The Avalanche have signed Nail Yakupov, a player who was healthy scratch for the Blues for seven straight games last year, and -- well, that's about it.
Yakupov was a first overall pick and he is a great guy who I really hope turns it around. would have taken a chance on him as well, but that is essentially the ONLY thing this team has done.
A team coming off of one of the worst seasons in NHL history.
How?
Teams are allowed to have 50 contracts.
The Avalanche currently have 39 players signed to NHL contracts? That is embarrassing.
Why?
The Avalanche have had multiple chances to make changes.
Besides offering up a big offer to a UFA the Avalanche have had serious offers on the table for Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog and even Tyson Barrie and each time has demanded more.
One team claims they even met the Avalanche's crazy asking prices and got a solid "No thanks," a source (not from Nashville) continued, "Then we asked what was missing and they went radio silent on us. Incredibly frustrating. Never seen anything like it."
Teams like Columbus, the NY Islanders, and the Bruins are still holding out hope, but not because Colorado front office boss Joe Sakic has given them a reason to be hopeful, simply because they can see the deep hole Sakic has dug and figured at some point he (or someone who replaces him) will grab the rope they are throwing overboard.
Really?
This is a team with three, yes three, actual proven NHL defensemen and under contract. THREE. In a league where teams will tell you you need 6 NHL defenseman and at least 2 more capable to cover for injuries, the Avalanche have only two NHL proven players...after Erik Johnson and Tyson Barrie you have Mark Barberio...a 2008 6th round pick who played 60 games last year, and played well for them...But is Barberio in general NHL terms a #3? Maybe...but I am sure some would call him more of a solid 5/6 who can step up to 3/4 in a pinch. As it stands he is currently one or two injuries away from being the Avalanche's #1.
Yes they are negotiating with Zadorov and that will get done...But that is truly only a start...and barely that.
Seriously?
How Joe Sakic is acting like he is the GM of the Chicago Blackhawks is one of the most common questions circulating right now among people I speak to.
One source said, "There has always been a healthy Sakic/Yzerman competition and Sakic is playing things very much the way he sees Yzerman doing things. Calm, cool, collected....except Yzerman actually gets things done and takes chances...Even if he doesn't 100% love the deal."
Another added:
"You can only blame the Roy situation for so long...yes you were forced to make some decisions because Patrick had a vision...but right now some vision is better than this." Who is holding Sakic accountable?
This is really the $100,000 question...Normally, if a star (highly paid) player like Duchene was feeling screwed with or in general disrespected that player would get a meeting with the owner to discuss the situation...The owner would take the meeting because....WELL HE IS PAYING HIM 6 MILLION BUCKS... Owners like to keep tabs on assets.
However the ownership in Colorado is famously hands off currently...to the point where Sakic really is where everything appears to begin and end...That is NEVER healthy...GMs need antagonists to push them and require them to do things that may be tough to do...
Sakic probably feels that his whole GM future may depend on how much he gets for Duchene...and since there is no owner pushing him he can't exactly say to his friends, "I was trapped. The Owner said I had to move him, so I had to accept less." If I had a nickel for every time a GM has blamed an owner like that "off the record."
But Duchene has nowhere to turn right now. No owner to ask for help. And reportedly he has tried to find anyone who will listen without him coming off like a spoiled player...Which he isn't.
Sakic is telling everyone he will just keep Duchene and it won't be a distraction...Mainly because Matt is such a great person...and he is. But I have had multiple players on that team flat out tell me it was a horrible distraction last year and getting worse...despite how cool Matt was about it all...
This whole mess has really started to affect Joe's legacy in Colorado as well. Which is a shame to be honest...
What happens next? Something has to give...
On Evander Kane...
I am hearing the Sabres actually have options, but some of the new hired folks are willing to consider a fresh start with Kane...because scorers don't fall from trees, and the offers have been other teams bargain hunting...teams feeling the Sabres have no choice.
Coming up this evening...I am hearing rumors surrounding both Toronto and Montreal as they look to solidify their D...check the rumor chart out for some hints.
The Podcast will again be at 4pm today...my apologies for the shifting times, but with rookie camps on going we are stretched a little thin...Yesterday's podcast was really interesting but didn't happen until 5pm so you may have missed it...check it out...Lots of Leaf talk with Mike who was at the rookie camp...
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