Budaj has earned the right to at least attempt to prove himself this season. If the Budaj struggles with consistancy this season, it may be time to ship him and a pick to the Ducks for Bryzy, but let's see how Budaj handles himself first.

Great post!  I pushed it up to the front page so nobody misses this---it's a good discussion to have.

No matter what he does, it never seems like Budaj gets much credit.  He just doesn't have the flair of a star goalie, and he's been stuck with lackluster d-men in front of him so long that he can't help but have a shaky overall record.

I think The Streak showcased what Budaj is capable of when he has 1) confident blueliners in front of him and 2) consistent playing time.  

The Avalanche defensive corps will only be stronger this year, which will help Boots considerably.  

The wild card in all of this is how long it takes Coach Q to figure out that Theodore STILL isn't a good goaltender anymore before he starts Budaj every game like he should.  Without consistent playing time, Budaj will struggle to find a rhythm just like he did at the start of last season.  If he gets to start every game, especially with guys like Hannan and Leopold in front of him, he should be far more solid and reliable.

I hope.

But anyway, I say keep him---for now.

I really like Budaj, and I think the team will give him every chance to be THE guy. I think Theo will get some opportunities as well. Personally, I think Budaj will be a solid starter for several years.

The team is in a good position - they've got a bunch of cap room, so, if Budajodore doesn't work out, they can try to swing a deadline deal. I would love to see Marty Turco fall out of favor enough in Dallas for them to move him, but it's probably more likely to be guys like Roloson, Legace, Denis or Gerber. Meh. It wouldn't totally shock me to hear Khabibulin's name bandied about if the Blackhawks suck again. His cap number is ridiculous...but if the Avs get desperate enough...

Assuming the Flames re-sign Kipper, there's not a ton of compelling names on the FA market next year. Huet. Johan Holmqvist. Kolzing. It doesn't look like we'll be shoring up our goaltending through the free agent market any time soon.

I agree with most of the comments to date and the original post.  Budaj sees the puck well, is technically sound, and 99.9% of the time makes the saves that he should.  I had a baseball coach who was asked why he picked one solid third-baseman over a flashier more athletic fan favorite.  His reply was that the solid guy made all the plays he should, and every now and then gives you something extra.  The flashier guy might make some outstanding mind-boggling plays, but he was also more likely to muff the plays that should have been routine.  That's kinda how I feel about Budaj.

I also think the biggest thing he had going for him late last season was that he wasn't heaping complete and total responsibility on himself to win games.  Early in the season, I think both netminders felt that it was up to him to win/lose games.  I think it put a little too much pressure on him.  At the end of the season, everybody had written off the Avs, so he had nothing to lose by going out and playing well.

The dearth of FA goalies in the coming seasons pretty much precludes beefing up the position during the summer.  I think most of the starters in the league are going to be younger players who were developed by thier own team.

As for Bryzgalov, I watched him a couple of times last season, and I have to say, it would be awful hard for ANY goalie, even Theo, to look bad behind that team.  He may have an inflated value because he's been playing behind a dominant team for the last two seasons.  Remember, wasn't everybody high on Gerber coming from Anaheim?  I just would worry that Bryz would be version 2.0.