BUFFALO – As Joe Sakic spoke during Avalanche practice in the KeyBank Center Wednesday afternoon, two weeks remained until the NHL trading deadline.
The Avalanche general manager predictably was coy about what he might do in the next two weeks, but also made it clear that the one certainty is that he will continue to listen – and, especially with Colorado having a dreadful season and holding down the 30th spot in a 30-team league, not apologize for doing it. That includes waiting to see if there will be offers for iconic Jarome Iginla, 39, who has said he would prefer to have one more run at the Stanley Cup – if he can be moved to a likely playoff team. And it’s no secret that the Avalanche is seeking to upgrade its suspect defense, both next season and beyond, hoping to add a potential cornerstone and quality depth.
“There have been a lot of conversations about a lot of different things,” Sakic said. “We’re in this position, so we’re certainly not going to be buyers at the deadline. We’re going to listen to offers for our (upcoming unrestricted free agents). That’s where we’re at. We want to start our rebuilding process and get younger. I’m not looking to do something big. If something happens, I will listen to get exactly what we want to help the team in the future, and we’ll certainly listen and think about it. But if not, I’m continuing to go into the summer and see how we can improve in the summer. There’s no real deadline that way. But we’ll look at all options to get better.”
Sakic said he will resist the temptation to make a move just to say he did something.
“I’m not going to make a deal just to make a deal,” he said. “If it’s the best possible deal for us long-term, we’ll look at that possible deal and make that decision. But it’s not going to be something for now. It’s not going to be, ‘Let’s do it and shake things up. It has to be what’s best for the Avalanche.”
Sakic left the Avalanche traveling party earlier in the five-game trip that continues Thursday against the Buffalo Sabres long enough to attend the Bruins-Canadiens game Sunday then the Harvard-Boston University Beanpot final Monday in Boston. That fueled flames because the Bruins, one of the Avalanche possible trading partners, had four prospects in the Beanpot final, two on each team – including vaunted defenseman Charlie McAvoy of BU.
“I was just watching hockey,” Sakic said. “There’s really nothing to say. We were doing our due diligence. I went to see players play and some good college hockey.”
Due diligence about what?
“I was just watching,” Sakic said. “There are a lot of good players out there. We were here (in the East) and it was a good opportunity to go watch a couple of college games.”
Sakic acknowledged there is talk out there about the Avalanche considering trading Matt Duchene or Gabe Landeskog, and he didn’t quiet that any several weeks ago when in a previous conversation with The Denver Post, he cited Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and 2016 No. 1 draft choice Tyson Jost (who went four choices ahead of McAvoy) as the untouchables – and stopped there.
“I’m not the one talking about it,” Sakic said of Duchene and Landeskog. “I’m not the one starting it. I will say that where we are at, it’s going to be talked about. It makes sense for people to see where the Avalanche are and start talking different players. That’s probably a compliment to those guys. Because they’re really good players and you’re not going to talk about players who aren’t really good.”
The Avs’ much-cited “core” is the six relatively young players tied up with long-term deals and making $5 million or more: defensemen Erik Johnson and Tyson Barrie; forwards MacKinnon, Duchene and Landeskog; and goalie Semyon Varlamov. Asked (again) if he still had faith in that core, Sakic responded: “I have faith in our team, yes. I don’t like the way our team has played this year at all. . . We’re not happy, and I know we still have to get younger, and we still have some young guys coming in next year. We’re going to free up some cap room and try and keep building up the younger guys.”
Spotlight on: Sabres C Jack Eichel
The former Boston University star, the second choice in the 2015 NHL draft behind Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, led the Sabres in goals as a rookie with 24. He missed the first six weeks of this season with an ankle injury, but has come back strong and has 13 goals and 17 assists in 36 games for Buffalo. He suffered a high ankle sprain in the final practice before the season opener, and returned to the lineup on Nov. 29, getting a goal and an assist against Ottawa.
Avalanche: Matt Duchene sat out Wednesday afternoon’s practice at the KeyBank Center, but he was at the arena and the Avalanche said he was banged up and termed it “maintenance.” … Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said Duchene will play against the Sabres … With Duchene not skating, Colorado’s second line was Carl Soderberg centering Matt Nieto and Mikhail Grigorenko … Bednar said Calvin Pickard will get the start in net, but that Jeremy Smith – who stopped 37 of 40 shots in the 3-2 loss to New Jersey Tuesday – would get another start soon, perhaps Friday at Carolina in the final game of the trip … Grigorenko is playing in Buffalo for the second time, Nikita Zadorov for the first since they came to Colorado from Buffalo in the Ryan O’Reilly trade in June 2015.
Sabres: Buffalo is coming off a 3-2 loss at Ottawa Tuesday night … Former Avalanche forward O’Reilly had one of the Buffalo goals, and he now has 12 goals and 24 assists in 47 games … Defenseman Zach Bogosian was back in the lineup after he was out six games with a rib injury … The Sabres are in Denver to face the Avalanche again on Feb. 25.
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