Should the Avs sign Evander Kane?

NO.

Why Connor McDavid Should Not Win The Hart Tophy

Connor McDavid is the best player on the Edmonton Oilers.

Connor McDavid would instantly make any team exponentially better.

Connor McDavid is the best player in league.

Connor McDavid should not win the Hart Trophy.

The Hart Trophy is the trophy given to the player deemed “Most Valuable to his Team”. And while McDavid is a really great player, he doesn’t bring anything of value to the Edmonton Oilers on the ice. Yes, he is valuable to the team in terms of merchandise sales, putting rear ends in the seats, and bringing back the bandwagon fans, but right now, the Oilers are terrible. And as dominating as McDavid is, he does nothing to make the team any better. With McDavid, the Oilers are a tire fire. Without McDavid, the Oilers are still a tire fire. Let’s look at other MVP candidates:

Taylor Hall: The Devils are bad when he isn’t in the lineup. They just aren’t the same team. But when he is healthy and playing, Taylor Hall brings his team to another level. That is a valuable player. Hall is valuable to the New Jersey Devils. He makes them better.

Nikita Kucherov: He is on a stacked team and they would still do okay without him, but wow does he every help them out offensively and is a huge reason the Lightning are so high up in the standings.

Nathan MacKinnon: Just watch old Avs games from this year when MacKinnon was hurt. They are bad without him. He drives the offense. They win more with MacKinnon in the lineup. He is valuable to his team.

Connor McDavid? His team is terrible with and without him. Yes he is the best.

So will Connor McDavid win the Hart Trophy? Given that the award is voted on by the hockey writers association, he still has a great chance. Because why would they pass up a chance at writing yet another article about how great he is. This is the same reason Crosby won the Conn Smythe in 2016. Because another accolade to an already decorated player is a better story than Phil Kessell wining the Smythe or MacKinnon winning the Hart.

Connor McDavid, you are a great hockey player. But you do nothing to make the Oilers better. Yes, to make such a terrible team better all by yourself is impossible, but this trophy isn’t for the best player in the league. This trophy is for the player who is most valuable to his team.

The Avs, And Their Fans, Shouldn't Hate the Minnesota Wild Anymore

The answer is no. No, the Avalanche and the Wild should not be considered NHL rivals at this point. Avs fans shouldn’t hate the Wild any more than they hate any other NHL team that isn’t the Red Wings. Why? Because at this point, there is no recent history or events that can classify these divisional opponents as rivals. Lets take a closer look:

What brought on the absolute hatred Avs fans felt toward the Wild in recent years? Matt Cooke, and the 2014 playoffs. We all know about the Matt Cooke knee on knee hit on Tyson Barrie. The blatant attempt to injure, the slap on the wrist suspension, and the turning point of losing the D-man that definitely led to the series loss. Avs fans had every right to hate that team. To hate that logo. And to hate the fans, who were quite smug about the whole affair if you can remember.

But so much has changed since 2014 with both franchises. Matt Cooke, the antagonist of this whole mess, is gone. The Wild have had almost no success since that series in the playoffs and regular season. Only 5 players from the 2014 playoff series even play for the Avs anymore. Most of that team isn’t even in the NHL anymore. The Avs have been terrible since then, up until the early stages of this season, making any games against the Wild completely uneventful or intense. There have been no signs of bad blood between these teams really, save for the occasional Cody McLeod fight.

So what reason do Avs fans have to hate the Wild? Yes, they’ve been the better team since 2014, but should we hate them because they got a better coach and made the playoffs a few times? Should we hate them because they took advantage of an AVs collapse a few seasons ago and Parise scored a hat trick in an all too familiar comeback?

A lot of questions being asked here, all which should be answered by a simple no. So what should we feel toward the Minnesota Wild? As Avs fans, we should feel like we want to win the game. That’s it. Games against the Wild should feel like a game against the Blue Jackets, or a game against the Flames. A hockey game with no underlying storyline other than wanting the 2 points.

So if you find yourself still hating the Wild after all these years, no, you’re not being called stupid here, or unnecessary. We’re just saying that maybe it’s time to let go. The Avs are on the upswing, and the Wild still owe Parise and Suter over $7.5M against the cap for another 7 years. The Wild have no tangible results or brags for their 16 years of existence in this league. The Wild say they play in the “State of Hockey”, but in their case, the state of hockey they’re in is what the experts like to call “inconsistent and boring”. The fans are….well….unfortunate.

So don’t hate the Wild. They aren’t rivals. They have become just another team. And even thought that 2014 playoff loss was disappointing, it seems like the Avs will have enough playoff success in the near future to remedy those emotions, and they’ll be looking at the Minnesota Wild in the rear view mirror.

Did the Avs Really Lose The Ryan O'Reilly Trade?

With the departure of Mikhail Grigorenko to the KHL for 3 years, the age old argument has been churned up again amongst hockey experts, and Sabres fans on Twitter who claim to be hockey experts. The argument? Who won the Ryan O’Reilly trade?

You begin to ponder this deep and complex question when all of the sudden you hear a gust of wind outside. The room dims, and you are left in darkness.

The ghost of Trade-mas past, who, under his long dark hood looks a lot like Chris Drury, enters the room through a cracked open window, and summons you to take an arduous journey through the passage of time. The destination: June 26^th, 2015. The streets look different, the people, younger. You’re sitting on your couch, or maybe at the grocery store, and you decide to check up on the information highway in which you get most of your on demand sports news: Twitter. You slide up to refresh the feed, and there it is, thrust upon you like a bolt of lightning. The wait is over, and elation overwhelms you, brought on by the faint ting of remorse. Ryan O’Reilly, the contract holdout and offer sheet signer, has been traded to the Buffalo Sabres. Maybe you heard it from Adrian Dater. Maybe you heard it from Bob McKenzie. You probably didn’t hear it from Mike Chambers, as is job title of Avs beat writer is probably just something the head honchos at the Denver Post put on his business card because “guy who tweets days old Avs news” didn’t really look good on a business card. But it doesn’t matter, because one of the biggest distractions in Avs history has been moved for a package of promising youngsters and draft picks. You think to yourself “it’s time to climb out o the basement and back into the playoffs!” Oh, so naïve. But nevertheless, it has been done. Now, at this point, you may not have known much about JT Compher, but a quick search would tell you that he was great in NCAA and has what hockey writers with little vocabulary to describe prospects would call “upside”. You recognize Nikita Zadarov as that big Russian D-man who can play physical; something the Avs will need in the future, and of course you’ve heard of Grigorenko, the talented prospect and high draft choice who didn’t quite find his grove in Buffalo. A worthy project for Avs coaching staff that should be around for a LONG time! Life is good in Avalanche territory.

All of the sudden, a wormhole appears and you are thrown the Avs press room. This is even further into the past. What is going on? Oh, it looks like the Avs have just made Gabriel Landeskog the new team captain. You remember this press conference from the internet. But what you didn’t remember seeing was a seething Ryan O’Reilly, watching the press conference from around the corner, stabbing a sewing needle in what looks to be a Gabe Landeskog voodoo doll. Did anyone else see that? Before you get a chance to look around, you’re off and moving again with the ghost. The ghost takes you to another location. Canada, but there’s no snow and igloos. This is strange, its dark out. The sun is just starting to rise. You see an old newspaper clipping announcing O’Reilly has signed a 7 year deal with the Sabres, paying him $7.5M. Yikes you think to yourself. That is a lot of money for a player who has never scored 65 points. You look at your watch, its around 4:00am and you’re tired. There’s a Tom Hortons nearby and you want a coffee. Just as you are about to cross the street, a green 1951 Chevy screams passed you and slams into the building. A little frightened, you tell the ghost to take you somewhere else.

You arrive in 2017, at the end of the regular season. You are in the stands for the Sabres last game of the season and you grab the stats sheet from your game program. Ryan O’Reilly only has 20 goals, and not even 60 points. But that’s okay, because half the reason they brought him in was for his defensive game. The ghost of trade-mas past slowly hands you his Blackberry. This guy is from the past, you think as you look at the screen. The screen shows team penalty kill statistics for the whole league, as well as fancy stats. Oh, Buffalo is 25^th in PK, and their fancy stats are at the bottom of the league too. Wasn’t O’Reilly supposed to be a difference maker? At least he only makes $7.5M against the cap. The Sabres won the trade. Right? You ask the ghost to take you home. You’ve seen enough.

As the ghost of Trade-mas past drops you off at home you start to feel a little silly for your optimism. Hindsight is 20/20 after all. You hear a bang in the kitchen. Something has knocked over some dishes drying in the sink. Or, if you’re in college, a can of Macaroni and Cheese off the hotplate in your 1 room dorm. The culprit? The ghost of trade-mus present, and he takes you on a whirlwind journey you’ll never forget. First stop: Glendale Arizona. Why? Because that’s where Jamie McGinn is training. That’s right, the other piece the Avs sent over in the trade only logged 63 games in Buffalo before moving on. But the Sabres won the trade, because they got O’Reilly. Right?

The ghost whisks you away to another present-day location. You are in Joe Sakic’s office. He is on the phone with a player agent, hoping to lock in his best young defenseman who showed a ton of promise, and great hockey sense the previous year before getting injured. And this guy can hit, just ask the Winnipeg Jets. The players, not the fans. The fans will either say he is a dirty player, or they won’t know what you’re talking about since no one actually goes to the games. On the table, you can see Sakic has a development chart out, tracking all the prospects. You notice two names: AJ Greer, and Cameron Morrison. As you read through the files, you can see scouting data on Greer: Great hockey mind for offense, and sound in the defensive zone. He can put up numbers on the scoreboard and contribute in all other areas on the ice. Nice. You remember Greer playing a little last season, giving the tired, bored, unmotivated roster a refreshing burst of energy. Your eyes dart to Morrison’s report: Former Junior scorer that had a great first year in NCAA. The guy can rack up the points. Not bad return for the Avs, you think; especially since O’Reilly is the only remaining piece of Buffalo’s trade pie. Oh, you remember something. Grigorenko signed in the KHL. Well that stinks, because, at the time, the Avs really needed another forward. Or…was it a defender they really needed for the future? Well, it doesn’t matter what they needed, you think, because even if they Avs were just looking for forwards, they got Greer and Morrison in the deal as well. And if it was D they needed, they got Zadorov. All for O’Reilly and McGinn. As you turn around to leave, you notice a name on the whiteboard is Sakic’s office. It is a depth chart, and it says JT Compher. You almost forgot that he was part of the trade too. But the Avs got robbed. One of the worst trades ever. Right?

The ghost takes you to another GM’s office, but you can’t recognize his face. He must be new. A quick search of the office tells you that this is the headquarters for Buffalo GM Jason Boterill. Oh, that’s right. The Sabres fired Tim Murray, the architect and genius that swindled the Avs out of Ryan O’Reilly. Boterill is on the phone. He’s bragging about his most recent trade, finally getting a decent defenseman in Marco Scandella, and getting Jason Pominville back. Boterill talks about how the Sabres need another big strong defenseman, as the last GM left him with terrible options and a bad prospect pool for the back end. Boterill slams Tim Murray, ridiculing the awfull contract he gave out to Dmitry Kulikov. “But Murray just needed a big Russian Defenseman to eat minutes and use the body” you hear the voice on the other line say. “He was lacking in that department, and got Kulikov out of desperation”. You turn to the ghost and ask if Zadorov would have been a good fit for the Sabres at this point. The ghost just looks on. Boterill is also raving about getting Pomminville back. He says having the veteran leadership in the room will be great for the Sabres. Uh oh, you say, as you think back to how O’Reilly handled previous leadership situations. Boterill continues to brag about his free agent signings. “Yeah Benoit Pouliot will help us will the penalty kill, he can take defensive zone faceoffs if necessary, and he will be great on the penalty kill!”. Wasn’t that what O’Reilly was brought in for? Boterill continues “And adding Seth Griffith will give us a young guy with potential. After we traded Ennis and Foligno, I needed a guy that could develop into a potential scoring threat”. Your mind shifts to wondering what the Sabres organizational depth would look like if they kept Compher and had drafted Greer and Morrison. But the Sabres won the trade. Right?

The ghost of trade-mas present warps you back into your kitchen and leaves without a word. You lay on your bed, dreary from the travels. You find yourself eager for the visit of the ghost of trade-mas future, but you know you will have to wait. Maybe it’s a journey you will need to take day by day. You sit and wonder what it will look like. The Sabres haven’t got much better in the offseason, not good for a team who hasn’t made the playoffs since they robbed the Avs in a trade. The Sabres prospect pool isn’t look to great either. Not good for a team that gave up many future assets when they stole O’Reilly away from the Avs. The Sabres need to name a new captain. What if it isn’t O’Reilly? Will he get ticked off again and cause riffs in the dressing room? That won’t be good for a team with so many young players that need guidance. The Sabres have a new coaching staff and new management. This will be the Sabres’ 3^rd coach since the trade. Not great for a team who hasn’t made the playoffs with the $7.5M man.

Your mental energy shifts to the Avs. It’s great, you think, that Avs even managed to get anybody for a disgruntled player who had previously held out on them and was difintley not going to sign a new deal in free agency. And to get so much return for a player in that situation isn’t so bad. You lay your head down on the pillow and wonder, in 5 years, when Compher, Greer, and maybe even Morrison, are still in the midst of RFA contracts, where will O’Reilly sign in the UFA period? Will Buffalo be able to get him back? Will he be already gone? As you doze off, you think about how great it is that the Avs have all these talented assets that will be with the team for a long time going forward, and all they had to do was trade a guy who didn’t want to be here, and who would not have re-signed anyways. But the Sabres won the trade. Right?

Idiotic Hockey Fans Try To Justify Blown Offside Call

Twitter is a wonderful place. Anyone can just….say things. Anything. This phenomenon is particularly entertaining during sports games. On Sunday evening, in case you’re an Avs fan who hasn’t heard yet, they got a little stiffed on an obvious offside call during their game with the Chicago Blackhawks.

This let to outrage amongst Avs fans, Hawks haters, and most hockey fans with a brain. But remember what we said about Twitter and people saying things? This phenomenon, especially when tied to sports, tends to bring out the biased, and frankly idiotic, traits of sports fans. Here are some prime examples of stupid sports fans, biased sports fans, and argumentative sports fans:

One "genius" thinks he wrote the NHL rule book:

Another hockey fan must not have Flash media player installed on his device, as he obviously hadn't seen the footage. Hopefully not anyways, based on his response to the incident:

This fan, who is even using player names in his argument, and thinks repeating things makes the ruling correct. And, in a shocking twist, used the blatantly terrible ruling by all parties involved, that he conveniently lists, to "prove" he is right:

This tweep tried to tell Mark Rycroft he is wrong. Rycroft decided to show the fan why he works for an NHL broadcast and the fan is tweeting from his couch. Bonus: the fan is a twitter egg. 

Last, and certainly not least, this fan thinks because it was against the laughing stock of the NHL in an inevitable collapse, it doesn't really matter:

Never change hockey fans. Never change Twitter.

Don't Hate Too Much on Sakic Over The Deadline

Well, another year, and another trade deadline has come and gone. Some teams improved, some got worse, some stayed the same, but we don’t care about those teams. We care about the Avalanche. How did they do?

The trade deadline outcome for the Avalanche can only be summed up with one word: Mediocre. It was not widely successful, mildly successful, or even terrible. And here’s why:

The Pending UFA’s: John Mitchell, Rene Bourque, Fedor Tyutin, Jarome Iginla, Cody Golebeuf, Andreas Martinsen.

Here is the problem, and the whole reason, primarily, that the trade deadline was not a complete failure for Joe Sakic. If a team is in the playoff hunt, meaning they are a decent hockey team, or if they are contenders, which means they are a great hockey team, why would they want any of these players? Mitchell has had a terrible offensive year, and he has slowed down speed wise. He can kill some penalties and gets into the dirty areas decent enough, but these types of players are quite common these days, and there are many with offensive upside. Mitchell also carries a $1.8M cap hit, which is hard for a team to justify if they aren’t getting a whole package 3^rd/4^th liner.

Bourque has been hurt, and before he got injured his production and play slowed right down. Weird for a 35 year old to slow down in this league right? Tyutin would be decent on the 3^rd line, but once again, contendin and decent teams already have a few Tyutins either on the 3^rd pair or in the pressbox.

Moving Martinsen was great, Andrighetto still has some upside, and will at least be a good farm team addition. It would have been shocking for a team give more players or draft picks for a 4^th line UFA player. Good job by Sakic on that one.

Here is where it gets iffy. The return for Iginla, who could flourish in Sutter’s system/playing with Kopitar, is a 4^th round pick that could totally disappear if the Kings don’t make the playoffs and other conditions are not met. This would be acceptable IF the Avs did not retain half of his salary. If the Kings miss the playoffs, the Avs are paying Iginla to play for another Western Conference team. But let’s remember the Avs may not have had a lot of options. Iginla carries a $5.3M hit, a number that playoff teams usually can’t afford, or they would have spent the money elsewhere. Sure, Carolina could have easily afforded him, but why would they want a rental player for their non-playoff team?

Landeskog and Duchene? Why rush to get a deal done and maybe not get everything you could possibly get? It isn’t the worst thing in the world if the Avs wait for the draft, OR, maybe not trade them at all, then trade them for a poor return because there is a deadline. Think: they could have traded other players and it could have been a lot worth. Beauchemin? Any team who sent a scout to these games would not want to take a chance on him.

So try not to hate on Sakic too much for the lack of interesting moves. His hands were pretty much tied for the most part. With the options he had, it wasn’t the worst day. It wasn’t the best day, but not the worst, and with the season we have all endured, how can we ask for anything more? We aren’t going to talk about the other minor league deals but we will leave you with this: Did the Avs acquire Cannata because they are thinking of trading a goalie and they want a minor leaguer to fill the void left when Spencer Martin is called up?

Maybe.

Rangers Fans React To Nick Holden's First Few Games in the Big Apple

Anyone who has been the “new kid in class”, the newest employee at work, or the long lost relative at a family reunion knows one thing: sometimes it can be very hard to make friends. The same can be said for pro athletes, waltzing into a dressing room for the first time, and trying to prove themselves to their teammates.

Nick Holden is one of those athletes. Exiled from the Avs without a contract renewal, many Avs fans were shocked to find the Rangers offered him a contract. Following the initial shock, Avs fans were struck catatonic when they found out it was a 3 year deal paying him $1.65M per year. That is quite a chunk of change and faith for a player who was often subpar on the 3^rd pairing for the Avs.

So how have things been going for Nick Holden in his first few games for the Rangers? We’ll let the Rangers fans of Twitter fill you in on his progress:

                   

Needless to say, Nick Holden is not making any friends in New York. In a city of over 8 million people. No friends.

It seems like only yesterday Avs fans were taking to Twitter, lambasting Holden for his shaky play, lack of physicality, and overall ineptitude at his position. How good does it feel to be reading these tweets instead of writing them?

So morale of the story: If Fedor Tyutin, Patrick Wiercioch, or Eric Gelinas, mess up a couple times this year just remember. It could be worse. We could have Nick Holden, and even *shudder* Nate Guenin.

Nick Holden, never change.





Other Reading:

Transcript: How Eric Lindros REALLY Made it Into The HHOF

The Colorado Avalanche's situation for the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft

Tyson Jost: The Right Pick for the Avalanche?

The Filip Forsberg Deal Sets the Precedence For A Nathan MacKinnon Contract

Potential Coaching Replacements for the Colorado Avalanche

Well, to the delight of some nd the utter shock of others, the Patrick Roy coaching era in Colorado is over. Unless he takes a job with the Nuggets or Broncos. That’s a joke because it is unlikely. Get it?

So, analysis on the Roy coaching era is this: One great year, the rest were terrible. Done. So what comes next? Well the Avs need a coach. Training camp is in a month. The season; 2 months.

As a team with a young, talented core, the Avs need a strong, experienced coach that can implement good defensive systems, promote puck possession (because that’s a no brainer, not because of fancy stats), and a strong strategy for offense. This is all obvious and not news to any of you reading this. But it is apparently news to the Avs upper management. So who do the Avs go for? Listed below is potential candidates with their current roles on other teams. Hopefully the Avs don’t screw this up.

Promote from within?

Tim Army: Defensive/Powerplay man on the Avs. Should he get the job? No. Avs need a new voice. Avs need change.

David Farrish: No.

Nolan Pratt: Not experienced.

Poach from other NHL teams?

Paul McLean: He has some good experience with the Senators and some minor success. He could be a good fresh voice for the Avs. He is currently the assistant coach in Anaheim.

Todd Richards: As an NHL Head Coach he had 5 winning seasons out of 7 with record of 204-183-37. He is currently the assistant coach in Tampa Bay.

Terry Murray: Murray is old. He is 65 but has a solid coaching record of 499-383-89-41. Yes, he coached when there were still ties. He is currently the assistant coach in Buffalo.

Jacques Martin: He was the long time successful coach of the senators and now has some Stanley Cup experience.  He could be great for the young Avs core. He is currently the assistant coach in Pittsburgh.

Kevin Dineen: Dineen coached Florida through one great season, a forgettable lockout shortened season, and 16 games before being fired in 2013-14. He has a losing record, but has gained more experience as the assistant coach of the Hawks.

Kirk Muller: Muller is behind the bench as the Blues assistant, an with Mike Yeo taking over for Hitchcock next year, it seems a chance at getting the top spot is lower than tree moss on a Mississippi tree stump. He coached terrible Hurricane teams to respectable seasons. He’d be a good fit.

Claude Noel: Noel coached the Jets to losing seasons and wasn’t very good. No thanks.

Adam Oates: Oates co-coached the Devils before taking the reigns in Washington. His team only lost 18 regulation games in his first year and missed the playoffs his second year. When Ovi doesn’t perform, the coach gets canned. Oates defensive style could help the Avs, but hinder the talent up front.

Ron Rolston: Rolston is coaching the Coyotes AHL team, and had unsuccessful runs in Buffalo.

Craig Berube: Berube is bench boss in the AHL for the Wolves. He coached the Flyers to a 78-58-28 record. Again, AHL seasoning could have paid off.

Dale Hunter: He has had NHL experience as another coach on Ovechkin’s hit list, but likely won’t leave the London Knights again for a big league call.

Terry Murray: Murray is coaching the Sabres in an assistant role, but has had a long coaching tenure. Since 1990 he has coached 4 teams in 1012 games, winning 499.

John Mclean: John McLean was a police officer before a bunch of crazy stuff happened to him, and made him do crazy things as a result. And he failed as a coach for the Devils going 9-22-2.

Craig Ramsay: Ramsay is a consultant with the Habs but last coached the Thrashers. Remember them? That was fun. He went 66-71-7-12 for 3 teams in 4 seasons. No thanks.

Marc Crawford: Former Avs coach, Canucks coach, Steve Moore contributor, Stars coach, and hothead that lost in on Scotty Bowman. Nostalgia hasn’t worked thus far. Let’s not go there.

Bob Hartley: See previous note on nostalgia. Old coach in New league.

Mike Kitchen: Kitchen was a head coach in St. Louis for 3 years, winning 38 of 131 games. He has since honed his coaching game as the assistant in Chicago. And they’ve been pretty good. It would be nice if the Avs played like them.

Joe Sacco: Yea. No.

These are just a few candidates. Some head coaches in the AHL or in junior hockey could fit too, but does this team really need another rookie coach? No. They need experience. 







Other Reading:

The Colorado Avalanche's situation for the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft

Tyson Jost: The Right Pick for the Avalanche?

The Avs Would Be Crazy To Sign Alexander Radulov

The Filip Forsberg Deal Sets the Precedence For A Nathan MacKinnon Contract

Transcript: How Eric Lindros REALLY Made it Into The HHOF

Below is the actual transcript taken by our very own anynomous source; an eavesdropped conversation between Eric Lindros and the chairman of the board who selects HHOF members:

Chairman: Eric, I asked you to lunch today so I could tell you some very important new in person.

Eric: I’m glad you called chairman, I’ve been waiting to hear this news since I retired from my illustrious stint with the Dallas Stars.

Chairman: Well, sorry to disappoint you but…wait…illustrious? With the Stars?

Eric: Ya?

Chairman: Eric, you scored 5 goals all year. And missed over 30 games.

Eric: Hey! It was hard playing down there! I didn’t want to go anyways!

Chairman: Why wouldn’t you want to go to Dallas? Beautiful weather, passionate fans, close to the ocean!

Eric: It isn’t the greatest hockey market. Their team was lousy at the time. And I did NOT want to learn how to speak Texan!

Chairman: Eric…you can’t just use those excuses every time you don’t want to go to a certain NHL te..oh nevermind, we’re getting off topic. Eric I asked you here today to tell you that you have not made it into the HHOF for this year’s class.

Eric: I…wait…what?

Chairman: We’re sorry, but since no one significant has retired recently, we think we might be able to get you in next year.

Eric: This is an outrage! Do you know who I am? I scored over 100 points once! I even almost scored 4 goals in a SINGLE year!

Chairman: Well actually, there are players who have actually done those things on more than one occa-

Eric: I even almost won a game in the Stanley Cup Finals! And I won tons of Eastern Conference Semi-Final games!

Chairman: Yea, but-

Eric: I was SO close to scoring 400 career goals! I mean, how many players can say they’ve done that!

Chairman: Well, 92 but-

Eric: I mean, who’s not in the hall of fame that has scored more career goals than me?

Chairman: Uhh, Stephane Richer, Garry Unger, John Orgodnik, Milan Hejduk,

Eric: Look. If I don’t make it into the hall of fame this year then I’ll holdout. I won’t play!

Chairman: But Eric, you’re retired…

Eric: I won’t play in the Maple Leafs alumni game for the Winter Classic!

Chariman: Actually I don’t think you were invited, but-

Eric: Who’s even getting in over me?

Chairman: Well, it’s really time for Dave Andreychuk. He’s scored over 600 goals, was a monster on the powerplay, ended his career with the cup, and he’s still involved in the game!

Eric: Look, if this doesn’t happen to me, I’ll make sure my Hall of Fame rights are traded to the KHL. Or the ECHL! How would you like THAT? I’ll be a HOFer for them for a year until you sort this out!

Chairman: Eric, we tried trading the rights. But there was this mixup…apparently the rights were traded to both leagues, we couldn’t figure out which deal wen t down first, or who owned you, and the Russians were going to give us Tretiak’s rights, but everything fell through!

(At this time, Lindros starting throwing a tantrum, kicking and screaming on the ground)

Chairman: Okay, Okay fine, you’re in! But if you don’t stop I’ll have to get Scott Stevens over here!

(Eric abruptly stop and sits back down)

Eric: Well I think you’ve made the right choice.

(The waiter comes with the bill)

Eric: You got this? I’m still paying Philadelphia back $15M from the trade, so money is a little tight.

Powerful stuff.


Other Reading:

The Colorado Avalanche's situation for the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft

Tyson Jost: The Right Pick for the Avalanche?

The Avs Would Be Crazy To Sign Alexander Radulov

The Filip Forsberg Deal Sets the Precedence For A Nathan MacKinnon Contract

The Filip Forsberg Deal Sets the Precedence For A Nathan MacKinnon Contract

Filip Forsberg recently signed a 6 year contract with the Nashville Predators, worth 6 million dollars a year. A great price for the Preds for now, and as Forsberg continues to improve, and as the cap goes up every year, this will look like a steal.

Hey, isn’t Nathan MacKinnon an RFA looking for a new contract for this upcoming year? Our sources say yes; yes he is. So what does the Forsberg contract mean for the Avs and their negotiations with MacKinnon? It means a precedence has been set. And if the hockey contract world was perfect, the Avs could give MacKinnon the exact same contract.

The Avs can go in to negotiations citing the following:

Forsberg has been the better offensive player over the past few years. Forsberg has 60 goals in his 182 career games. MacKinnon has 59 goals in 218 career games; 36 more games than Forsberg.

Forsberg is the most important, best offensive player on the Predators, and arguably the most important player on the team. Forsberg is their number one guy. Nathan MacKinnon is very important on the Avalanche but is he the best offensive player? The player most relied upon on the team? No. The Avs have other franchise cornerstones in Duchene and Landeskog. Not to mention up and coming first round draft picks Joey Hishon, Conner Bleackley, and Duncan Seimens.

Bottom line: Forsberg is more offensively dynamic, means more to his team, and is more important to his team. Those last two actually do mean different things.

MacKinnon is good. He will get better. But for now, judging by the Forsberg deal, MacKinnon shouldn’t sign for any more than $6M. $5M for about 3 or 4 years would be a great deal. 6 wouldn’t be the worst, and it wouldn’t violate the team’s self implemented player cap.

So thank you Nashville for setting the standard at an extremely reasonable price.

The Avs Would Be Crazy To Sign Alexander Radulov

Alex Radulov is one of the most talked about NHL Free Agents this coming July 1^st. Avs fans especially are talking at large about inking this player to a contract. The real question isn’t for how long, or for how much money. The real question is: why?

Why anyone would want Alex Radulov on their team for even close to what he is asking ($7.5M) is beyond us. When Elliotte Friedman tweeted that he had been signed by a KHL team (which is apparently untrue) we actually breathed a sigh of relief. We shall now go into a fake conversation with a fake Radulov supporter to prove our point.

“Radulov is a very skilled Russian who can bring a lot of offense to any team!”

Radulov was a scoring machine in the QMJHL, racking up 152 points in his last year and breaking several records. Since then, Radulov has not scored more than 25 goals for any pro team at any level (AHL, KHL, NHL) and has scored only higher than 68 points twice, both in the KHL. Yes, they play less games in the KHL, but at the NHL level, Radulov was not dominant. He was good, but not dominant. And he wants $7.5M in the NHL, playing against more skilled competition to not score even 30 goals? And if you think he can go from an NHL has-been-league with other Russians to the actual NHL and improve his stats, you’re dreaming.

“Radulov was coached by Patrick Roy in the QMJHL”

So? So was Bodnarchuk. That worked out well. This has to be the stupidest argument out there. The game is different in the NHL. Defensive systems are different and more complex, the players are obviously more skilled, and the league isn’t full of 16-20 year olds. The QMJHL and the NHL are different, miles apart, and to think Radulov can reignite his once great 152 point season because he has the same man telling him what to do on the bench is absurd. Radulov was coached by Barry Trotz, one of the best coaches in the league and WAY better than Roy, and he could only get 26 goals out of Radulov. Not to mention to defensive play.

Also tarnishing Radulov’s reputation: In juniors, Radulov was a show boating #1 star in his own mind. When he would score goals he would taunt the opposition’s bench. He would offer up unnecessary celebrations such as doing the whole “sword in the sheath” and “the archer”. Now, this attitude usually doesn’t follow players once they reach the big leagues, as they are often tuned in by a veteran, or beat up pretty bad until they stop. Not with Radulov. His celebrations and “holier than thou” attitude would follow him to the Show.

It is an unfair stereotype to say ALL Russian players are a flight risk to head back to Russia. Remember when it was the other way around, and USSR players couldn’t wait to leave? Remember when RAdulov still had 2 years left on his deal with Nashville and bolted to the KHL, leaving the Preds wih a HUGE hole in their top 6? The Preds tried to do everything to get Radulov to stay, but alas it was no use. And then, when Radulov wanted to return, the Preds actually took him back, acting like the desperate ex-girlfriend that takes her old boyfriend back after he cheated on her. And true to that narrative, Radulov betrays trust again, partying with teammate Andrei Kostitsyn at 5AM, before a playoff game, leading to a suspension for game 3. Classy guy.

After this, Radulov bolted back to Russia on a $9.2M(RUS) contract. Or, wait, did he bolt? Well, the Preds decided not to extend Radulov, for obvious reasons, so that helped in his decision making.

And now Radulov wants back in the Show. The guy who showed time and time again he disrespects the NHL, and cares more about himself than the game or his team. Has he changed? I think his huge contract demands answer that question for everybody. How Radulov can come back, after all his wrong doings, and think he is worth more then Thornton, the Sedins, Rinne, Bergeron, Backstrom, Karlsson, (the list goes on) is stupefying. Even if his demands are mis-reported, Radulov is worth no more than about $4-4.5M on a very short deal of one to two years.

So should the Avs try and sign this guy? No. See above. 

Tyson Jost: The Right Pick for the Avalanche?

The Avs went into this draft with great depth down the middle, needing some young skilled wingers, size, and prospects on the back end. So why not draft a 5’11 center? This pick is confusing for 3 reasons. 1). Jost is a tier 2 junior player. In Canada, tier 2 is the level below the WHL, OHL, and QMHJL. Lots of players who don’t make those 3 leagues play Tier 2, or Junior A as it is also known as. So, Jost is good against players who aren’t good enough to play with the best teens in Canada. Tier 2 players who are drafted into the NHL rarely make an impact. Since 2009, 13 players have been taken from Canadian Junior A in the first 3 rounds of the draft. Here is the full list: Dylan Olsen, Brandon Pirri, Reilly Smith, Beau Bennett, Alexander Guptill, Julian Melchiori, Brennan Serville, Devin Shore, Jujhar Khaira, Colton Parayko, Adam Tambellini, Brandon Hickey, and Jake Walman.

Out of all these players, Colton Parayko (2012, 3^rd round) and Reilly Smith (2009, 3^rd round) are the only successful ones. But look at their draft dates. Smith was drafted in 2009 and has just started to make an NHL impact the past few years. Parayko has taken 4 years to crack the league, but as a defenseman that isn’t too bad.

Jost scored almost a goal per game against other Tier 2 players. He outskated Tier 2 forwards, beat out Tier 2 defenseman, and sniped pucks past Tier 2 goalies. This does not mean his accomplishments are worthless; it just means that we have not seen how he can play against better players.

Yes, he played and dominated in the IIHF U-18 tournament, but again, that was against players 18 and under. How can he play against the worlds best 19 and 20 year olds? These concerns aren’t just mad Avs fans being cranky that the Avs didn’t pick who they wanted. These are legitimate concerns.

Jost is done with Tier 2, and will take his talents to the NCAA for hockey. This means the Avs won’t see Jost for about 4 years, unless he just kills it in college and de-comits for the Avs. In our opinion, the Avs should have drafted a player that could make the team a little earlier, and have more of an immediate impact. At the 10^th overall pick, the Avs could have improved the team for right now. Instead, they drafted a center, who will play behind Duchene and MacKinnon when he makes the team, in 4 years. The Avs weren’t a playoff team last year. The Avs are not any better than they were when they played their 82^nd, and last, game of the season. So have they settled for mediocrity over the next few years?

Other teams in the league, especially the Central Division, are getting better; Either through the draft, development, trades, or signings.

So who SHOULD the Avs have taken?

The Avs need help on defense. They should have taken the best defenseman available, whoever that player was in their opinion. Sakic already said they won’t splash in Free Agency, so the draft is really the only other way to acquire players. If the Avs want to wait 4 years to get a roster player, they might as well help out their defensive depth going forward. Chychrun?

If Jost turns into the great 2 way player he is expected to be, then it is a good move, and of course this is all speculation, so you never know. Another Ryan O'Reilly? Another Soderberg? That would be decent. But at #10 in the draft, the Avs needed to land a franchise talent. You just can't bust at #10, so hopefully Jost can prove all the doubters wrong.

                     

The Colorado Avalanche's situation for the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft

Draft rules have been released for the new Las Vegas franchise that will probably fail faster than the Cleveland Barons, Atlanta Flames, Atlanta Thrashers, and so on. For the other 30 NHL teams, they need to start thinking about who to protect. This can be difficult for all teams, especially those with many top prospects, and a strong core/depth chart. Fans of the Wild, Flyers, Blue Jackets, New Jersey, Ottawa, and Vancouver can probably stop reading here.

For fans of actual competitive NHL teams, Avs included, here are the rules for protection, if for some reason you haven’t already heard them:

There are two protection options: 

1) 7 Forwards, 3 Defensemen, 1 Goalie (11 players)

 2) 8 skaters (forwards and defensemen), 2 goalies. (10 players)

Other important rules: No-movement players must be protected, 1^st and 2^nd year players, and unsigned prospects can’t be taken and won’t count against the protection limit for teams,

So who should the Avs protect, and which option should the Avs take? Here are some thoughts: The Avs can take option 1 and only protect 1 goalie, which means they can protect an extra player. This means they would need to protect 3 dmen and 7 forwards, no exceptions, and one of Varly/Pickard.

If the Avs take option 2, they can protect 8 forwards, 0 dmen, and both goalies, or any other combination of forward/dmen skaters.

Here is what we know: When the 2017-18 season hits, the Avs will have Erik Johnson and Beauchemin as players who MUST be protected due to no-movement clauses. Iginla has no contract for the 2017-18 season so the Las Vegas team may not want to select him, and the Avs may not want to protect him.

Our picks for protection for option 1:

7 Forwards: Duchene, Landeskog, Soderberg, MacKinnon, Grigorenko (assuming he’s signed) Comeau, and anyone who they have at the time worth protecting. Depending on the rules, Iignla may need to be the 7^th player. Note: Rantanen will be finishing his 2^nd professional year (AHL included) so he is exempt.

3 Defensemen: Johnson, Beauchemin, Barrie

1 Goalie: Varly or Pickard, depending on how this season goes.

Players left open: McLeod, Mitchell, Martinsen, Aggozzino, Stuart, Holden, Gelinas, Zadorov Varly/Pickard. Bigras will have finished his 2^nd professional year, so he will be exempt, we think.

Option 2:

8 Skaters: Duchene, Landeskog, MacKinnon, EJ, Beauchemin, Barrie, Zadorov, Soderberg

Goalies: Varlamov, Pickard.

Players left open: McLeod, Mitchell, Martinsen, Aggozzino, Stuart, Holden, Gelinas, Zadorov, Grigorenko.

The verdict: As of right now, option 2 looks better for the Avs. They get to protect their Dmen, Zadorov included, and their main forward core, excluding Grigorenko.  With option 1, the Avs leave the bottom 3 defensemen open and the bottom 6 forwards, none of which would not be catastrophic losses. If the Avs take option 1, they leave Barrie or Zadorov open, which one of whom, given the other players open, would get scooped up by the Vegas team.

Of course this could all change. If Barrie leaves, Varly has a bad year, the Avs resign Boedeker, or a big trade/signing could change the whole outlook of the expansion draft situation. Regardless of what happens, the Avs MUST protect EJ and Beauchemin, and SHOULD protect Landeskog, Duchene, MacKinnon, and Barrie. It is kind of good, but also kind of sad, that the Avs do not have more then 8 players, that if lost in the draft, wouldn’t be missed very much. McLeod may be the only one, and who knows what will happen with Skille, Aggozino, Martinsen, and Matthias. If the goalies have a good year, they should both be protected, and Rantanen/Bigras should be safe.

What would you do?




Other Reading:

PATENT PENDING: THEY DO THIS SO MUCH, THEY MIGHT AS WELL OWN THEM

NEW ALL-STAR GAME FORMAT: WHO MAKES IT FOR THE AVS? OTHER TEAMS?

NEWS FLASH: THE AVS HAVE BEEN JUST AS BAD AS THE OILERS SINCE 2008

ALSO:

THE 5 WORST CONTRACTS ON THE COLORADO AVALANCHE

Ryan O'Reilly for the Masterton? How Ridiculous!

Note: The following is an assessment of Ryan O'Reilly's recent nomination for an NHL Award. We realize he has no control over being nominated for this award, and it really isn't his fault, so we are just stating why he should not be considered, using past bitterness and disappointment that he isn't on the team anymore for inspiration.

The Masterton Trophy is a prestigious award given to the player in the NHL who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.

This award has been won by several deserving candidates, both historically and recently: Bobby Clarke (diabetes), Charlie Simmer (knee injuries), Tim Kerr (injuries), Jose Theodore (death of son + successful season), Ian Laperriere (forced to retire due to concussions, but still served the team), Josh Harding (Plays through MS), Dominic Moore (wife died from cancer), and last but not least, Devan Dubnyk (sucking for a long time before finally having a good season).

These players are heroes who persevered and showed dedication to the game they love, and suffered tragedy only to show why they still belong in the NHL; which is why it is so confusing that the Sabres have nominated Ryan O’Reilly. (* quick note, the writers who cover the Sabres in the PHWA chose ROR, not technically the team itself). Every team nominated a player every year, so there are the usual players that you think have no chance. Some teams are just lucky enough to have a roster full of players that never have to persevere, so they nominate the 5^th year guy who finally finds a full time spot with the big club.

To keep this short, out of all the Buffalo Sabres players, what has O’Reilly possibly done to deserve this prestigious award? We won’t go into the time he crashed his car into Tim Hortons after getting drunk, that speaks for itself.

But really, what has O’Reilly persevered through? Not being named captain of the Avalanche? Yea that must have been rough. Maybe next time a child doesn’t get a toy in a toy store, we can all pitch in and make sure he gets reparations.

Or maybe it is because of that terrible, awful, contract holdout he went through, trying to get an absurd amount of money. Poor guy, choosing not to play the game he is potentially getting rewarded for being dedicated to, because he feels he is worth a few more million dollars.

His amount of dedication is something to be admired though. How hard he works, how he creates drills for his teammates after practice, how he is the last one off the ice all the time. But it’s not an award given to people who are dedicated after being paid the amount of money they think they are worth, after going through a hellish ordeal.

When it’s all said and done, this is a terrible nomination and O’Reilly is not the most deserving Sabre by far. Seriously. The guy was so desperate to get his money he almost started playing hockey with the Calgary Flames! Actually, if he wanted to play hockey that bad, maybe they should give him the award.

Other Reading: *Disclaimer - This is strictly for the readers. We don't get ad click revenue or any kind of revenue, so we're not trying to shamelessly plug our articles!

PATENT PENDING: THEY DO THIS SO MUCH, THEY MIGHT AS WELL OWN THEM

NEW ALL-STAR GAME FORMAT: WHO MAKES IT FOR THE AVS? OTHER TEAMS?

NEWS FLASH: THE AVS HAVE BEEN JUST AS BAD AS THE OILERS SINCE 2008

ALSO:

THE 5 WORST CONTRACTS ON THE COLORADO AVALANCHE