Trade Rumours Heat Up - Colorado Avalanche Updates, News and Game Reviews at Avs Talk

Friday, December 1, 2006

Trade Rumours Heat Up

Well, it's 99% confirmed that Jordan Leopold will make his season debut on Saturday against Vancouver. The Fan 950 radio station says that Brisebois may be the odd man out for that game. The latest trade rumours however are centered on Ossi Vaanenan and teams such as Philadelphia. It's an interesting jam to get out of so let's figure out who should go.

Let's start by counting the defensemen we have:
Liles
Clark
Skrastins
Klee
Brisebois
Vaananen
Sauer

The first 3 are untouchable right now, even though Liles and Leopold are similar players. I think having them as a one-two combo could do great things for the team. Liles just needs to keep picking up his defensive play which he has as of late.

Klee has been surprising this season. He's not terribly quick but he has played very well. He leads the team in +/- and gets the 2nd most ice-time of the defenders. He's also one of the more physical defensemen on the team which is sorely needed.

Brisebois is his usual inconsistent self. He makes great breakout passes but often breaks out an opposing team player. He also tends to be soft in one-on-ones and players can usually jump around him pretty easily. However, he is a veteran presence and likely has a lot of knowledge to impart on the team. You know what they say, mediocre players make better coaches than great players.

Which leaves Vaananen and Sauer. Vaananen by far gets the least ice-time and Sauer, in the one game he played, got even less time. They're both physical defensemen but neither engages contact often enough. And they tend to be a bit slow.

So it would be entirely reasonable for the team to get rid of Vaananen and/or Sauer (who is a perpetual healthy scratch anyways). It would leave the team with a lot offensive minded defensemen so that's something the coaching team would have to work on.

Who would take these guys though? Well, the Flyers are ailing for defense right now. And we know they like big slow guys. Who would we take back? Pitkanen? Doubtful. Esche? No way. Forsberg? Keep dreaming (or having nightmares, whichever). It would likely end up being draft picks or a depth player. I'd rather the picks.

Two other teams in need of some defensive help (along with help in general) are the Panthers and Coyotes. Once again though, who do we take back that's any use to us?

Frankly, I don't envy the GMs job. He knows what needs to be done but putting together a deal to actually get something beneficial in return seems like a tough one. It might involve more than just Vannenan. It should be interesting to see what happens but no doubt about it, a trade is going to happen soon.

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