Peter Forsberg and Adam Foote for Pierre Turgeon and Patrice Brisebois.
That is, in effect, the major trade the Avalanche made this week. On paper, there is not a single objective NHL expert who would call the give-and-take anything less than a lopsided loss for the Avs as the team is a month out from 2005-06 training camp.
In the aftermath of Forsberg’s departure to the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night, the Avs announced the signings of veterans Turgeon, 35, and Brisebois, 34 – two players on the statistical downside of their careers.
The Avs, however, tried to accentuate the positive.
“We’re pleased to add a player of Turgeon’s caliber to our lineup,” Avs general manager Pierre Lacroix said in a statement. “We expect the new rules and new dynamics of today’s NHL will allow a player of his skill to be a strong addition to our team.”
Perhaps time will prove Lacroix right.
Turgeon, after all, has 495 career goals and 1,274 points in 1,215 games. The trouble is, he hasn’t scored more than 15 goals in any of his past three seasons, all with the Dallas Stars. The Stars signed him to an expensive free-agent contract in 2001 after five mostly productive years with the St. Louis Blues, but when his production fell off drastically they tried in vain to buy him out of his contract.
It wasn’t until the NHL’s new collective bargaining agreement was reached last month that the Stars could buy him out without Turgeon’s permission, and it was one of their first post-CBA moves.
“I had the opportunity to coach him in St. Louis for several years,” Avs coach Joel Quenneville said in the same statement. “He’s a great playmaker and will help us in all phases of the game.”
Turgeon, a former client of Lacroix when the general manager was an agent, has been called soft defensively by detractors. Even in the highest-scoring season of his career, 58 goals with the New York Islanders in 1992-93, Turgeon was a minus-1. He has six goals in his past 27 postseason games, with 34 goals overall in 104 games.
Brisebois, a former Montreal player who dates to the days when retired goaltender Patrick Roy played there, also has seen his statistics drastically decline in recent seasons. He has been a minus player in six of the past seven seasons, including a minus-31 for the Canadiens in 2000-01. His offensive production also has fallen, from a career-high 15 goals in 2000-01 to four goals in each of the past three seasons. Like Turgeon, Brisebois’ contract was bought out by the Canadiens recently.
“Patrice Brisebois possesses the rare combination of size and skill and he represents a great addition for our organization heading into the new NHL,” Lacroix said.
Brisebois played on Montreal’s 1992-93 championship team.
Terms of the their contracts were not released by the Avalanche, which had roughly $4.5 million in salary-cap room before the signings.
That figure is somewhat fluid, however, as some of the 14 players the Avs recently tendered qualifying offers may decline and pursue richer deals.
Or, some players may be traded or cut.
Staff writer Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-820-5454 or adater@denverpost.com.
