The next general manager of the Avalanche will have a full to-do list, with not a lot of time to address everything.
The Avalanche has roughly $19 million committed to players for next season, and the NHL’s salary cap is expected to increase at least 10 percent from the current $39 million.
Pierre Lacroix, who resigned as Avs general manager Friday, said the team will be active in the free-agent market based on its “good” payroll position and expected rise of the cap.
First up for the Avs, though, will be to get their potential unrestricted free agents under contract. Those include stars Joe Sakic and Rob Blake, who earned more than $13 million combined this season.
Lacroix, who will stay on as team president and play a continuing role in contract negotiations until a successor is named, said it is the organization’s top priority to re-sign Sakic and Blake.
“We’re going to do what we have to do in order to be a competitive and exciting team next year,” Lacroix said. “(Sakic) has been with us from Day One. We have had (contract) discussions and we will have more discussions. This is an issue that we’re going to take care of very quickly.”
Both players have said they don’t want to leave, but if they tested the open market this summer, there surely would be many bidders.
Sakic is considered more of a lock to stay than Blake, whose agent said last week that Blake likely will test the market.
Before the Avs could look for free agents outside the team, even if they re-sign Sakic and Blake, there are other quality players of their own to re-sign.
Among them is restricted free agent Alex Tanguay, who made $3.23 million this season and is likely to want a raise after a strong season.
Forward Marek Svatos, who had a team-leading 32 goals before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury, made the NHL minimum of $450,000 and likely will want a raise. Defenseman John-Michael Liles made the minimum as well and will want more.
Then there is defenseman Karlis Skrastins, who can become an unrestricted free agent. He made $1.425 million and finished second in the NHL in blocked shots. Defenseman Brett Clark also can become unrestricted and could command much attention on the open market after an excellent season.
Other potential restricted free agents management likely will want to re-sign include Dan Hinote, Ossi Vaananen and Peter Budaj.
A major question about next season’s roster is whether the Avs will elect to keep veterans Patrice Brisebois, Pierre Turgeon and Brad May or buy out any of their contracts. If they buy out any contract, two-thirds of its value will count toward next season’s salary cap. Together, those three contracts are valued at more than $5 million next season, with Brisebois due $3 million.
Once the current players have been re-signed or let go, there will be some attractive free agents to consider. Some names could include Teemu Selanne, Jason Arnott, Brendan Shanahan, Nick Lidstrom, Sergei Samsonov, Yanic Perreault, Zdeno Chara, Wade Redden, Eric Desjardins, Pavel Kubina, Jason Allison, Bryan McCabe and Ed Jovanovski.
If the Avs lose Blake, they probably would make a play for Chara or Jovanovski, who reportedly wants to test the open market.
The Avs could use more speed up front. With Sakic turning 37 in July, Turgeon possibly sticking around and forwards Ian Laperriere and Steve Konowalchuk in their 30s, the Avs might want to look for young legs at center or the wings.
The Avs’ sweep at the hands of Anaheim in the second round of the playoffs hinged largely on the Mighty Ducks’ speed advantage. The Avs were not as fast as they needed to be.
“The game now is quickness and speed. Hockey sense is part of that, too, but certainly there’s no secret. I think we knew it all year,” Avs coach Joel Quenneville said Thursday night after Game 4. “Look at the teams with the leads in the playoffs and the ones that are still alive. Look at the quickness from top to bottom of a lot of these teams.”
Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-820-5454 or adater@denverpost.com.
Avalanche salaries, status
Under contract for 2006-07, with salaries
Jose Theodore $5,333,000
Milan Hejduk $3,900,000
Patrice Brisebois $3,000,000
Steve Konowalchuk $1,900,000
Pierre Turgeon $1,500,000
Ian Laperriere $1,140,000
Wojtek Wolski $984,200
Andrew Brunette $800,000
Brad May $675,000
Antti Laaksonen $608,000
Restricted free agents (2005-06 salaries)
Alex Tanguay $3,230,000
Ossi Vaananen $950,000
Kurt Sauer $718,200
Dan Hinote $643,720
Peter Budaj $450,000
Brett McLean $450,000
John-Michael Liles $450,000
Marek Svatos $450,000
Unrestricted free agents (2005-06 salaries)
Joe Sakic $6,664,797
Rob Blake $6,364,112
Karlis Skrastins $1,425,000
Bob Boughner $950,000
Jim Dowd $525,000
Brett Clark $450,000
