30 for 30 in 30 - Colorado Avalanche

**AS OF TIME OF WRITNG**

TJ Molland: So at the moment the Avalanche only have 10 players signed. Now in fairness they have 9 RFAs they can and probably will sign. Not a bad strategy, leaving yourself lots of flexibility with cap room and contracts. Being the youngest team (by average) in the NHL but still finishing with more wins (41) than 2 playoff teams (LA - 40,  FLA - 38) has to be promising for this squad. The surprise playoff appearance in 09/10 was marred by the abysmal 10/11 season where they finished with 27 less points than the season before. Last year was a good rebound year for this young team however.

Although they finished out of the playoff picture they showed they are at least capable of competing for a spot in the ridiculously competitive Western Conference. Trading away their top pick was a bit of a gamble but with a young talented team it might be time to seek out some veterans to complement the kids.

Bik Nizzar: I didn’t like the trade for Varlamov when it happened, and I like it less now. For a team that had things going in the right direction, it was too big of a gamble (not trading the pick, the fact that it was Varlamov that they targeted) for an injury prone goalie. Now we all recognize the potential that is there, and he did show flashes of that potential in the back-end of the year, but he also showed the other side of the spectrum where he lost 7 in a row in November and had to allow JS Giguere to come in to remedy the situation.

Their biggest problem was defense, and they addressed that by going out and trading for Erik Johnson. I wasn’t crazy about that deal when it first broke (because they gave up Chris Stewart AND Kevin Shattenkirk), but they’ve done a great job since then, especially at the last draft. They hit an absolute home-run with Gabriel Landeskog and then followed that up with snagging Duncan Siemens with the 10^th overall pick. I don’t like what’s on their pro-roster for defense, but absolutely LOVE what they’re building with Siemens, Stefan Elliot (who had a brief cameo with the big club last season and did well) and Tyson Barrie. The most intriguing prospect of the 3 is Barrie for me. He’s another over-looked defenseman out of Kelowna. There’s something about Kelowna Rocket d-men that for some reason they go a little later than they should (Barrie drafted in the 2^nd round), but they’ve got such a storied history of producing great NHL d-men. Weber, Keith, Edler, Gorges, Myers, Schenn, Souray, Hannan come to mind, and Barrie could be joining those ranks soon.

There’s a lot of talk about Edmonton being the biggest threat to Vancouver for the Northwest Division crown, and that may be true down the road, but for next season... It might be the Avalanche.

TJ Molland: Totally agree with you on Varlamov. It seemed like a desperation move almost. Not a totally unreasonable trade but they overpaid for a somewhat unproven goalie. He had good numbers but had yet to be the starter for a full season, and apparently those numbers were tough to keep up in a full season. 

I had the fortune of watching Barrie play a couple times in the year he was drafted, and he is going to be the real deal. Same with Elliott, got the chance to follow him and thought actually the Canucks should have made a move up for him. Time will tell with him but I definitely like what the back end in Colorado is looking like. It will still have its ups and downs this year, same with their goaltending, but the experience they get will help them in the future. I still think they should go after one of the veteran defenseman from this year’s crop of free agents, just to have some more stability. A Pavel Kubina or Michal Roszival will go a long way in helping this defense develop. 

Colorado is so tough to dissect because it really is just a patience game with them. Keep the core, keep moving forward, and don't make any irrational moves to disrupt what you have going for you. 

Bik Nizzar: The organization has actually shown remarkable restraint from ownership down to the coaches. Some of their moves could have led to firings but they’ve opted to stick with Greg Sherman as GM and Joe Sacco as coach. I’m never a fan of mass changes, especially with a younger team because it can alter developments of players. I like the idea of bringing in a veteran defenseman, but I don’t know if I want it to be someone who is going to log top 2 minutes. Ice time is what’s going to be best for those 3 prospects. Mike Commodore, Hal Gill, or Mark Eaton could all fill that spot and since they’ve got cap room, maybe the trade route works for them as well. They can afford to take a bad contract for next season and the 2013 UFA’s on D look a bit better. Sergei Gonchar, Roman Hamrlik could help aid those guys along.

It’d be great if they owned a 1^st round pick to add to their offense. But with their cap-space, do they target some of the free-agents? It’s hard to find a team willing to take a chance on a player like Alex Semin but, does he make sense for them? They can’t rely on Peter Mueller being available to them considering his concussion history. David Jones is likely to hit the open market, but he could come back. They’ve got some nice pieces up front, but I would like to see them get that 1 dynamic scorer. And this year’s free agent list basically has Semin or Parise... 

TJ Molland: If they can entice one of those high end players to come play at a reasonable price (which pretty much rules out Alex Semin) it wouldn't be a bad idea. Keep in mind that with a young team, managing the length of contracts will be key. You don't want to end up over paying free agents on long term contracts only to be forced to let one of your young talents go because of cap issues several years down the road. I think they will make a few signings of some veterans to short term contracts just to help them through some growing years and when they really feel they can make a run they will spend the money.