No matter how you feel about the moves made by Joe Sakic and the Colorado Avalanche, one thing is clear: this is a moment of transformation for the boys in burgundy. But what will the transformation really bring about?
Are we witnessing the beginning of the end, or missing the big picture regarding Colorado’s offseason? It’s been a game of trust with Joe Sakic, both from the fans’ perspective and in his and his management’s approach to roster management.
It’s Super Joe, so we should trust him. Right?
The answer is yes as long as he knows what he’s actually working with, and right now that’s as hard to pin down as it’s ever been. You have Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon, but you also have holes in the lineup, plain and simple. So is it cup or bust, or time to ride out some rugged roads as the crew works on a new build?
The Weight of My Worries
It’s been a great ride covering this team over the past decade, and I think that fact is lost on fans and pundits alike. It’s an easy thing to do: win and increase expectation as a means of leaving behind an era of disappointment.
That decade of success wasn’t created by a lack of self-understanding, but rather by an unyielding honoring of how meticulously the team was built as Sakic burst onto the scene. It was hard work, and there were dark days, but it ultimately culminated in a Cup win in 2022. Somehow, we forget the dark days part.
Those abysmal years were tainted by a team that too often gave gigs to aging veterans with a convoluted sense of being “right there,” always in the mix despite never coming close, time and time again. Sakic came in and acknowledged just how far the team was from the culture and winning ways he knew during his playing days. He saw the team for exactly what it was — a fizzled work that was riding the coattails of the generation of success that he earned.
Does he see what this team is now? It does feel like it. I worry, however, that he sees a much different team than the fans do right now.
Many didn’t want to see Valeri Nichushkin traded at all, much less for picks — and moreover picks that weren’t flipped into a rosterable player. Nichushkin put up a respectable but not elite 17 goals and 49 points in 72 games last season at a $6.125 million cap hit. Ross Colton made more sense, but these aren’t moves to “get a team over the hump,” or make another “cup or bust” push. These moves feel like an effort to restore the room and the relationships inside of it.
I know, these guys appeared close all season, and from my vantage, that was true when times were good. When it all came crashing down, the frustration I heard from Logan O’Connor shifted my view on the matter. This team had great relationships inside of it, but there was undoubtedly some separation.
Now this team is essentially short a line of forwards, and the defensive depth is a shadow of what it once was even with the additions of Jaden Schwartz and Noah Juulsen. So Sakic is stacking futures and seemingly restocking the cupboards — adding multiple mid-round picks while creating significant cap flexibility — but is it to leverage more of these picks and players for another push, or will he ask Bednar and the boys to let it ride and lean on the elite talent?
This summer’s activity has included trading Nichushkin to Columbus and Colton (plus Isak Posch) to Nashville for draft picks and a goalie, while they have, however, re-signed Kulak and Burns on the blue line. I think this is a year where we need to make it work and find a way. Not a year to try and strike lightning in a bottle at the deadline or in free agency.
Self-awareness.
Yes, this team just made it to a Western Conference Final after a dominant regular season (55-16-11, 121 points, Presidents’ Trophy winners). But let’s be honest: they weren’t that close, getting swept 0-4 by Vegas. As easy as it is to say they were never gonna win without a healthy Cale (who missed the first two games of the WCF with a significant shoulder injury and played hurt thereafter), it’s just as easy to point to that as a problem.
They landed Kadri and Roy but no bona fide 6 or 7D, and openly admitted they moved for Blankenburg with other, better options not fulfilled. This isn’t a quick fix, cup-or-bust team, not right now. The window will always be cracked with the elite talent, but it’s not wide open. The window is stuck in place, and any attempt to step through a crack will only close it further.
Let us know what you think in the comments!
