Denver Post sports writer Adrian Dater posts his Avs Mailbag on Mondays during the 2008-09 NHL season.
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With Peter Forsberg now out of the mix, what do you think will/should be the Avs’ next move before the upcoming trade deadline?
— Andrew, Westminster
Andrew – Sell, sell, sell.
Try to sell somebody on Darcy Tucker, and get out from under the next year of his contract, at more than $2 million per. Try to sell somebody on Brett Clark and the $3.5 million he’ll make next season. Maybe sell off one of the young prospects like T.J. Hensick and/or Marek Svatos. Try to get a decent goalie for one or all of those guys. Then, go into this offseason with a plan to draft big forwards, guys who can bang and skate and create a little energy. Hensick and Svatos have talent, but get swallowed up a little too easily against bigger teams.
Rebuild through the draft, keep the core of what you have now — Paul Stastny, David Jones, Chris Stewart, Ryan Smyth — and get better and faster from there.
And, get that goalie.
See ya next camp.
Adrian – I would consider us sellers at the trade deadline. I think everyone is fair game except Paul Stastny, John-Michael Liles, Wojtek Wolski, Milan Hejduk (no-trade clause) and anyone on IR (Adam Foote, Joe Sakic). Who do you see being traded away?
— Robert Wilson, New Windsor, Ill.
Robert – See above.
Adrian – In your question regarding who to trade (), you mentioned perhaps John-Michael Liles or Jordan Leopold because the Avs have a lot of depth with offensive defensemen. I’m curious about Kyle Cumiskey. Although, he does give over the puck a lot, I really enjoy watching his energy when he plays. I think he would fit well with the “vision” this team has of speed. My question is: Aside from this present injury, is he someone who might become a
permanent Av one day? Thanks.
— Michael, Nashville, Tenn.
Michael – Listen, I’ve been quite impressed with Cumiskey — but only with one thing: speed. Puck decisions, puck smarts in all three zones — still a ways to go. But the kid definitely has wheels. Thing is, he’s small and already starting to show the effects of that, with some injuries.
I think he tries to play at warp speed with the puck, but that’s too fast for the brain part of hockey. He needs to slow the game down mentally, to correlate better with his physical gifts.
Hey, Adrian. Was it a mistake promoting Tony Granato to head coach, or is there just not enough talent on this team to blame the coach? Either way, I’m not confident in the Avs’ future. Let’s follow the Broncos and bring in some new life. Thanks.
— Ray, Boulder
Ray – Ready to gas Tony already, eh? Won’t happen, not through this season anyway. I’m confident Granato will go into Year 2 of his three-year contract. Funny things can happen sometimes with NHL coaches, but Tony G. had some big injuries to deal with, and yeah, yeah, I know they’re not an excuse, but they are. OK, let’s just get real here and say they are an excuse in some big ways. You can’t lose your top two centers most of the year and overcome that. You just can’t.
Do I think Tony seems a little too “under control” for my taste sometimes? Yeah, but I like fiery guys as my coach, guys who let the boys have it sometimes. Tony G. likes to keep it all positive and on the upside, and that’s fine, but when you’re not winning, fans and pesky writers are going to look for areas for critique. It’s the job, and Tony accepts it, and he doesn’t like losing. But I’d like to see him show sometimes that he REALLY DOESN’T LIKE IT! At least, sometimes.
Adrian – Hello from the Windy City. I know you don’t get to see the Avs prospects in Cleveland, but have you heard anything about the development of Nigel Williams? He’s from the area here (Aurora, Ill.), and he’s big with an excellent shot. Just wondering how far off he is from the bigs. Thanks.
— Owen Raehl, Chicago
Owen – I do a story for The Hockey News every year that goes over their latest top 10 prospects, and Williams was listed by an assortment of Avs scouts to be No. 5. People are a little worried about his footspeed still, but like his physicality. I’d say he’s in a tough organization to latch on as a young defenseman right now, but maybe things will change after the trade deadline.
Otherwise, I really haven’t seen the kid play much, as Lake Erie games don’t come on the dish much. Or, at all.
Who will the Avs most likely end up with in goal before next season?
— Rivers, Colorado Springs
Rivers – I’ll make a Wild prediction and say Niklas Backstrom or Manny Fernandez. How’s that?
Adrian – Assuming that Sakic is recovering well and would come back this season, the sensible thing to do would be to trade him to a team like Pittsburgh or Washington, where his experience of the playoffs should help Alex Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin to bring their game to another level. This should enable the Avs to get a couple of young prospects
and should be real exciting for Sakic. He could come back to the Avs next year if he wanted to. Any chance of this happening?
— Stephan, London
Stephan – None. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Joe Sakic is not going to finish up his brilliant career as some kind of rental player, trying to help “kids” from other teams learn. He’s going to finish his career as a Colorado Avalanche. That, you can take to the biggest bank that is still in operation or that might have some bailout funds coming and put the money down that Our Captain, Our No. 19, ain’t goin’ anywhere.
Adrian Dater has covered the Colorado Avalanche since the team moved to Denver in 1995. , or .
