Patrick Roy quit unexpectedly. The team has just 35 points. And Nikita Zadorov is out for the year after getting hurt in practice. The 2016-17 season has been an unmitigated disaster for the Avalanche and as the season slips away, there has to be a new blueprint for a once proud organization that once won two Stanley Cups in six seasons. Though that feels like a lifetime ago, hope isn’t all lost as the Avs have several pieces in place to build around. The real problem is what route is best when it comes to rebuilding a team in shambles?
The Denver Post’s Mike Chambers indicates that the Avs are in full sell mode. That’s pretty obvious when Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations/General Manager Joe Sakic has been honest in his assessment of making players available. It’s been widely reported that the asking price is high for anyone the Avs are willing to trade, whether it be Matt Duchene, or Gabriel Landeskog. Chambers includes Jarome Iginla, Fedor Tyutin, John Mitchell, Andreas Martinsen Rene Bourque, and Cody Goloubef as pieces to trade off since they’re all set to be unrestricted free agents.
Though they could fetch a number of draft picks and prospects, especially if Landeskog or Duchene are moved, it might be something else the Avs should look at. Especially since the return on those trades are absolutely crucial.
I asked about Joe Sakic’s role in all of this back in December, and nearly 73% of our readers thought he should be shown the door. But is it that easy? Would firing Sakic really change a team in turmoil? If anything, perhaps Sakic goes out and instead of green lighting someone from the “glory days” when he played, grabs a knowledgeable former general manager or up and coming assistant that could help sort out the mess. Outside of opinion pieces, there hasn’t been anything to suggest that Sakic is feeling heat. As one of the leaders of the organization, hiring another pair of eyes to help, whether it be in a scouting or management capacity, would help Sakic and the organization most. Especially if there is no urgency from ownership when it comes to firing him.
Aside from the 2013-14 season, the Avalanche haven’t seen a lot of success since getting bounced during the 2010 playoffs. Since then, they’ve only returned once, and that one time was with Sakic in charge. Even if he begins selling off assets to rebuild, it takes keen eyes to pull of a successful rebuild. They take time, patience, and a lot of smarts. Look at Toronto.
Fixing the Avalanche begins with ownership taking a good hard look at what task is in front of them. Keeping Sakic works if he’s surrounded with more experience. Otherwise, it’s nothing more than an organization living in the past while flailing in the present, and inevitably, the future.
I believe that moving Duchene and landeskog would be a mistake. These are guys you build around. Move all the vets, keep Barrie, Duchene, Landeskog, Mackinnon, and move the rest out. They might be stuck with Johnson, but it’s not the worst thing. They need to get a healthy and consistent goalie and hit on some of their defensive picks if they want to get back into contention.
Landeskog, sure, he’s under contract for several years, he’s your captain, his value is low right now, keep him. Duchene has 2 years left, what are they going to build around him in time, especially if they don’t move any worthwhile players for notable building blocks? At the very least he needs to be traded for a haul of young players/picks.
The Avalanche have not drafted well. Last year, they drafted center Tyson Jost. Now, Jost is a fine player who very well may turn into an excellent NHLer. However, with their issues on defense, it may have been a wiser move to draft Jake Bean, Charlie McAvoy or Jakob Chychrun. Colorado has had a tendency to draft forwards with their early round draft picks. They haven’t found many sleepers in late rounds on the back end either. As a result, their defense has been a major issue. The front office, whether it is Sakic or someone else, has to do a better job of developing their own defensemen.
Not that I’m defending their decision but several insiders have reported that the only defenceman the Avs viewed as top 10 material last year was Mikhail Sergachev. They apparently really wanted him too and tried trading with Buffalo to switch picks but Buffalo was afraid the Habs would take Alex Nylander if they didn’t get Sergachev.
This is exactly the problem with hiring former players into positions over their heads without working their way up in the front office long enough. They are often in way over their heads and the sentimental part gets in the way of showing them the door in a timely fashion. Joe was a super player, but a disaster as a GM, he needs to go before he screws this up even more by giving away his only bargaining chips with value.
They should start by getting rid of those jerseys (in the cover photo).
The thing that ties the hands of this team is that “the best player in the draft” isn’t a defenseman. So the Avalanche are yet again going to have to take a forward even though they need the defence. Maybe they could pull off a block buster by trading away the pick for a #1 defender. I don’t think it will change how their season goes next year but within 3 maybe? Next year there is a kid out of Sweden Duhlin (spelling error) who will go #1 In the 2018 draft. Landing a good young #1 defendeman now for their pick and also picking him next year would surely set the team straight. All this can happen without losing the only talent this team has up front. He’ll make your team even better by giving away a 2nd rounder on top of my idea and acquire shattenkirk too and resign him. Your problems aren’t hard Avalanche. It just takes balls to do them.
Sakic doesn’t have balls. If he did we wouldn’t be as bad, Bednar would be gone, terrible players wouldn’t get rewarded with 15 minutes of ice time a night, Roy would of been fired at the end of last year, macknon would get slapped in the mouth,and we wouldn’t have someone saying “Your Problems aren’t hard. It just takes balls to do them.”
Mackinnon
Said it back when the older article was written and will say it again: Sakic doesn’t have what it takes to turn this team around and should be canned. They need a GM who’s experienced tearing down a team, or at least one who has shown an ability to pry away some good young players from other teams. Sakic’s trade history inspires little confidence that he can maximize the value of his trade chips.