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Colorado Avalanche: Joe Sakic Sends Message to Core

By Jeremy Lambert

Nov 28, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog (92) celebrates his goal with center Matt Duchene (9) and center Nathan MacKinnon (29) and defenseman Erik Johnson (6) and defenseman Francois Beauchemin (32) in the first period against the Winnipeg Jets at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 28, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog (92) celebrates his goal with center Matt Duchene (9) and center Nathan MacKinnon (29) and defenseman Erik Johnson (6) and defenseman Francois Beauchemin (32) in the first period against the Winnipeg Jets at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /
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In a recent interview, Joe Sakic sent a very clear message to the core members of the Colorado Avalanche.

It’s been a frustrating couple of seasons for the Colorado Avalanche and their fans. After Korenke Sports Entertainment replaced head coach Joe Sacco and general manager Greg Sherman with Avs legends Patrick Roy and Joe Sakic, fans became hopeful.

The Sakic and Roy duo delivered in their first season, leading the Avs to a division title in the league’s toughest division. The playoffs didn’t go our way, but the future looked bright.

It’s been downhill ever since. Back-to-back seasons that ended without the playoffs, crushing injuries, poor play, and questionable decisions plagued the team. Not quite good enough to make the playoffs and have a chance at the Stanley Cup. Not quite terrible enough to end up with a top-five pick. The Avs were in NHL mediocrity, which is the absolute worst place to be.

The offseason always brings that hope back. Last year, the Colorado Avalanche were extremely busy. First, they traded for and signed Carl Soderberg. They followed that up at the draft by dealing Ryan O’Reilly and Jamie McGinn for Nikita Zadrov, Mikhail Grigorenko, and J.T. Compher.

In free agency, the Avalanche signed Francois Beauchemin to partner with Erik Johnson and Blake Comeau to add forward depth. These were big changes and ones that seemed to improve the team’s standing in the league.

During the regular season, they added Shawn Matthias, Eric Gelinas, and Mikkel Boedker at the trade deadline, hoping to make a final push for the playoffs. Ultimately, these moves failed as the team flamed out down the stretch.

Now, it’s a new offseason. A time for new hope. The rumor mill started out hot for the Avs. Tyson Barrie was certainly a goner, they were going to break-up the core of Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog, and Nathan MacKinnon, they were going to trade Semyon Varlamov. Basically, no one on the Avs roster was safe.

Sakic squashed all that talk in an interview with Mike Chambers of the Denver Post saying:

"“I’d like to do a long-term deal with Tyson (Barrie). If that doesn’t work out, it’s expected he’ll go to arbitration. Either way, he’ll be here.”"

He followed that by expressing his belief in the Colorado Avalanche core, saying, “Our core, we’re expecting to make the next step.” Then, he announced that the team wouldn’t be major players on July 1st, the start of NHL free agency:

"“We’re not going to be looking that day. As the summer goes on, we’ll see what good fits are. But on the July 1, don’t expect us to go after any big long-term deals.”"

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Sakic is basically telling the fanbase that he’s gearing up for one more ride with this current group. And I’m fine with that.

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Blowing it up would be the easy thing to do, but it would be counter-productive to how teams typically win a championship. MacKinnon, Duchene, and Landeskog are top-end talents who are on the cusp of breaking through. Maybe they never do, but why give up on that group when the oldest of the three is only 25-years-old?

The problem with the Colorado Avalanche over the past two seasons is that they’ve been too willing to move their core pieces. Paul Stastny and Ryan O’Reilly were core members of the team that were lost and never really replaced. While you can argue that neither are worth the contracts that their current teams paid them, you can also argue that the Avs would be a better team if they had been able to keep both guys. Losing a core team member for the third straight season just isn’t a winning recipe.

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That’s why it’s refreshing to hear Sakic say that the Colorado Avalanche won’t make a major play at the draft or on July 1st. I don’t take that to mean that the team will make no moves — I take it to mean that they’re going to trust the guys they currently have and then add the proper pieces around them.

Joe Sakic’s comments are a message to the core: “We trust you, don’t let us down.” After two painful seasons, that’s the right message to send. Now it’s on the players to respond.

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