Well under salary cap, it's likely to add more talent
Let the buying begin.
The NHL's free-agent meat market opens for business Sunday at 10 a.m. MDT, and there should be enough slabs of beef available to satisfy just about every general manager's appetite.
"Every team at this time of year has a shopping list," player agent Anton Thun said. "It's almost like kids at Christmastime. What's Santa Claus going to bring them?"
The Avalanche is expected to get involved after missing the playoffs for the first time in the franchise's 11 seasons in Denver, but to what extent remains unclear.
Unlike last summer, when he was hamstrung by salary-cap constraints in his first year on the job, Avalanche general manager Francois Giguere has considerable money to spend if he and owner Stan Kroenke choose to go that route.
Not counting players on two-way contracts whose pay is based on whether they are on an NHL or minor league roster, the Avalanche has 17 players under contract for 2007-08 totaling a little more than $32 million; about $31.5 million will count against the salary cap, which is based on the average salary of each player's contract.
The NHL salary cap, which was $39 million in 2005-06 and $44 million in 2006-07, is expected to increase to $48 million and $50 million for 2007-08. In theory, even while leaving some wiggle room for late-season trades, the Avalanche can spend an additional $14 million to $16 million on six more players (NHL teams can carry a 23-man roster once the season begins).
"We'll look at what's on the market and what the price is for what's on the market," Giguere said. "We're always doing things to try and improve our team. We have some flexibility capwise, but you need to do what's right. You don't just sign guys to sign guys."
More marquee players than ever will be offering their services to the highest bidder, in part because, under terms of the collective-bargaining agreement, players as young as 28 with expired contracts are permitted to hit the market as unrestricted free agents for the first time. The minimum age to gain such freedom was 31 two years ago.
Giguere said he spent "a lot of time" discussing possible trades with other general managers in recent weeks during league meetings in Ottawa at the Stanley Cup Finals and at the NHL entry draft last week in Columbus, Ohio.
'We're going to keep doing that in the upcoming weeks and months," said Giguere, who last summer signed Tyler Arnason, Ben Guite, Ken Klee and Mark Rycroft as free agents; traded Alex Tanguay to Calgary for Jordan Leopold and two second-round draft picks; and signed Paul Stastny out of the University of Denver.
The Avalanche had a respectable 44-31-7 record and 95 points last season but needed a late-season 15-2-2 run to climb into the Western Conference playoff race and still finished one point behind Calgary for the eighth and final postseason berth.
The Avalanche played admirably down the stretch, but that couldn't camouflage areas that need to be addressed this summer and could be shored up in the free-agent market and/or through trades.
The goaltending needs to get a lot better, especially in Jose Theodore's case, assuming the Avalanche decides not to buy out the final year of his contract. He's owed $6 million, the same as Anaheim's Jean-Sebastien Giguere and more than New Jersey's Martin Brodeur, Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff, Florida's Tomas Vokoun, San Jose's Evgeni Nabokov and Buffalo's Ryan Miller.
The Avalanche could save some cap space with a buyout, but the club would have to find a replacement goalie to team with Peter Budaj, and the pickings are slim when it comes to free-agent goalies.
The buyout period ends at 3 p.m. MDT Saturday, and Theodore first would have to be put on unconditional buyout waivers.
Adding a top-six forward is a possibility - Avalanche fans would love to see the return of Chris Drury or Peter Forsberg - but it would cost plenty to get one, and the team has more pressing needs, as in bulking up the defense and improving penalty killing.
The Avalanche allowed 251 goals last season, and only four teams in the West and eight in the Eastern Conference gave up more. The penalty killing was even worse, finishing 23rd in the 30-team NHL.
Landing a free agent such as 6-foot-1, 220-pound Scott Hannan, 6-4, 210-pound Cory Sarich or 6-6, 245-pound Andy Sutton would give the Avalanche more balance on the blue line, where holdovers Brett Clark, John-Michael Liles and Leopold are finesse-type defensemen whose strengths are on offense.
The Avalanche also needs to get much better when it comes to winning faceoffs, a key component to success in any hockey game. Among Avalanche regulars, only Joe Sakic (53.1 percent) and Brett McLean (50.1 percent) won more draws than they lost, and McLean is a free agent who could go elsewhere.
Toronto's Yanic Perreault would be a terrific pickup, and he might come relatively cheap. He's coming off a one-year, $700,000 contract and scored 21 goals in 66 games; he won 62.8 percent of his faceoffs.
Drury, by the way, won 58.8 percent of his draws along with scoring a career-high 37 goals for Buffalo. The Sabres could lose Drury and their other co-captain, Daniel Briere, to free agency.
"Everybody wants a top-end goaltender, a No. 1 defenseman, a No. 1 winger or something along those lines," Thun said. "But because of the cap system, you can't get all of those things. Once you get into the free-agent marketplace, then you can actually find out what you can afford to buy."
Klee is among Thun's clients. Klee lives in Morrison and would prefer to re-sign with the Avalanche, but not at any price. Thun had some contract discussions with the Avalanche, and the parties could resume talks later, but that wouldn't happen until after Sunday.
Exploring the marketplace is a logical strategy, a scenario that will be played out by all 30 NHL teams and plenty of players.
"There's always something that's more attractive than what you've already got," Thun said. "You can go out there and try to buy it if it's on the marketplace, but oftentimes (the price) is too high.
"Say you're driving a nice car and all of a sudden you see somebody driving an Aston Martin and you go, 'Wow, would I love to have that!' Until you find out the price, you can always dream of getting one."
Avalanche free agents
Player Pos 2006-07 salary
Patrice Brisebois D $3 million
Ken Klee D $700,000
Brett McLean LW $750,000
Mark Rycroft RW $550,000
Marek Svatos* RW $1.05 million
Pierre Turgeon** C $1.5 million
Ossi Vaananen D $997,500
* Svatos is a restricted free agent; he received a qualifying offer, so the Avalanche has the right to match any offer from another team. ** Turgeon is expected to retire.
Best available
The top unrestricted free agents who will be on the market beginning Sunday:
? Jason Blake, 33, left wing, New York Islanders: Late bloomer flourished on Long Island, netting 115 goals the past four seasons, with 40 last season. 2006-07 salary: $1.5 million.
? Daniel Briere, 28, center, Buffalo: Led Sabres in scoring with 95 points, and was MVP of the All-Star Game. 2006-07 salary: $5 million.
? Chris Drury, 30, center, Buffalo: Winner, leader and clutch scorer everywhere he has been. Had a career-high 37 goals (nine winners). 2006-07 salary: $3.18 million.
? Peter Forsberg, 32, center, Nashville: If he plays in NHL, top choices are believed to be Avalanche and Flyers. Still great when healthy. 2006-07 salary: $5.75 million.
? Scott Gomez, 27, center, New Jersey: Big-time playmaker and shifty skater has averaged 48 assists in seven seasons with Devils. 2006-07 salary: $5 million.
? Bill Guerin, 35, right wing, San Jose: Plays with edge, and his 36 goals were his best total in four seasons. Didn't do much in playoffs. 2006-07 salary: $2 million.
? Roman Hamrlik, 33, defense, Calgary: Fifteen-year NHL veteran is dangerous on power plays and can provide 20-plus minutes of quality ice time. 2006-07 salary: $3.5 million.
? Dominik Hasek, 42, goalie, Detroit: Red Wings have made re-signing him a top priority. He's coming off a 38-win, eight-shutout campaign. 2006-07 salary: $750,000.
? Paul Kariya, 31, left wing, Nashville: Enjoyed playing in a low-key hockey city, but franchise is for sale and eventually could be moved. 2006-07 salary: $4.5 million.
? Michael Nylander, 33, center, New York Rangers: Anchored club's top line and produced career highs for goals (26), assists (57) and points (83). 2006-07 salary: $2.28 million.
? Mathieu Schneider, 37, defense, Detroit: Oldie but goodie has been overshadowed by Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom. 2006-07 salary: $3.3 million.
? Teemu Selanne, 36, right wing, Anaheim: Totaled 88 goals the past two seasons but is considering retirement after winning his first Stanley Cup. 2006-07 salary: $3.75 million.
? Brendan Shanahan, 38, left wing, New York Rangers: Wants to play another season in Manhattan and might give the Blueshirts a discount. 2006-07 salary: $4 million.
? Ryan Smythe, 31, left wing, New York Islanders: Gritty forward has a knack for being around the net. Scored 30 or more goals four times. 2006-07 salary: $3.5 million.
? Sheldon Souray, 29, defense, Montreal: Used powerful shot from the point to score 26 goals, 19 on power plays. Could be better in own end. 2006-07 salary: $2.43 million.
? Brad Stuart, 28, defense, Calgary: Hasn't provided as much bang for the buck as expected but played well after being traded from Boston. 2006-07 salary: $3.5 million.
Let the buying begin.
The NHL's free-agent meat market opens for business Sunday at 10 a.m. MDT, and there should be enough slabs of beef available to satisfy just about every general manager's appetite.
"Every team at this time of year has a shopping list," player agent Anton Thun said. "It's almost like kids at Christmastime. What's Santa Claus going to bring them?"
The Avalanche is expected to get involved after missing the playoffs for the first time in the franchise's 11 seasons in Denver, but to what extent remains unclear.
Unlike last summer, when he was hamstrung by salary-cap constraints in his first year on the job, Avalanche general manager Francois Giguere has considerable money to spend if he and owner Stan Kroenke choose to go that route.
Not counting players on two-way contracts whose pay is based on whether they are on an NHL or minor league roster, the Avalanche has 17 players under contract for 2007-08 totaling a little more than $32 million; about $31.5 million will count against the salary cap, which is based on the average salary of each player's contract.
The NHL salary cap, which was $39 million in 2005-06 and $44 million in 2006-07, is expected to increase to $48 million and $50 million for 2007-08. In theory, even while leaving some wiggle room for late-season trades, the Avalanche can spend an additional $14 million to $16 million on six more players (NHL teams can carry a 23-man roster once the season begins).
"We'll look at what's on the market and what the price is for what's on the market," Giguere said. "We're always doing things to try and improve our team. We have some flexibility capwise, but you need to do what's right. You don't just sign guys to sign guys."
More marquee players than ever will be offering their services to the highest bidder, in part because, under terms of the collective-bargaining agreement, players as young as 28 with expired contracts are permitted to hit the market as unrestricted free agents for the first time. The minimum age to gain such freedom was 31 two years ago.
Giguere said he spent "a lot of time" discussing possible trades with other general managers in recent weeks during league meetings in Ottawa at the Stanley Cup Finals and at the NHL entry draft last week in Columbus, Ohio.
'We're going to keep doing that in the upcoming weeks and months," said Giguere, who last summer signed Tyler Arnason, Ben Guite, Ken Klee and Mark Rycroft as free agents; traded Alex Tanguay to Calgary for Jordan Leopold and two second-round draft picks; and signed Paul Stastny out of the University of Denver.
The Avalanche had a respectable 44-31-7 record and 95 points last season but needed a late-season 15-2-2 run to climb into the Western Conference playoff race and still finished one point behind Calgary for the eighth and final postseason berth.
The Avalanche played admirably down the stretch, but that couldn't camouflage areas that need to be addressed this summer and could be shored up in the free-agent market and/or through trades.
The goaltending needs to get a lot better, especially in Jose Theodore's case, assuming the Avalanche decides not to buy out the final year of his contract. He's owed $6 million, the same as Anaheim's Jean-Sebastien Giguere and more than New Jersey's Martin Brodeur, Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff, Florida's Tomas Vokoun, San Jose's Evgeni Nabokov and Buffalo's Ryan Miller.
The Avalanche could save some cap space with a buyout, but the club would have to find a replacement goalie to team with Peter Budaj, and the pickings are slim when it comes to free-agent goalies.
The buyout period ends at 3 p.m. MDT Saturday, and Theodore first would have to be put on unconditional buyout waivers.
Adding a top-six forward is a possibility - Avalanche fans would love to see the return of Chris Drury or Peter Forsberg - but it would cost plenty to get one, and the team has more pressing needs, as in bulking up the defense and improving penalty killing.
The Avalanche allowed 251 goals last season, and only four teams in the West and eight in the Eastern Conference gave up more. The penalty killing was even worse, finishing 23rd in the 30-team NHL.
Landing a free agent such as 6-foot-1, 220-pound Scott Hannan, 6-4, 210-pound Cory Sarich or 6-6, 245-pound Andy Sutton would give the Avalanche more balance on the blue line, where holdovers Brett Clark, John-Michael Liles and Leopold are finesse-type defensemen whose strengths are on offense.
The Avalanche also needs to get much better when it comes to winning faceoffs, a key component to success in any hockey game. Among Avalanche regulars, only Joe Sakic (53.1 percent) and Brett McLean (50.1 percent) won more draws than they lost, and McLean is a free agent who could go elsewhere.
Toronto's Yanic Perreault would be a terrific pickup, and he might come relatively cheap. He's coming off a one-year, $700,000 contract and scored 21 goals in 66 games; he won 62.8 percent of his faceoffs.
Drury, by the way, won 58.8 percent of his draws along with scoring a career-high 37 goals for Buffalo. The Sabres could lose Drury and their other co-captain, Daniel Briere, to free agency.
"Everybody wants a top-end goaltender, a No. 1 defenseman, a No. 1 winger or something along those lines," Thun said. "But because of the cap system, you can't get all of those things. Once you get into the free-agent marketplace, then you can actually find out what you can afford to buy."
Klee is among Thun's clients. Klee lives in Morrison and would prefer to re-sign with the Avalanche, but not at any price. Thun had some contract discussions with the Avalanche, and the parties could resume talks later, but that wouldn't happen until after Sunday.
Exploring the marketplace is a logical strategy, a scenario that will be played out by all 30 NHL teams and plenty of players.
"There's always something that's more attractive than what you've already got," Thun said. "You can go out there and try to buy it if it's on the marketplace, but oftentimes (the price) is too high.
"Say you're driving a nice car and all of a sudden you see somebody driving an Aston Martin and you go, 'Wow, would I love to have that!' Until you find out the price, you can always dream of getting one."
Avalanche free agents
Player Pos 2006-07 salary
Patrice Brisebois D $3 million
Ken Klee D $700,000
Brett McLean LW $750,000
Mark Rycroft RW $550,000
Marek Svatos* RW $1.05 million
Pierre Turgeon** C $1.5 million
Ossi Vaananen D $997,500
* Svatos is a restricted free agent; he received a qualifying offer, so the Avalanche has the right to match any offer from another team. ** Turgeon is expected to retire.
Best available
The top unrestricted free agents who will be on the market beginning Sunday:
? Jason Blake, 33, left wing, New York Islanders: Late bloomer flourished on Long Island, netting 115 goals the past four seasons, with 40 last season. 2006-07 salary: $1.5 million.
? Daniel Briere, 28, center, Buffalo: Led Sabres in scoring with 95 points, and was MVP of the All-Star Game. 2006-07 salary: $5 million.
? Chris Drury, 30, center, Buffalo: Winner, leader and clutch scorer everywhere he has been. Had a career-high 37 goals (nine winners). 2006-07 salary: $3.18 million.
? Peter Forsberg, 32, center, Nashville: If he plays in NHL, top choices are believed to be Avalanche and Flyers. Still great when healthy. 2006-07 salary: $5.75 million.
? Scott Gomez, 27, center, New Jersey: Big-time playmaker and shifty skater has averaged 48 assists in seven seasons with Devils. 2006-07 salary: $5 million.
? Bill Guerin, 35, right wing, San Jose: Plays with edge, and his 36 goals were his best total in four seasons. Didn't do much in playoffs. 2006-07 salary: $2 million.
? Roman Hamrlik, 33, defense, Calgary: Fifteen-year NHL veteran is dangerous on power plays and can provide 20-plus minutes of quality ice time. 2006-07 salary: $3.5 million.
? Dominik Hasek, 42, goalie, Detroit: Red Wings have made re-signing him a top priority. He's coming off a 38-win, eight-shutout campaign. 2006-07 salary: $750,000.
? Paul Kariya, 31, left wing, Nashville: Enjoyed playing in a low-key hockey city, but franchise is for sale and eventually could be moved. 2006-07 salary: $4.5 million.
? Michael Nylander, 33, center, New York Rangers: Anchored club's top line and produced career highs for goals (26), assists (57) and points (83). 2006-07 salary: $2.28 million.
? Mathieu Schneider, 37, defense, Detroit: Oldie but goodie has been overshadowed by Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom. 2006-07 salary: $3.3 million.
? Teemu Selanne, 36, right wing, Anaheim: Totaled 88 goals the past two seasons but is considering retirement after winning his first Stanley Cup. 2006-07 salary: $3.75 million.
? Brendan Shanahan, 38, left wing, New York Rangers: Wants to play another season in Manhattan and might give the Blueshirts a discount. 2006-07 salary: $4 million.
? Ryan Smythe, 31, left wing, New York Islanders: Gritty forward has a knack for being around the net. Scored 30 or more goals four times. 2006-07 salary: $3.5 million.
? Sheldon Souray, 29, defense, Montreal: Used powerful shot from the point to score 26 goals, 19 on power plays. Could be better in own end. 2006-07 salary: $2.43 million.
? Brad Stuart, 28, defense, Calgary: Hasn't provided as much bang for the buck as expected but played well after being traded from Boston. 2006-07 salary: $3.5 million.
