After 13 seasons with the organization, a difference of $1.5 million per year might have been the reason Adam Foote walked away from the Avalanche on Monday night.
In a late-night development, Foote signed a three-year, $13.5 million free-agent contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets, one of the NHL’s worst teams in recent years.
Foote turned down a four-year, $12 million deal an Avalanche official said the team offered late last week.
“We thought it was very, very fair considering his age (34) and the fact that we have to deal with a new financial landscape now,” Avalanche vice president of media relations Jean Martineau said. “We wanted to keep all of our team together, but we have to do so under a salary cap. Adam was an outstanding part of our organization, and we wanted to keep him badly.
“(General manager) Pierre (Lacroix) found some creative ways to try to make it happen, but (Foote) decided to take a little more money.”
Foote, who did not return phone calls, is scheduled to be introduced this morning at a news conference in Columbus.
Foote was slated to earn $4.4 million in the canceled NHL season. His average salary with Columbus will be $4.5 million. The Avs’ offer averaged $3 million a season.
Foote’s departure leaves a big hole on the Avalanche’s defense and in the team’s leadership. An alternate captain in recent years, Foote was well-respected by teammates, and he increasingly improved into one of the best defensemen in the NHL.
With Foote gone, the Avs have only one player under contract – Joe Sakic – from the team’s first season in Denver.
The Avs hope to get another “original” member back in Peter Forsberg. But, like Foote, Forsberg is on the open market, and there is no shortage of bidders for his services.
There were no developments Monday in Forsberg’s situation, but Martineau indicated the Avs are working to keep him.
Forsberg would like to play with his friend, star left wing Markus Naslund, and Lacroix may be trying to work out a tandem signing. But now Lacroix may have to contend with up to 29 other teams for their services. Forsberg has said he doesn’t want to leave Denver.
Foote played in 799 regular-season games with Quebec and Colorado, finishing with 55 goals and 234 points. He won two Stanley Cups and is a two-time member of the Canadian Olympic team.
He almost always was on the ice against the opposing team’s top line and could be physically imposing in the corners and in front of the net. Though he had some injury problems in his career, he was reasonably healthy his final two seasons in Denver, missing only 13 games.
Memorable moments in Foote’s career in Denver were sometimes-bloody battles with Detroit Red Wings players. A longtime roommate of former Avs goalie Patrick Roy, Foote turned a less disciplined playing style into one of a smart leader who led by example but spoke in the locker room when needed.
Where do the Avs turn to try to fill the void left by Foote on the blue line?
There are some attractive names on the free-agent market, including Scott Niedermayer, Derian Hatcher, Brian Rafalski and Sergei Gonchar. But all could be pricey, especially Niedermayer and Hatcher, and the Avs don’t have a lot of cap room. They still hope to sign Forsberg.
The Avs are getting an early taste of the new NHL, in which small-market teams can compete on a level financial landscape with big-market teams.
Foote’s notes
A look back at Adam Foote:
* Quebec made the son of a Toronto police officer the 22nd overall choice in the 1989 draft. And this was after he rejected his father’s advice to take French in school.
* He and Joe Sakic suffered though the lean seasons together with the Nordiques, and Peter Forsberg joined them in 1995.
* In Denver, he played on Stanley Cup winners in 1996 and 2001.
* He has been a regular on Canadian national teams the past decade, playing on two Olympic and two World Cup squads.
* A defensive defenseman, he has a knack for adapting to and sometimes even covering for his partners – from the crafty and slow Alexei Gusarov, to the legendary Ray Bourque, to Karlis Skrastins in 2003-04.
Staff writer Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-820-5454 or adater@denverpost.com.
