OffThePost.org

On a side note, new additions were given their numbers:

Yak - 64
Bernier - 45
Barberio - 44
Wilson - 22
Jost - 17

Barberio wore 45 last season but apparently gave it up so Bernier could have it.

One interesting factoid, Yakupov is the first #64 in Nordiques/Avalanche history.

That's half the problem though- do they really want to KEEP a guy who isn't elite but they're paying $6 million for 2 more years? This idea that they're going to restock completely with the return for him is insane. A lot of teams want him, but not at the crazy price Sakic wants. If it was anywhere near good value for another team, he'd be long gone already. Sakic is trying to save face, but he's looking out of touch. And having an unhappy fan favorite isn't going to play out well either.

I know Duchene isn't elite, but I think at this point he has a better chance of returning to close-to-elite status in another jersey.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

I think Duchene could eke out a wonderful career as a top line winger. And I think he'd work out just fine as a center, but one very damning thing about him is that he's not very versatile. It's weird, he only seems to work with certain types of linemates, which makes me think he should be a full-time winger, since he almost plays like one even when he's taking faceoffs.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think he's a bust by any means. Not every top-five pick is gonna be some guy who can just take over games, he was a viable star the Avs could have built around, but completely failed to do so. Now the situation has become toxic and needs to be resolved.

There's some drama surrounding the issue of whether or not he will report. Duchene refuses to comment on it, Sakic has said flat-out that MD is under contract and is expected to report. I fully 100% expect Duchene to report, but is clearly trying to force Sakic's hand here.

In other news, the Avs took on the Sharks in their Rookie Showcase tourney and lost. But really, who cares? It only matters how certain players looked. From what I've read (I was out last night and didn't see it streamed) guys like JT Compher and Tyson Jost looked good, guys like Andrei Mironov did not. And the goalie situation beyond Varlamov is pretty much a disaster. All in all, nothing shocking or surprising.

Um...

"I'm just here so I won't get fined."

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Been so long don't even remember why Duchene wants to be traded at all?

I don't think he does per se. He's just sick and fucking tired of being on the block for over a year. He wants to be someplace where he doesn't have to worry about whether he's going to stay or not.

And yes, he's put up with a losing culture nearly his entire career thus far. I think he'd prefer to go someplace that didn't suck. Nashville is definitely his favored destination.

Running joke amongst Avs fans is that the coaches and front office took one look at Jared Cowen and got the deal with Zadorov done pretty quickly. The timing sure seems very coincidental at the very least.

But of course, the Avs can never make things easy. Zadorov was hanging out in Miami during this entire fiasco, but of course Irma was threatening to hit so he high-tailed it out of there and went to Ottawa maybe a week or so before the contract was finally signed. Now he's having issues getting back into the country. The Avs continue to supply the rest of the league with rich material.

Well, things are definitely starting off a bit different. Last season the mighty Avalanche went undefeated in the preseason. Last night they dropped the preseason opener against the Boogie Knights 4-1.

Avs iced a non-NHL roster so even against an expansion team, this wasn't shocking by any means. And again, it's preseason. Avs proved last year how worthless it is.

Unfortunately it was a terrible showing for two players who very much needed a good showing: Perennial prospect Duncan Siemens and Spencer "Goalie of the Future but not Really" Martin. Both were, according to what I read, pretty brutal.

Regardless of what I'm telling myself, it'd be nice if this fucking joke of a franchise could do something to get me excited about hockey again.

Avs win their second preseason game 5-1, Yakupov with 3 assists. This time it was the Dallas Stars with the scrub lineup.

Could be reading waaaay too much into this but based on what I'm hearing out of camp and preseason thus far, Carl Soderberg is even deeper in the doghouse than he already was. Not sure how in hell the Avs are gonna resolve that situation. Way more untenable than the Duchene fiasco, and that's saying something.

Avs end their preseason (I think) with three games in three days. Seriously, who schedules these?

No real surprises on cuts thus far, maybe seeing Rocco Grimaldi sent down already but apart from that, nope. He will require waivers so it's possible he gets snagged by another team, though I'd be surprised if he did.

This roster looks like it'll at least be more fun to watch than last year's turtle parade. I'm guessing to start the year it'll be:

Jost - MacKinnon - Rantanen
Andrighetto/Kerfoot - Duchene - Yakupov
Landeskog - Compher - Wilson
Nieto - Soderberg - Comeau
Colborne

Zadorov - Johnson
Lindholm - Barrie
Barberio - Bigras

Varlamov
Bernier

Note where the rookies are (in bold) while also keeping in mind that Mikko Rantanen is only one year removed from his own rookie season. This team is nothing if not noticeably younger than last year's.

No idea who the 7th D-man will be. Hoping to hell it won't be Jared Cowen. NHL journeyman David Warsofsky would be my bet since he has elevated his play noticeably in the preseason, whereas Duncan "No, Really, it's your Last Chance" Siemens has been a gong show.

And of course we have no idea what this roster will look like once the Duchene deal goes down...if it goes down at all.

I don't even want to speculate this team's high-end potential. I'd say they could turn in an "acceptably bad" season if they just get enough goaltending. If not, it's lottery time again. Too much will have to go right for them to have a successful season IMHO.

Avs finish their 3-in-3 with a somewhat impressive victory over the Dallas Stars.

For some weird reason, Jared Cowen is still around.

Obvious concern going into the season is that the team's good fortune rests on the shoulders of a oft-injured goaltender coming off double hip surgery.

Somewhat less obvious concern is that Tyson Barrie continues to look like a shell of the player he was. Both he and Jared Bednar need to figure it the hell out, or one of them will be gone soon.

Probably the worst news so far...the Avs decided to retain their goal song from last year--Steve Aoki's "Delirious."

The one silver lining from last season is that because they were dead last in the NHL in scoring it wasn't played very often.



Play it if you dare.

We'll give you Reid Boucher, Thomas Vanek, and Ryan White for him.

Throw in Christopher Tanev and you have a deal.

It sounds like one of my favorite Avs, John-Michael Liles, will be moving into broadcasting. He'll be joining the Altitude team on a part-time basis. He hasn't yet announced his retirement so I'm guessing he's holding out just a little while longer in case some team comes calling.

Also, former Av John "Johnny Malkin" Mitchell has been released from his second PTO this offseason, which likely means he's done in the NHL.

If so, fare thee well, Johnny...we'll always remember you for this indelible image.

Ugh...injuries beginning to take hold.

A.J. Greer, whom many believe had a legit shot at making the squad out of camp, is not out at practice today, the severity of the injury has not yet been disclosed.

Defenseman Sergei Boikov suffered a separated shoulder during a preseason contest, is out indefinitely. Not a high-end prospect but sure could've made a difference in the AHL.

And lastly...Jonathan fucking Bernier managed to tweak his damned groin the other night. That's great given that he's backing up Semyon Varlamov, who has suffered from a wonky groin for most of his career and is coming off double hip surgery. The goaltending depth beyond the top two is laughable at best.

The Avs currently have a "European Strategy" when it comes to goalie drafting/development. Since you retain the rights to Euro players longer they've been using low-round picks to try and find a gem or two. Sooner or later though they'll have to make a bigger investment if they want to get some legit prospects into the mix.

Jared Cowen released from his PTO.

Managed to catch the 1st and some of the 2nd of the Avs' final preseason contest, a 4-2 victory over the Boogie Knights.

It's still a bad team, but not an unwatchably bad team. And that's the best I can hope for right now.

Rookies Chris Bigras and Anton Lindholm are almost assured roster spots on defense. Not sure of "rookie" Andrei Mironov but he seems like a safe bet for that 6/7 spot.

Lines up front are all but set. Joe Colborne will likely start the year on IR, which means the only real boat anchors on the roster are Blake Comeau and Carl Soderberg. Hope to HELL Sakic ends up moving both of them and not Duchene...but obviously neither is exactly in demand right now.

I'm reading now that ol' Duncan Siemens is on waivers. Had a pretty disastrous camp and preseason, so I can't say he wasn't given a fair shake this time around. Dude's probably just gonna be one of those career AHL guys.

And here we are with your opening night Avs lineup (rookies in bold):

Alex Kerfoot - Matt Duchene - Nail Yakupov
Sven Andrighetto - Nathan MacKinnon - Mikko Rantanen
Gabriel Landeskog - J.T. Compher - Colin Wilson
Matt Nieto - Tyson Jost - Blake Comeau
Carl Soderberg

Nikita Zadorov - Erik Johnson
Chris Bigras - Tyson Barrie
Anton Lindholm - Mark Barberio
Andrei Mironov

Semyon Varlamov
Joe Cannata

IR: Jonathan Bernier, Sergei Boikov, Joe Colborne

Okay, technically Cannata is not a rookie because he's 27, but he's never played in the NHL near as I can tell, so...

Interesting to note: My least favorite Avs player ever, Carl Soderberg, will likely start the season a healthy scratch. Though he looked good in preseason, he played himself into the doghouse last year and it looks like Jared Bednar is still not in a forgiving mood. I'd rather see Jost out there anyhow.

So's everyone can keep track, that's three rookies up front, three rookies on the blueline. This may be a bad team, but at least they won't be an old team.

Come what may...