Colorado only went as far as Joe Sakic and David Aebischer were able to take them, which says a lot, considering that the payroll of this team was almost $69 million. Peter Forsberg had a good Dallas series, but in six games against SJS, he was 1-2-3, -1, and only 8 shots on goal. And frankly, the Avs defense just wasn't Cup-calibre . . . Foote is a good stay-at-home guy, but the performance level drops off quite a bit after that.
I don't think anyone will say it out loud, but I don't think anyone in the Avs front office is going to be shedding many tears if Forsberg decides to return to Europe permanently. He's been injury prone (played in 58 percent of his team's games over the past five years), is on the far side of 30, and is a Group II FA after this year.
Like several other teams, they will have some decisions to make on the roster . . .
Group III FA's
Matthew Barnaby -- not at $1,588,000 a year (what he made this past year), and he impresses me as a bit of an "old" 31 . . . he's taken a lot of punishment.
Bob Boughner -- a lot of miles (both in terms of teams -- the Avs are his sixth team -- and age). $2.3 million is a lot to swallow.
Darby Hendrikson -- he comes comparatively cheap ($815,000 this year), and if the Avs decide to go "small" with respect to payroll, he might have a place
Steve Konowalchuk -- I suspect he wants to stay, and the team wants to keep him. His versatility makes him something of a bargain at $1.575 million.
Andrei Nikolishin -- I don't know that the team is going to want to sign him at $1.75 million, but he has skills that make him valuable in the lower half of the forward lines
Tommy Salo -- I believe the team holds an option on him, and it's all a matter of whether they think Sauve is ready to spell Aebischer (who no one should think is anything but the Avs goalie; there shouldn't be any more talk of Kolzig going here, ever). I don't think the Avs will exercise that option
Teemu Selanne -- bye
Group V:
Paul Kariya -- ditto
Group II:
David Aebischer -- he'll be kept, absolutely
Peter Forsberg -- if he stays, it won't be at anything close to what he makes now ($11 million). I'd be surprised if the club offered more than half that.
Chris Gratton -- one of the more disappointing players in the contemporary NHL, and he was absolutely invisible after joining the Avs (1-2-3 in 24 games, including playoffs). I don't see a case for keeping him.
Milan Hejduk -- he'll be kept
Dan Hinote -- they kept him instead of Brian Willsie; as cheap as he'd probably come, I suspect they'll try to keep him still for the lower half of the forward lines
Karlis Skrastins -- a solid enough guy for a third pair, maybe second; I think he'll stick around
Alex Tanguay -- he'll stick around, too
Peter Worrell -- well, maybe (surely, the Avs could pick up a 49-game enforcer for the $800,000 they paid him this year).
Like Detroit, I suspect that the moment for the Avs has passed, and they might be better to get out ahead of the rebuilding curve. There is going to be a real changing of the guard in the West . . . the two teams in the conference finals are the standards to watch . . . Calgary for being able to cobble together a formidable "team" with a lot of parts no one else would spend a lot of time building with, and the Sharks for doing what Colorado and Detroit might have to do . . . seeing the writing on the wall and dumping some guys who while pretty good now (like Nolan and Marchment last year for the Sharks), won't be there the next time they are really strong Cup contenders.
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Play hard, shake hands, drink beer.
"LA needs two hockey teams like Switzerland needs two navies" -- Norman Chad (from "My 10-Point Plan to Save Gary Bettman from Himself")
"Playoff hockey is the best two months in team sports . . . period."
-- Mitch Albom
