Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche will need all four offensive lines to be stellar next season in order to make the NHL playoffs. Can the projected second line outscore Colorado’s top line, though?

Assuming that Avs general manager Greg Sherman can sign Jamie McGinn—who will go to arbitration—and Ryan O’Reilly to new deals, here are what Colorado’s top two lines could look like, according to Mike Chambers of the Denver Post.

1st Line: Gabriel Landeskog-Ryan O’Reilly-Steve Downie

2nd Line: Jamie McGinn-Matt Duchene-P.A. Parenteau

Chambers does note that the projected third line of David Jones, Paul Stastny and Milan Hejduk could also be the second line, but let’s use the original one for the purpose of this article.

Just by adding up the point totals from last season—noting that Downie and McGinn only played half a season with Colorado and Parenteau played the entire year with the New York Islanders—the first line tallied 16 more points than the second line.

The first line should be even better than it was last season. Landeskog—last season’s Calder Trophy winner—will gain more experience whereas O’Reilly and Downie would, hypothetically, learn more about playing with each other.

The first-line trio is capable of combining for over 150 points next season easily.

The second line, however, should be even better than the first line. McGinn only played in 17 games with the Avs last season and averaged nearly a point per game. Matt Duchene had just 28 points in 58 games and can hopefully improve from a lackluster year. Parenteau was incredible for the Islanders last season, scoring 18 times and racking up 49 assists.

What sets the second line apart from the first is how Duchene and Parenteau will mesh together. It should be a good fit considering Parenteau played with Islanders star John Tavares last season, according to Adrian Dater of the Denver Post.

“They’ve got such a good, young group of forwards, and I’m happy to be a part of it now,” Parenteau told Dater. “I’m 29 now, and I want to win, and I feel like I have a lot of good hockey left in me. I feel like I’m just getting things started.”

Just by the sound of it, it seems like Colorado should be a good fit for Parenteau. That being said, the adjustment from Tavares to Duchene shouldn’t be a difficult one. Both are high-caliber players—taken just one draft pick apart in 2009—who Parenteau can find on the ice with ease. Not to eliminate McGinn from the picture, but look for a lot of Duchene goals where Parenteau picks up the assist.

The first line should be a good one, but the second line will be the one that has the higher point total as the Avs hopefully enter the playoffs next season. 

Now that the largest chips of the free-agent pool have fallen over in Minnesota, teams are working to snap up the remaining free agents and also thinking about potential trades to upgrade their teams.

It shouldn't be surprising, then, for Colorado Avalanche fans to hear that Paul Stastny's name is being tossed around the Internet as a piece that the Avalanche should trade.

Adrian Dater, beat writer for the Avalanche with the Denver Post, has brought up Stastny's name not once, but twice in the past six days.

This time, however, the names being mentioned in return for Stastny are far more intriguing that they have ever been.

Both time, Dater suggests that the Avalanche should use Paul Stastny in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks to bring Bobby Ryan to Denver. Ryan has certainly made it clear that he would like to be dealt from Anaheim, and the Avalanche could use his elite combination of power and skill on the wing.

Dater tossed around Stastny's name in exchange for Rick Nash but, as Dater points out, Columbus "wants the moon" for Nash and it would cost the Avalanche far more than just Paul Stastny to bring him here.

One of the more intriguing options brought up today on Twitter suggests that the Buffalo Sabres are talking with the Avalanche on a Paul Stastny-Thomas Vanek deal.

To be fair, the source of this particular rumor is a bit sketchy; but the option is intriguing nonetheless.

Weighing each of these options, the Avalanche actually could have some serious thinking to do, with the exception of trading for Rick Nash.

Paul Stastny has been a valuable member of the Avalanche his entire career, but draws ire from the fanbase due to his large cap hit.

That same cap hit has been a reason that the Avalanche haven't traded Stastny, as the Avalanche have been near the salary cap floor the past couple of seasons.

If the Avalanche were to trade Stastny ($6.6 million cap hit) for either Ryan ($5.1 million cap hit) or Vanek ($7.14 million), the numbers come together pretty decently. (Numbers from Capgeek.com)

Vanek would actually give the Avalanche a larger cap hit to deal with, whereas Ryan drops it down by just a little more than $1 million. So from a monetary standpoint, both of these trades are possible.

Personnel-wise, I don't know if any of these deals could be done one-for-one.

At the moment the Avalanche have three solid centers in Stastny, Matt Duchene and Ryan O'Reilly. Trading Stastny could upset the balance a bit and throw the lines into a state of constant shuffling to try to find chemistry.

In this sense, the Avalanche would probably want to package a deal that could gain them not only Ryan/Vanek, but also another capable center for their third or fourth line.

Players possible from Anaheim could be Andrew Cogliano or Peter Holland. Players possible from Buffalo could be Cody McCormick or Cody Hodgson.

The Avalanche would likely pair Stastny with a defender like Ryan O'Byrne, possibly a prospect like Tyson Barrie, and maybe even a draft pick as high as a second-rounder in order to pull off a larger trade.

If the Avalanche are going to make a move, my gut tells me that it would be for Bobby Ryan. Vanek is a great player, but the fit with Ryan just seems to feel better.

The other option is that the Avalanche might stand pat, which is what I think will happen in the end. All of the lines work too well with Stastny in the lineup.

Without Stastny it is definitely possible that things could work, but there certainly is a great deal less clarity.

Stastny between David Jones and Jamie McGinn worked so well for the Avalanche down the stretch last season. Why not let that line have more time together to see what potential it could bring out?

If Stastny goes, who moves to the top? O'Reilly or Duchene? Then who plays on the side of each of these guys?

Now the Avalanche have just two solid centers, who steps in to play third line or fourth line? John Mitchell gets one of those, but who gets the other?

Joey Hishon? No idea if he'll even be ready for contact by camp. Marc Olver? He's terrible on faceoffs. Mike Connolly, Michael Sgarbossa? Are either of them even NHL-ready?

There are just so many question marks that would come about if Stastny were to be traded. But for a guy like Bobby Ryan, it might actually be worth seeing what happens.

The Colorado Avalanche have barely gotten involved in free agency—with the exception of signing P.A. Parenteau to a four-year deal—and now need Alexander Semin to compete in the Northwest Division.

Colorado GM Greg Sherman has spent most of the offseason negotiating with players from last season’s team instead of chasing after some of the top free agents on the market. He’s done a good job at getting some of the core Avs to sign new deals—Matt Duchene, Steve Downie and Erik Johnson, to name a few—but he needs to pursue other options.

Over the past week, Sherman has only made one big move—signing Parenteau. He also signed former New York Ranger forward John Mitchell and former Boston Bruin defenseman Greg Zanon, but that’s it.

Bringing back virtually the same team with a few minor additions is not going to help win the Northwest.

Last season, Colorado finished third of the five Northwest teams with 88 points. The Avs were seven points behind the No. 8 Los Angeles Kings—who went on to win the Stanley Cup. The Vancouver Canucks ran away with the division while the Calgary Flames finished just ahead of the Avs.

The Minnesota Wild clearly weren’t happy with their fourth-place finish last season and decided to make major improvements to their roster. Minnesota signed arguably the top two free agents—Zach Parise and Ryan Suter—yesterday to blockbuster contracts. Minnesota already has some good players and, by adding Parise and Suter, it is nearly guaranteed to play better next season.

Colorado has to answer these moves or else it is going to fall into the Northwest’s cellar despite all of its young talent. It can do this by signing the next-best free agent still on the market—Alexander Semin.

Semin has been great for the Washington Capitals over the past six seasons, tallying point totals as high as 84. Last season, Semin scored 21 goals and had 33 assists, which gave him the second-highest point total on the Caps. He’s the playmaker that Colorado needs in order to make a run at the top spot in the Northwest.

Semin is going to want a big contract, which shouldn’t stray Colorado away. The Avs currently have nearly $18 million in cap space, according to CapGeek.com, and really only need to sign Ryan O’Reilly and Jamie McGinn to new deals.

That should still leave plenty of money to pursue Semin.

There hasn’t been any confirmation of Colorado’s interest in Semin, according to Adrian Dater of the Denver Post, but that doesn’t mean that a deal couldn’t be worked out. Dater questioned whether Semin would be a good fit in Colorado and was unsure of what the Avs should do.

With the signings of Parise and Suter to Minnesota, Colorado has to answer with Semin. There aren’t many other players with the talent level of Semin that are still available on the market. The Avs can’t be satisfied with what they have.

Unless Colorado is OK with another playoff-less season, it needs to sign Alexander Semin. Without him, it will be tough to compete in the revamped Northwest.

The Minnesota Wild got a gift on the Fourth of July in form of the biggest offensive and defensive prizes of the 2012 free agent pool. Coveted stars Zach Parise and Ryan Suter decided to return to their home state and play for the Minnesota Wild.

The Wild, who finished in fourth place in the Northwest Division and 12th place in the Western Conference with 81 points last season, certainly improved offensively and defensively today, but how much better do these signings really make them?

Current Wild players will certainly benefit from their new additions. Sniper Dany Heatley and captain Mikko Koivu will enjoy having Parise on their side, and Suter will certainly strengthen their blue line and support goalies Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding.

Should the Colorado Avalanche be worried? Not really,

Unlike the NBA, NHL teams cannot just sign a couple of superstars and expect championships to follow like we just saw in Miami with LeBron James and the Heat.

Yes, these moves do make the Wild a more competitive team, and the Avs and the rest of the league should expect the Wild to finish higher than 12th in the West this year.

However, the Avs do not need to hurry and make a panic move or anything like that. The current young core of Duchene, Landeskog, O'Reilly, Johnson and Varlamov are solid and will develop and help the Avs grow and evolve as a team.

Sherman has already addressed a need by adding a gritty and talented winger in P.A. Parenteau to presumably play alongside Matt Duchene. When word came out that Peter Mueller would not be tendered a qualifying offer, I was a bit surprised, but Parenteau's addition makes sense.

Mueller's time in Colorado was unfortunately plagued by his concussions, and we will never know what could have been.

He is certainly a gifted and talented offensive player, but the line of him, Duchene and Hejduk was grossly exposed as being too soft. Parenteau will provide grit and hopefully open things up for the Duchene's speed and Hejduk's hands.

If the season started today, I would guess the lines might look something like this:

Parenteau-Duchene-Hejduk
McGinn-Stastny-Jones
Landeskog-O'Reilly-Downie
McLeod-Mitchell-Olver
Kobasew and Connolly also in the mix 

Despite the fact that O'Reilly and Landeskog established great chemistry throughout all of last season, it's not unreasonable to swap Landeskog for Hejduk on the above lines. Landeskog would get a well-deserved shot to be on a true top line, and he and Parenteau could prove to be great wingers for Duchene.

Hejduk could benefit as well from having a solid two-way center like O'Reilly along with Downie's grit.

The Avs' top six defensemen are a bit more of a complicated question. Currently, the Avs have 10 defensemen who could realistically crack the roster—Johnson, O'Byrne, O'Brien, Hejda, Wilson, Zanon, Hunwick, Elliott, Barrie and Gaunce. First round draft pick Duncan Siemens is probably still a year or two from being NHL-ready as well.

With the logjam of blue liners, prospects Elliott, Barrie and Gaunce could certainly see more time in Lake Erie to hone their games while getting more playing time than they might see with the Avs.

Now the million dollar question is what the Shermantor has up his sleeve. There are still big-name free agents out there like Alex Semin, Shane Doan and Matt Carle.  

Semin would certainly be appealing due to his offensive talent, and he is friends with fellow Russian and former Capitals teammate Semyon Varlamov, but his price tag will be very high, which is not what Sherman's M.O. has been.

Doan's leadership, talent and grit would also be welcome, but he wants to stay a Coyote. If their ownership situation gets sorted out, he almost certainly will.

If the Avs sign another free agent, Carle is probably the best bet to come here. The former University of Denver Hobey Baker Award winner certainly has experienced success here in Denver, winning an NCAA title alongside Paul Stastny.

Carle would be a welcome addition to play alongside Edge, but would crowd the Avs' blue line even more.

A trade is most certainly a possibility as well. One could speculate all day long, but going back to the days with Pierre Lacroix at the helm, the Avs have shown a knack for making the unexpected trades.

Greg Sherman has shown a talent for this as well with his surprising acquisitions of guys like Johnson and Varlamov.

Yesterday, the Colorado Avalanche locked up the guy who they hoped would be their cornerstone defenseman for years to come.

According to the Mike Chambers of The Denver Post, Erik Johnson, the somewhat controversial former No. 1 overall pick, re-upped with Colorado for four years at $15 million.

This is a good deal for both EJ and the Avs.  

Johnson gets stability, and $3.75 million per year is not a terrible amount of money. It also should leave Johnson wanting more.  

Drew Doughty, Erik Karlsson and most recently Ryan Suter have all proven themselves to be elite defensemen and are now being paid as such.  EJ will certainly aspire for their type of money on his next deal.

If he has a few years with All-Star appearances and maybe even a Norris nod or two, it could certainly happen.

With EJ under contract, the Avs' biggest unsigned and restricted free agent is last season's top scorer, Ryan O'Reilly.  Not to worry, Avalanche fans, Factor is not going anywhere.

My guess is that Sherman and co. want to sign O'Reilly to a deal similar to the one that Duchene just received: two to three years at about $3 million per year.  This would be ideal because like Duchene, O'Reilly would stay restricted after his next deal.

After his breakout season last year in which he increased his point production from 26 points to 55 points, his camp may be looking for a longer term, higher money payday.

The Avs have to be wary of a long-term deal for O'Reilly at this stage.

You don't want to pay him long term like a 60-plus point player if he turns out to be a 40- to 50-point player. Paul Stastny was given a hefty long-term deal early on and has yet to fully live up to its dollar amount. Regardless, a deal will get done.

Jamie McGinn has yet to re-sign as well. My guess is that he gets a deal similar to Steve Downie's: two years in the ballpark of $5 million.

The Colorado Avalanche are a long way from their dynastic days in the late '90s and early 2000s, when they were perennial Stanley cup contenders. 

Ever since the lockout in 2005, the Avalanche have struggled to regain their swagger, and have only made the playoffs twice.  While the team’s record has shrunk to one of the worst in the NHL over the last couple of years, they have done a great job of rebuilding and look to have a very young and incredibly talented squad for years to come. 

Last season, the Avs barley missed the playoffs, being edged out by the LA Kings in the last few games. However, by adding a few veteran players through free agency this offseason, the team could return to their glory days and make a run at Lord Stanley’s cup.

Colorado already have a very talented team. That being said, very few of these players have playoff experience and many are still evolving their game in the NHL.  Nine of the team’s top ten point scorers are under the age of 28, including Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog and Ryan O’Reilly, who are all 21 or younger. 

There is an immense amount of potential on this team. However, the Avs need more veteran leadership in order to quickly develop these young guns, so they can start dominating games like they are capable of and bring back a winning culture to the franchise.              

While the team has already begun this process by re-signing long-time Avalanche great Milan Hejduk, as well as picking up forward P.A. Parenteau, who looks to be entering the prime of his career.  Nevertheless, if the team is going to make a push for the Cup in 2013, the Avalanche must take this a step further and become very aggressive in free agency.

The first step is signing those Avs players that are entering free agency. Peter Mueller needs to be re-signed, as well as Erik Johnson and Ryan O’Reilly. All are young guys and great players who will be a major part of the foundation of the team for years to come. The Avalanche cannot afford to let these guys go, especially when they are asking for relatively small contracts.  

The next step is targeting some of the top free agents on the market like Ryan Suter, Zach Parise and Alexander Semin. While it will be both very difficult and very expensive to land even one of these players, they have all cemented themselves as superstars in this league and could individually be a catalyst for the entire franchise—especially Suter. 

Any of these players would be a great addition to almost any team, however, with the Avalanche, they would greatly help the young team’s confidence, development and depth.

The next order of business is to target a true veteran who may be past the prime of his career, but would be able to help lead this young team with their experience alongside Hejduk.  A guy like Teemu Selanne, Jaromir Jagr, Petr Sykora or Jason Arnott would be perfect.  They no longer need to be the focus of the offense, but could be terrific role players on the ice and invaluable leaders in the weight room and while practicing.

Lastly, there are a number of young guys who would be great pickup if one or all of these free-agent strategies fail.

Most notably, P.K. Subban—who is a young, aggressive and very offensively skilled defenseman out of Montreal—would give the Avalanche defense some more offensive firepower without relinquishing some of their size and defensive prowess.  Mike Green is another young defender whose offensive capabilities could greatly add to a strong defensive group in Denver.

Such a young and promising team, with terrific goaltending in Semyon Varlamov and Jean-Sebastien Giguere, should routinely make the playoffs.  Once in, as we all saw last year with Jon Quick and the young Kings squad, anything can happen.

It is time the Avalanche start making major offseason moves to once again climb the ranks of the NHL. They are no longer in the business of rebuilding, and instead need to start aggressively financing a Stanley Cup contender. 

They have nothing to lose, as the foundation of this team is set with its very talented young players. Free-agent veterans can help develop this young talent more quickly, give the team more depth and experience and then retire.

They really have nothing to lose. 

As tweeted by TSN's Bob McKenzie, the Colorado Avalanche inked former New York Islanders forward, P.A. Parenteau, to a four-year $16 million contract

This puts Parenteau's salary cap hit at $4 million per season, which is well within the reach of the Avalanche.

According to Capgeek.com, the Avalanche still have a little bit more than $21 million to spend before they hit the $70.2 million cap ceiling.

The big question that comes with pretty much every signing in free agency is: did they get a good deal, or did they overpay?

Let's take a look at another free agent that the Avalanche signed from their own team just a few weeks earlier, David Jones.

Jones received the exact same contract as P.A. Parenteau, so who better to use when making a comparison?

Jones earned his contract after overcoming some injury issues early in his career. Over the past two seasons, Jones played in 77 and 70 games respectively, but it's his numbers that tell the real story.

Two seasons ago, Jones scored 27 goals and had 18 assists for 45 points. 

Jones was up and down last year, but was still able to score 20 goals and 37 points.

Parenteau only has four seasons of NHL experience, though his last two certainly stand out on their own.

In his first year with the Islanders, Parenteau had 20 goals and 33 assists for 53 points.

Last season, Parenteau increased his point output despite scoring less goals: he had 18 goals and 49 assists for 67 points.

Add in the fact that Parenteau missed only three games over the past two seasons and also contributed 217 hits, and the young right-winger has really shown his value.

The fact that Parenteau outperformed Jones in such a way and is still being paid the same amount of money shows great value.

Kudos to Greg Sherman for getting this deal done.

Free-agent frenzy is a day when you see every NHL team playing the market to try and improve their roster for the run up to the following season.

Colorado Avalanche GM Greg Sherman hinted that the Avalanche would active during the chaos that is July 1, and he didn't disappoint.

The Avalanche made some moves early in the day and saved some exciting action for the afternoon hours.

Things started off with the Avalanche signing John Mitchell away from the New York Rangers, according to Adrian Dater of The Denver Post. Mitchell was a fourth-line center for the Rangers that saw about 10 minutes per game.

With the Avalanche likely letting Jay McClement walk in free agency, Mitchell takes his place on the fourth line quite nicely. Not a huge splash, but a good signing nonetheless.

Fellow Bleacher Report Featured Columnist Tom Urtz had this to say about what the Avalanche will get from Mitchell:

"Great teammate, will give you guts and heart, has offensive creativity at times was called Johnny Malkin at times."

Later in the day, Colorado announced that Greg Zanon arrived in Denver. Zanon played a great deal of time with the Minnesota Wild and was traded over to the Boston Bruins during this past season.

Zanon isn't big as far as stature goes, just 5'11", but is a strong 211 lbs., and he loves to toss that frame of his around.

Zanon connected with 116 and blocked 136 shots. Zanon can be easily compared to Brett Clark, who played for the Avalanche a few seasons ago, just a tougher version of him.

A trade like this makes one wonder how much longer Ryan O'Byrne might have with the Avalanche.

The third, and biggest, signing of the day for the Avalanche was P.A. Parenteau from the New York Islanders, officially announced by the team.

Parenteau outscored everybody on the Avalanche last season with his 67 points and is a perfect fit for this team.

The Islanders, like the Avalanche, have a young core of players that play a fast, offensive style of game.

Parenteau enjoyed a great amount of success on the wing of John Tavares and will likely play with a similar style of skilled center, Matt Duchene, in Colorado.

He's got good size and is an excellent passer. He will help the offensive lines be more tough in the corners and will then be able to find the scorers in front of the net with his excellent passing.

The contract numbers are as follows.

Mitchell gets a two-year contract worth $2.2 million.

Zanon signed for two years at $4.5 million.

P.A. Parenteau signed a four-year contract worth $16 million.

These are three strong signings that all address needs for the Colorado Avalanche immediately. 

Greg Sherman is quickly showing that he is a savvy general manager that is able to take care of his team.

The Colorado Avalanche raised their share of eyebrows earlier this month when they inked winger David Jones to a four-year, $16 million deal.

It appears, though, that the Avs aren’t planning on closing their pocketbooks just yet.

According to the Denver Post, Colorado is likely to pursue Islanders wing P.A. Parenteau when free agency opens tomorrow. The 29-year-old Parenteau racked up 67 points playing alongside Jonathan Tavares last season.

For all that Colorado may have overpaid in re-signing Jones—and likely raised Parenteau’s asking price in the process—bringing in another versatile offensive weapon is just what the Avs need.

They’re not going to attract top-shelf targets such as Zach Parise, but Parenteau is a sign-able talent who can help with the Avalanche’s biggest weaknesses from 2011-12.

Despite a sensational season from veteran goalie Jean-Sebastian Giguere, the Avs finished squarely in the middle of the pack, with 41 wins. The culprit isn’t difficult to identify: Colorado’s offense ranked 25th in the NHL, with just 2.43 goals per game.

The even-less-impressive Islanders aren’t the obvious choices for finding scoring help, but Parenteau’s 18 goals and 49 assists show that he knows how to make things happen.

Holding onto Jones was a good first step in repairing the attack, but new blood is needed and Parenteau seems a plausible candidate.

Colorado will be decidedly better served by pouncing on a good forward like Parenteau than entering a (futile) bidding war for the services of a Parise or an Alexander Semin.

If they make a play for one of the bigger names and lose out, the Avs may find that Parenteau and other options at his skill level have already been signed out from under them.