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kermit · 05-21-2007, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goavsgo

yea i agree they still young in their prime

They're not even in thier prime yet.

Phish4 · 05-21-2007, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Avalanche Signs Leopold, Sauer, Finger and Jones

The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club announced today that it has signed defensemen Jordan Leopold, Kurt Sauer and Jeff Finger along with forward prospect David Jones. Leopold and Jones signed two-year deals; Finger and Sauer signed one-year deals.

“We believe in Jordan Leopold’s abilities,” said Avalanche Executive Vice President and General Manager Francois Giguere. “He’s entering the prime years of his career and we’re confident he’ll regain the form that he displayed in his first few seasons in the league.

“He could’ve become an unrestricted free agent after the upcoming season but instead decided to commit to our organization for the next two years,” added Giguere.

Leopold, 26, is coming off his fourth NHL season in which he was limited to 15 games due to three separate injuries. The 2002 Hobey Baker Award winner began last season on the IR following hernia surgery. He then missed action due to a groin injury and the final 25 games of the season after undergoing surgery for a fractured wrist.

Sauer, 26, finished his fourth NHL season by appearing in 45 of the last 46 games for the Avalanche averaging over 18 minutes of ice-time per game.

“Kurt emerged as a strong piece of our defensive corps in the second-half of the season,” said Giguere. “He was put in many key situations and responded very well.”

Finger, 27, became a regular contributor on the Avalanche blue line last season after his first career NHL call-up on February 17 from the club’s AHL affiliate in Albany. He appeared in 22 games for the Avalanche, recording five points (1g/4a) and finishing second on the team in plus/minus with a +10 rating. Finger, a native of Houghton, Michigan, was selected by Colorado 240th overall in the 1999 Entry Draft.

“Jeff’s performance during the final two months demonstrated he could play in the NHL on a regular basis,” said Giguere.

Jones, 22, is coming off a strong junior season at Dartmouth where he was named a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award for college hockey’s top player. He was also a unanimous selection for Ivy League Player of the Year while earning NCAA First-Team All-American honors. His 44 points (18g/26a) in 33 games was good for sixth among NCAA skaters for points per game (1.33). The 6-2, 220-pound native of Guelph, Ontario was Colorado’s eighth selection (288th overall) in the 2003 Entry Draft.

“David is a solid prospect and we look forward to watching him continue to mature,” said Giguere.

http://www.coloradoavalanche.com/New...s.aspx?NID=923

Good news here. Leo, Finger, and Sauer were all the RFAs on defense and signing all three of them gives the Avs a respectable top six defense corps:

Leopold-Liles
Clark-Skrastins
Finger-Sauer

Which, while nowhere near the caliber of Ottawa or Anaheim, can most likely hold its own, especially with the top and bottom pairings hitting their primes simultaneously at the ages of 26-27. I'd still like to see Klee and possibly Vaananen re-signed for depth, but my only criticism du jour is that I'd rather see Leopold on board for four or five years, rather than two. Given that the QO's for these guys probably weren't exceeded by the standard 10%, I'd estimate it cost roughly $3 million to sign all three. Not a bad deal by any means.

As for Jones, I haven't seen him play in the NCAA but any player who can average over a point-per-game is usually a success story. He'll probably spend a season or two in the AHL to get used to an 80 game-schedule. As a scoring RW he might even get ice time if Svatos is injured...again.

Excellent moves so far. In FG we trust.:0pouce:

Jeikobu · 05-22-2007, 04:07 PM

Good news. About time the Avs finally made a move with some of these players.

I can't say I've really ever heard of Jones, but he sounds like he could be promising down the road.

Leopold I'm happy to see return, because if he can stay healthy, he could be one of our best d-men down the road. I think 2 years is good, too. Since he isn't proven with us yet, it wouldn't be as smart to sign him long-term just yet. 2 years sounds pretty much perfect to me.

Finger is a very good reserve defenseman. I don't know if he'll ever be good enough to secure a spot on the roster, but he's at least a solid call-up player.

Sauer seemed to step up and show more potential later in the season when he was given more responsibility. Hopefully he'll keep improving and become a solid year-round contributer.

Now my question is, what about some of our most important moves to make, like signing Laperriere and dropping Theodore?

Adama0905 · 05-22-2007, 10:14 PM

I say we work from the middle, to the back, to the front. We need another one or two good, solid defensemen. Then, we need another goalie, although I don't think it's top priority like some do, Budaj should serve us well, but we need a good back up. Then we need another one or two top nine offensemen, although we all know that's not exactly top in priorities, with the offense we produced last year, we would have been great if we had some defense. But yes, defense first, that's number one priority this off season.

Oldnordiqueman · 05-24-2007, 04:54 PM

What is the progress report on Nigel Williams? Anyone heard it for a while? He definitely has all the makings to be an "Adam Foote" type defenseman. Maybe someone who knows more about that could research it. While I'm sure he's a good 2 or 3 years out, It'd be good to know how he's developing.

Jeikobu · 05-28-2007, 04:16 PM

I'm not sure what he's up to. Even TSN's player page doesn't say anything for this season.

Too bad it's so unlikely that the real Adam Foote will ever come back to the Rockies... :( But then that was management's fault for letting him go in the first place. >_<

kermit · 05-28-2007, 09:49 PM

Adam Foot is going to go wherever the money is going to be, unfutunatley, that's not going to be Colorado.

Oldnordiqueman · 05-29-2007, 02:17 PM

Okay, I found some time to look up Nigel Williams season stats for 06-07. My personal opinion is that another season like this or better, and he'll either get called up or have a good shot at the roster in training camp.

Quote:

2006-07 SEASON
Began the season with the Wisconsin Badgers but played only one game before leaving the school to join the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League…Scored 36 points (17g/19a) in 46 games with Saginaw…Scored a hat-trick in Saginaw’s 7-1 win over Erie on Dec. 16, 2007…12 of his 17 goals came on the power-play…Finished the season with a +8 rating.

Phish4 · 05-30-2007, 10:00 PM

The following is overwhelmingly for my own benefit because I'm having trouble juggling the numbers mentally.

-------------

Sakic (6.75)
Hejduk (4)
Wolski (.86)
Stastny (.685)
Bruno (1.6)
Richo (.6)

Forwards: $14.495

Skrastins (2.4)
Clark (1.5)
Liles (1.4)
Leo (1.5)
Sauer (.719)
Finger (.475)

Defense: $7.994

Theodore (6)
Budaj (.7)

Goaltending: $6.7

Current total: $29.189

My understanding of the CBA is bare-bones at best, but I've come to understand that Colorado has to cough up $120,211 for injured reserve payroll and $315,000 for bonuses, both of which count against the cap. Combine that with the all-but-certain certainty that Laperriere's option will be picked up at $1.064 and the minimum assumption that the salary cap will go up to $48 million, and the Avs have $17.3 million in cap space without signing Svatos, McCormick, and last season's UFAs.

The following is 100% guaranteed to not happen, but it's what I'd do before free agency starts (all one-year deals for the purposes of simplicity):

-Klee at $900K
-Vaananen at $1.2 million
-Qualify Svatos at $1.1 million
-Arnason at $2 million (I think he'll be offered 1.5 but will want more, 2 is the max I'd give him)
-McLean at $1.5 million (same story)
-Guite at $600K
-Rycroft at $750K
-Parker at $500 (for no real reason other than he's Parker)

For a total of $8.5 million, thus leaving $8.8 million cap space. Ideally I'd like FG to save $2-3 million for the trade deadline, so for a nice round number let's say Colorado has $6 million dollars in cap space.

Depending on where Wolski, B-Mac, and Richo play there would still be the need for one of a topline RWer, a secondline LWer, or a thirdline C. If Vaananen isn't resigned the team likewise needs another bottom-pairing defenseman.

------------------------

I've run dry on names/numbers on the UFA market (my wishlist remains Backstrom and Sykora), but I've been kicking around the idea of using most if not all of the aforementioned $6 million on extensions for current Avs players under contract. As if the Foppa/Foote and Tanguay/Blake offseasons weren't trying enough, in the next offseason FG will have to re-sign Bruno, Clark, Liles, Wolski, and Richo, in addition to whoever gets one-year deals. Even though the last two will be RFAs, currently those five only combine for $6 million but could easily command three times that when they hit the open market.

TimmyTabasco · 06-07-2007, 03:41 PM

Garon would be an excellent pickup. Dave Taylor was quite high on him, but now he's gone

Garon has the potential to be a starter, but is a very good backup/tandem

Huet/Garon would have been quite the pairing

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