Trades & Signings
It’s Almost Time
01 year ago
It’s almost that time of year. The best time of year – hockey season. With only a week until training camps open I decided it was time to get back to writing. I basically took the summer off from writing because, well, I wanted to. However, the season is fast approaching and I thought I would take a moment to knock off some of the rust and get back into this whole blogging thing.
I am sure much of what I am going to write about is old news, but I say the hell with it. I’m going to write about it and get this blog back up to speed with the rest of the Avalanche Universe! (more…)
Draft Picks Sign Contracts
01 year ago
The Avs announced earlier this afternoon the signing of their two first round draft picks, number two overall, Gabriel Landeskog and, number eleven overall, Duncan Siemens. Both players signed three-year entry-level deals with training camp just around the corner.
Landeskog is expected to make the team out of camp, but Siemens has a lot of players to beat out if he hopes to be starting the season in Denver come October.
What do you think? Who makes the team?
Avs Sign Two More; Raises Questions
01 year ago
I am once again late to report on the latest Avalanche news, but at least I have a legitimate excuse as I was on vacation all of last week. While I was spending time wandering around the New England region and enjoying the sun, beach, ocean, and mini-golf the Avs were getting down to business.
The team officially announced the re-signing of forward T.J. Galiardi last week, which is a great re-signing that many fans knew was going to happen. Galiardi missed much of last season with a broken wrist as well as another arm injury, but he still put up 15 points in the 35 games he appeared in. He did struggle a bit during the season when he was healthy, and was even demoted for one game to the Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL. His contract is a one-year deal worth $700,000.
In a somewhat surprising move the Avs added yet another defenseman to the lineup when they signed UFA Shane O’Brien formerly of the Nashville Predators. Through 80 games last season O’Brien recorded a mere 9 points and racked up 83 penalty minutes. He was scoreless in 12 playoff games, but recorded 18 minutes in penalties.
The O’Brien signing was unexpected because the Avs now have a total of seven defencemen under contract and Kyle Cumiskey as an RFA. It will be very interesting to see how things shake out by the start of the season, but with this many guys fighting for a full-time roster spot it should make for a very competitive training camp and pre-season.
O’Briens contract is also a one-year deal. He will be making $1.1 milion this season.
Free Agency Update
01 year ago
Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but I have been enjoying my three weeks off from work and haven’t been keeping up with all the signings going on around the league.
Over the weekend Colorado officially announced the re-signing of forwards Kevin Porter, Greg Mauldin, Justin Mercier, Patrick Rissmiller, Ryan Stoa, and David Van Der Gulik. The Avs also signed Evan Brophey who spent all but one game in the AHL last season with the Rockford Ice Hogs. He was a third round draft pick in 2005 and has spent time in the OHL and AHL since signing with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Colorado also announced the re-signing of defencemen David Liffiton and Ryan Wilson as well as the signing of goaltender Cedrick Desjardins. Desjardins has put up solid numbers throughout his young career while maintaining a record above .500, for the most part. His only NHL experience came last season when he appeared in two games for the Tampa Bay Lightning allowing two goals and making 61 saves. He was also 15-6-1 with the Norfolk Admirals last season. He will be a great fit in Lake Erie and will easily challenge for a NHL job in the near future.
All the players signed one-year deals and the details can be found at CapGeek.
Also, Jason Bacashihua signed a two-way deal with the Philadelphia Flyers and Philippe Dupuis has signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Avs Sign Four Players
01 year ago
I waited until July 3rd to post about the Avs signing because I knew there would be a lot of them. Instead of trying to write articles and keep up with the news just to get a lot of views I thought it would be easier and more beneficial to fans and readers of this site to list everything in one article. Since I’m pressed for time I’m not going into a lot of detail about the players, but here is what went down on the first day of free agency:
- Signed defenseman Jan Hejda to a four-year deal worth #13 million.
- Traded a 2012 first round pick and conditional second pick in 2012 or 2013 to the Washington Capitals for goaltender Semyon Varlamov.
- Signed right-winger Chuck Kobasew to a two-year deal worth $1.25 million per year.
- Signed goaltender Jean-Sebastien Gigeure to a two-year deal also worth $1.25 million per year.
In related news the Avs have also lost the following players to other teams:
- Peter Budaj signed a two-year deal with the Montreal Canadiens worth $1.1 and $1.2 million.
- Tomas Fleischmann signed a four-year deal worth $18 million with the Florida Panthers.
- The St. Louis Blues signed Brian Elliott to a one year two-way deal worth $600,000.
With the exception of the Varlamov trade and length of Hejda’s contract I am happy with what the team did on the first day of free agency. The guys we picked up should help the team immensely.
The Avs are likely done for now as they are only six million below the cap floor and have RFA’s left to sign as well as Gabriel Landeskog who will likely make the team out of camp.
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