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Sakic's next challenge is keeping Avs together for another run |
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Joe Sakic has the right to feel like the king of the hockey world today. His Colorado Avalanche, a team rich in offensive skill, used their defensive side to defeat the Tampa Lightning 2-1 Sunday night to clinch the Stanley Cup championship.
That allows Sakic to join Serge Savard and Milt Schmidt as the only people ever to win Stanley Cups as both a player and general manager with the same team.
Sakic was a Hall of Fame player with 625 goals. And he's had a similar impact as a general manager. His drafting, signings and trades have been difference-makers for this organization.
It's an NHL tradition to attempt to emulate the building strategy of the Cup winner. To copy Sakic's winning formula, a rival will have to do everything right. Sakic's recipe is that he has built an impressively deep roster. When players were injured, the Avalanche had others who could step in.
The next challenge for Sakic is keeping this team together. He boasts $25 million in salary cap space to sign nine players. He has 14 players under contract for $56.7 million for next season.
Nathan MacKinnon is signed for next season. But Sakic probably has to make sure he has $10 million set aside starting in 2023-24 for MacKinnon's new contract extension. The Avalanche will start negotiations on a new deal this summer.
Re-signing Valeri Nichushkin also has to be a priority. Nichushkin has matured into a high-caliber all-purpose player. He is as strong defensively as he is offensively. Counting the regular-season and playoffs, Nichushkin posted 33 goals and 67 points in 82 games. He's a force
He will command far more than the $2.5 million he earned this season. He's only 27. Nichushkin will will need a hefty raise. If the Avalanche won't pay him his true value, another team will. He could be one of the hottest unrestricted free agents.
Nazem Kadri, Darcy Kuemper, Josh Manson, Andrei Burakovsky, Darren Helm, Andre Cogliano, Jack Johnson, Ryan Murray and Nico Sturm are also UFAs. Artturi Lehkonen is a restricted free agent. Not all of those players will be coming back.
You can see the challenge, Kadri will want a deal in the $8-$9 million range. The Avalanche may not be able to afford him. This summer there will be other centers in the free agent pool, such as possibly Evgeni Malkin, Claude Giroux and Vince Trocheck. But those players will also carry a high cap hit.
It doesn't seem like the Avalanche can afford Manson.
Sakic might have a difficult decision on Kuemper. He helped them win the Stanley Cup, but how much can they afford to pay him? Are there better options for the Avalanche in the trade or free agent market? Marc-Andre Fleury will be a UFA. But Sakic may conclude Kuemper is their best option.
If the Avalanche re-sign Kadri, Kuemper and Nichushkin, it could cost them $21 million or more. They would still have six players to sign and $4 million left.
That's won't work.
The most likely scenario is Kadri leaves and Sakic reshuffles from there. If they say goodbye to Kadri, Sakic could re-sign Helm, and Lehtonen, Kuemper, Nichushkin and Berakovsky. JT Compher could move to No. 2 center and Sakic would have to find a couple of defensemen.
If the Colorado lets Berakovsky leave without a fight, maybe they have enough space to acquire another center.
It's actually foolish to even guess what Sakic might do because the possibilities are plentiful. And we know from watching him that he does a good job putting the the pieces together. The bigger the puzzle the better he seems to do. That's why fans are celebrating a Stanley Cup championship in Denver.
Truth is there are many permutations Sakic could consider. And he will. One of the reasons he has been successful as a GM is he makes quality decisions about personnel. His trades
Blogger •HHOF Writer's column on the NHL • 
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