This is Ryan again; Happy Summer to you all! I came up with an interesting scenario....

The Avalanche tender an offer sheet to RFA Steven Stamkos for 8years at $80 million. I know what you are all thinking... "Ryan?! Are you kidding me?! Another center?!"... No, not another center... a FRANCHISE center. And I know how you will respond to that... "Ryan! We have enough centers! And we have two franchise centers in Paul Stastny and Matt Duchene!" I think you may know where I going with this...

The Scenario: The Avalanche tender an offer sheet to RFA Steven Stamkos for 8years at $80 million.

Tampa Bay couldn't match a deal of that proportion and they know it. The Avs may have to give up a few picks to do this, but to secure a center of his youth, and scoring caliber is ESSENTIAL for the Avalanche's success in the future. This move will no doubt anger the league and the front office of the Lightning; as a consultation prize the Avalanche should immediately call Steve Yzerman and offer Paul Stastny for a conditional or 4th or 5th round pick (This is a lopsided trade but it may be needed to take the bad taste out of the Lightning's mouth).

Why do this?
The Avalanche need star power; they need a player with the potential to "steal the show" and to give people a reason to come to the Can.

Pros:
The Avalanche get a potential high scoring punch at center of Stamkos, Duchene, O'Reilly/Hishon. With the Avs potentially drafting Huberdeau or Landeskog; adding more scoring power to center would make things that much sweeter. Kroenke spends money.

Cons:
Matt Duchene becomes #2 in the spotlight with the potential of derailing his destiny of becoming the "leader" and "face" of the franchise. This could be devastating to his development. We lose Paul Stastny...sigh. Kroenke spends money and if it doesn't work, will never spend money again. CBA potentially expires without agreement leading to a low cap number which once again devastates the Avalanche.

My take:
Should the Avalanche pull an Edmonton and steal Stamkos from Tampa Bay? Oh hell yes! I really don't care if the league hates the Avalanche for doing this seemingly "un-gentlemanly" move and neither should you (Think about all of the "gentlemanly" hits the Avs have taken resulting in the injuries of our young players). Because in the end, IT IS ALL ABOUT WINNING! Not about playing fair on the business side of things. And besides, even though Steve Yzerman was the only Red Wing I ever respected; he was still a Red Wing and why should we pass on any opportunity to piss them off?

What do you think?