makar and Byram can only get better. I hate that we lost Saad and feel our offense got worse. Contrary to some, I really like the Kuemper acquisition and have wanted him ever since we play AZ a couple of years ago in the playoffs. Although I think Joe paid a bit much for one year of him, I am super excited to have him.
Last edited:
All due respect I never said Burky was better defensively. I just said because he drives play so well the team doesn’t really have to worry as much about defense. Because the team possesses the puck a lot more when he’s on the ice. It’s “defense” in the same vein as Kerfoot, though Kerfoot IMO was better at puck retrieval. So in THAT sense, yes he’s better defensively, but that’s not what I’m trying to say. Either way defense is not as much an issue with him as it is with Kadri. Both Kadri and Compher are the two worst play-drivers on the play drivers on the team IIRC.
The reason I brought up Kadri’s lack of vision is because he has a severe lack of hockey IQ. And that is an overall issue with the Avs as a whole. To be a good two-way player you have to have good awareness. Kadri doesn’t have that at either end of the ice. Jost, conversely, has very good hockey sense, but doesn’t have the speed, power, or overall talent to use it in a more impactful way.
But the real issue with both Kadri and Burakovsky is that they are wildly inconsistent. When both are on they (and Saad) can keep the Avs offense afloat even when the top line is struggling to find their form. When either guy or both of them are slumping, they’re pretty much useless. It’d be nice if Newhook offers the stability neither of them seem capable of showing.
Foppa2118
Registered User
- Oct 3, 2003
- 52,308
- 31,428
Ok fair enough, but you also said Kadri was the worst defensively on the team outside of Compher. Since I think Kadri is one of the better defensive forwards on the team, that's the part that made me think we're probably too far apart on this issue.
Love Sakic as a player but he sure loves giving quality players away for free.
Stastny. ROR. Graves. Saad. Zadorov. Varlamov. Grubauer. Barrie
The only player we got for those guys is Compher and Kadri. And Kadri has done more harm than good for this team.
The only trade he won was the Duchene trade and the trades where teams needed to shed payroll with Toews and trading picks for teams backup goalies in Grubauer and Varlamov.
I guess it's pretty easy to be a GM when you have the opportunity to draft superstar players in Mackinnon, Makar, Landeskog, Rantanen and Byram.
His free agent moves, especially his deadline moves have not been good.
Stastny. ROR. Graves. Saad. Zadorov. Varlamov. Grubauer. Barrie
The only player we got for those guys is Compher and Kadri. And Kadri has done more harm than good for this team.
The only trade he won was the Duchene trade and the trades where teams needed to shed payroll with Toews and trading picks for teams backup goalies in Grubauer and Varlamov.
I guess it's pretty easy to be a GM when you have the opportunity to draft superstar players in Mackinnon, Makar, Landeskog, Rantanen and Byram.
His free agent moves, especially his deadline moves have not been good.
Richard88
John 3:16
- Jun 29, 2019
- 19,176
- 20,805
That's a very half-glass-empty way to look at things.
Giving Graves away for free? How about the fact that he acquired him for free in the first place, and then got a 2nd+ for him (Behrens + Maltsev)?
Zadorov is a bottom pairing Dman who netted us a top 6 forward for a cup run, not bad value.
Barrie wasn't given away for free. We got a cheap 2C for three seasons for Barrie who was a pending UFA. Does anyone miss having Barrie on this team now that we have Makar (who Sakic drafted btw)?
Lastly why is the part in bold a bad thing? Taking advantage of other teams to win trades is smart, not sure why you're holding that against him.
Letting Varlamov and Grubauer walk was questionable, but understandable. The ROR trade is the only big miss, but plenty of time and trades have passed since then to show that Sakic learned from that mistake.
The current forwards of the Colorado Avalanche brought to you by Joe Sakic
Burakovsky- Mackinnon- Rantanen
Ranta- Kadri- Compher
Helm- Jost- O'Connor
MacDermid- Maltsev- Kaut
Stanley Cup here we come!
Burakovsky- Mackinnon- Rantanen
Ranta- Kadri- Compher
Helm- Jost- O'Connor
MacDermid- Maltsev- Kaut
Stanley Cup here we come!
