Avs Talk - A Colorado Avalanche Blog

The deadline is past, the deals are done and it's time to reminisce on what happened. The Avalanche finished the day with two tough defencemen coming over in Ruslan Salei and Adam Foote. To gain these two players, they gave up some draft picks and one player, Karlis Skrastins, who was falling more and more out of favor with coach and fans alike.

Colorado receives:
Ruslan Salei
Adam Foote

Colorado gives up:
Karlis Skrastins
3rd round pick
1st round pick in 08 or 09
conditional pick

The defence just got a lot tougher with that additions of Foote and Salei. Those two may not be spring chickens anymore but they still bring a huge infusion of physicality to a soft squad and that's definitely something the team has been missing. Unfortunately, it will cost the team a first round pick in the draft this summer or next, a 3rd round pick in this years draft and a conditional pick based on Foote re-signing.

The big question to answer is: Will Adam Foote be worth that first-round pick? We'll only be able to truly tell in hindsight but it will be tough not having a 1st round pick in this years deep draft. Of course you can view that on the flip side and say that since this draft is so talented, the 2nd round picks are damn near like late first round picks in most years.

I'm certainly not happy giving up picks, especially first rounders, for aging veterans but I'm happy that our defense won't be so damn weak. I want to seem some bodies crunched against the glass when they break down the wing, not given a little stiff arm shove they just bounce right off of. I want people to fear breaking to the front of the net. I want opposing players to know they need to have their head up at all times or they'll pay for it.

And with the toughening up of the defense, it's now or nothing time for coach Q. As DD writes, he's got 19 games left and no excuses. The "eSSeS" are back, Foote and Salei solidify the D, a weak link has been removed from the chain and Peter Forsberg might help out as well. There is now no reason that this team can't make up those 4 points and at the very least, go down fighting in the playoffs.

When you can form your top line from names like Smyth, Sakic, Stastny, Hejduk, Forsberg and Svatos with enough left over for a second line rivaling many teams first line, you are as far away from problems as you can be. But will Q make anything of this or will the organization eventually cough up some draft picks while missing the playoffs for the second year in a row?

I'm cautiously optimistic.

It's a bit late on this post but I'm going to start adding more polls to the site. The first one is basic but just wait for the one after the game tonight. It'll be tough to make a choice!



Related Links
Who sits?