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Colorado Avalanche: Evaluating the Qualifying Offers

By Nadia Archuleta |
SAN JOSE, CA - APRIL 05: Matt Nieto #83 of the Colorado Avalanche looks on during the game against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on April 5, 2018 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Rocky W. Widner/NHL/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Matt Nieto
SAN JOSE, CA - APRIL 05: Matt Nieto #83 of the Colorado Avalanche looks on during the game against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on April 5, 2018 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Rocky W. Widner/NHL/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Matt Nieto

The Colorado Avalanche made five qualifying offers and will let another five players walk into unrestricted free agency.

As expected — and mandated — the Colorado Avalanche made their qualifying offers to restricted free agents yesterday.

As a refresher, teams must make such an offer to restricted free agents in order to keep negotiating with them — the deadline was yesterday. The offer calculator is as follows:

  • 110% of the base salary if the base salary is less than or equal to $660,000
  • 105% of the base salary if the base salary is greater than $660,000 or less than $1,000,000. However, this qualifying offer cannot exceed $1,000,000.
  • 100% of the base salary if the base salary is equal to or greater than $1,000,000.

The Avalanche extended qualifying offers to the following five players:

The following players were not extended qualifying offers and so become unrestricted free agents on July 1:

I’d say there aren’t any real surprises on either of those lists. However, let’s look a little more in-depth at some of the players on the lists.

Qualifying Offers

Defenseman Patrik Nemeth is probably the least-surprising name on this list considering we’ve been hearing rumors for weeks that the Avs want to sign him. He made $900,000 last year, so the offer must have been at least $945,000.

I’m really glad to see Matt Nieto on that list. He’s not a wow player, but the 25-year-old winger is young and versatile. He slotted in well with the checking line last year and even performed admirably on the penalty kill — I wouldn’t have expected that to be an area of strength for him.

Nieto made $1 million last season after filing for salary arbitration, though the two sides settled beforehand. The offer had to be at least $1 million.

I’m not too surprised to see Spencer Martin on this list. After Semyon Varlamov and Philipp Grubauer, Martin is the next NHL-ready goalie. He’s got just three games of experience, but that’s three more than anyone else in the Avs organization. His QO had to be at least $750,000.

I wasn’t sure which way Mason Geertsen would go, if the Avs would qualify him. The 23-year-old defenseman has no NHL experience, but he’s been a staple at the AHL level. His QO had to be at least $750,000.

I forgot who Ryan Graves was at first. He’s the last-minute trade deadline move Joe Sakic made, sending Chris Bigras over to the New York Rangers in exchange for Graves. The 23-year-old defenseman in another staple of the AHL with no NHL experience. His QO had to be at least $650,000.

Of the five players on this list, I expect only Nemeth and Nieto to have any impact on the Colorado Avalanche next season.

No Qualifying Offer

Five players did not receive qualifying offers from the team.

I was sad but not overly surprised to see Duncan Siemens’ name on this list. I was more surprised to see him receive a qualifying offer from the team last season. The 24-year-old shutdown defenseman has 25 games of NHL experience. I thought he played well, especially in the playoffs, but it apparently wasn’t enough to impress the Avs.

We all saw the writing on the wall with Nail Yakupov, who spent a lot of last season — especially at the end — being a healthy scratch. It’s been rumored he’s heading to the KHL, and I hope he has a great career there and makes boatloads of money. He was one of the most likable players on the Avs.

The other three players are career AHLers. The Colorado Avalanche are probably clearing the way for their prospects. Colorado has been doing a better job of drafting talent recently, so they probably need the space on the Colorado Eagles.

Plus, you can always find oodles of these players in free agency.

Next: Avs Get Good Deal in Grubauer

Overall, I think the qualifying offers the Colorado Avalanche made will benefit the team. And I don’t think they’re losing anything significant with the players who enter unrestricted free agency this weekend.

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