The Avalanche are likely done with the free agent signings after nabbing Craig Anderson (good stuff) and David Koci (WTF?) on the first day. And since I believe Joe Sakic is coming back, we should take a look to see how much cap space is left for his contract.
I've put together a quick Google spreadsheet which includes a couple projections to fill out the Avs 2009/2010 roster. I've got T.J. Galiardi making the team while Ryan Stoa and Matt Duchene do not. I also put in some projected numbers for David Jones and Kyle Cumiskey, who both received qualifying offers but no contract has been signed. I believe both will re-sign and neither should be getting any large increase in salary, but I did give them a modest bump because I'm nice that way. And finally, I brought back Daniel Tjarnqvist as a 7th defenceman, but you can slot in any serviceable name in that 7th-D slot.
With all the dust settled, there is enough space to give Sakic a $5M contract. I went conservative and gave him a $4.5M contract, leaving some flex in cap space. Of course, this is complete conjecture on whether Sakic would take "just" $4.5M for what would undoubtedly be his final season. And it's still conjecture on my part that he's coming back but let's not ruin the entire point of this post.
Would it be disappointing for Matt Duchene to not get a chance to skate with his idol, Joe Sakic? Absolutely, but I'd be willing to bet that even if he doesn't prove NHL-ready during the development and/or training camps, he'll stick around for at least one game to start the season so he can say he skated with Joe.
There's also plenty of time for Greg Sherman to work on unloading a bloated contract or two to some sucker GM out there - maybe Burke would take Darcy Tucker? - to open up more space for youth. Of course, the odds of that happening are slim to none but one can hope, right?
If you notice a mistake in the spreadsheet or think I'm flat-out wrong, feel free to either comment below or open up the spreadsheet and make a change.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Do the Avalanche have room for Super Joe?
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5 Comments:
Tjarnqvist already left for europe...
Tjarny is in Europe, but I think the Avs can find an $800k defenseman
Also, this is a great Spreadsheet (something I should have set up days ago). I think the only way Sakic & Duchene play at the same time is if:
-Sakic takes $3M. (I don't think this is unreasonable,considering his last 2 years, and the general depreciation of contracts this season in light of the recession.)
- Galiardi deosn't make the team (again, not unreasonable if Sakic and Duchene make the team)
I think it would behove the avs to trade Svatos away. I like him, but he makes $2M, we have a plethora of RW's (Svats, Hejduk, Stewart, Jones, Koci), and doing that would open up some salary and a roster spot for both Duchene and Sakic.
Whoops, I've yanked Tjarnqvist's name out. I was going to put in someone else's name - was thinking Wizniewski since it's equally hard to spell - but figured that was too much conjecture. For now, it'll be a random 7th-D.
I'm a Svatos fan but yep, trading him away might be a good idea. He should be movable at that price.
My comment was really an excuse to use the word "plethora" which I have loved since seeing the Three Amigos at age 12 or so.
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