Avalanche Free Agency: What I'm Hearing One Day Beforehand

The Avs have some cap room to go shopping with tomorrow

Before everybody gets too excited, NHL free-agent “frenzy” will be a misnomer this year. It’s going to be a long day for the guys and gals sitting around the glossy tables in their TV studios live broadcasting the start of the UFA period tomorrow. Well, unless you’re a complete hockey junkie who just can’t wait to find out where Lars Eller might go.

Eller, the Avs forward who came in exchange for a second-round pick and, uh, didn’t exactly pay off as an investment, is expected to be among the group of players available to the highest bidder tomorrow. It’s considered one of the…how should I put this… “lesser elite”… group of players available in recent years.

As most of us here already know, the Avalanche will be supplying several players to the open market, including Erik Johnson, J.T. Compher, Jack Johnson, Evan Rodrigues, Matt Nieto, Denis Malgin and, maybe, Andrew Cogliano. (I have been told that Darren Helm will retire, so I’m not including him on this list).

Is there a chance that someone on this list might still sign with the Avs, even beyond tomorrow? Anything’s possible, but other than Cogliano, I’d put the chances of any others returning at 2% or less. We know for sure that EJ and Compher are gone though.

According to PuckPedia, the Avs currently have $8.575 million in open cap space, but that does NOT include the $7 million in space that will be opened up by putting captain Gabe Landeskog on LTIR. So, the real number is $15.575 million. That’s a pretty decent amount, though keep in mind the Avs still have to sign restricted free agents of their own, and that list includes Bo Byram, Ross Colton and Ben Meyers.

Let’s assume those three guys are going to cost around $8 million combined, minimum, on deals for next year. That still leaves some decent money to go shopping for a free agent, which will almost certainly be a forward at the top of the list.

Who makes the most sense as a potential signee for the Avs among those expected to be available? These are the things I’ve been hearing after working the phones the last couple of days: