In a scenario only an accountant could love, the Avalanche on Thursday took steps so that every player on its likely roster for 2005-06 now has a contract offer. Every player except two, that is: Peter Forsberg and Adam Foote.
The Avs gave qualifying offers to 14 players. If all 14 accepted their one- year qualifying offers, and those 14 combined salaries were added to seven players previously already under contract, the Avalanche’s current payroll would total $34,375,824.
With a league-mandated salary cap of $39 million, that does not leave much room to sign potential unrestricted free agents Forsberg and Foote.
Still, Avalanche general manager Pierre Lacroix called Thursday’s business developments a positive in getting his team together.
“This represents another step we must take in putting together the 2005-06 Avalanche team while maintaining the rights to players key to our organizational depth chart,” Lacroix said.
The Avs also put veteran center Chris Gratton on waivers and signed 2003 draftee Brad Richardson to a contract. If Gratton clears waivers, as is likely with his $1.9 million salary, the Avs will have to buy out his contract at two-thirds because Gratton had a two-way option.
Several steps could be taken to gain more cap space. For starters, the Avs could trade any player besides Joe Sakic or Rob Blake, both of whom have no-trade contracts.
If Milan Hejduk or Alex Tanguay were dealt, considerable cap space would be created, as Hejduk was qualified at $4,332,000 and Tanguay at $3,230,000.
Hejduk was scheduled to earn $5.7 million in the canceled 2004-05 season, but the Avs had to qualify him at 24 percent less than that as part of the new collective bargaining agreement.
Here’s where the math gets complicated: Players making between the league minimum of $450,000 and $660,000 need to be qualified at 110 percent of their base salary.
Those making between $661,000 and $1 million must be qualified at 105 percent, and those making more than $1 million are qualified at 100 percent. With all the rollbacks, followed by increases up to 10 percent taken into consideration, the Avs get to the $34,375,824 number, but it doesn’t end there.
Some of the players included in the 22 either qualified or already under contract don’t figure to be on the opening-night roster. For instance, four of the 22 players are goaltenders, and two definitely will be cut during training camp. Others, such as defensemen Jeff Finger and Brett Clark, are longshots to make the team. A team can have no more than 23 players on its active roster, but most often it carries only 20 to 22.
It gets more complicated taking into account the fact a qualifying offer doesn’t mean that’s what a player’s final salary might be. A qualifying offer simply means a team retains that player’s rights. A player can refuse the offer, and players such as John-Michael Liles, Hejduk and Tanguay very likely will. They might want more than a one-year contract or more money.
In other words, the cap number is going to fluctuate until opening night, but for now the Avs have protected themselves against the unlikely possibility of a player such as Hejduk or Tanguay receiving a restricted free agent offer sheet, as Sakic received from the New York Rangers in 1997.
The Avs have until Monday to negotiate exclusively with Forsberg and Foote, at which time they would become unrestricted.
Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-820-5454 or adater@denverpost.com.
