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An Opinion As To Why The Waiving Of Yip Is Extremely Important


Mirtle tweeted this after Yip was claimed: " Predators claimed Brandon Yip on waivers. Leafs didn't put in claim. Was surprised the Avs gave up on him, though." (emphasis is mine)

This comment spun in my brain all last night and since it's Friday and the people I am supposed to be monitoring are doing nothing, I will present my thoughts.


Duchene, O'Reilly, Stastny, Stewart, Shattenkirk, Mueller, Galiardi, Jones, Quincey, Wilson, Yip, Cumiskey. What does this group have in common?

This was the beginning of the Avs' rebuild. The start of the youth movement and rebirth of the team. Two years ago we watched that group, buffetted by older players, make a playoff run. The next year Stewart and Shattenkirk were gone for an equally young Johnson, a draft of Siemens, and Elliott to replace Shattenkirk the next year. It was a trade of youth for youth but also skill for skill and some need for need. The youthful core was still intact, but adjusted. Youth. Youth. Youth. Youth. Youth. The Avalance front office showed us that youth was their plan and it was the future. They would start from this seed and grow.

Then this offseason happened. Varly. Landeskog. Elliott brought up. More youth, more core-ness, but additions to create a "team" not just a core for the future: Hejda, Giguere, Kobasew (shut up Dario), O'Brien. A slight change from the plan, but it fits the mold of developing a team. Then the real changes started to happen.

Cumiskey was traded. He had no place and it makes sense. He never regained his form and no longer fit the larger defense model. But Yip, Yip is different. The Avs "gave up on him". They gave up on a member of their youthful core. Why? Because the core was already done.

I adduce that the front office has established what their core is and the waiving, and losing, of Yip was a sign that the rebuild is done and now the future is at hand. It may not work this year or next, but it's done. They finally gave up on a member of the core, not through trade, but through lack of need.

Yip offers nothing to the youthful core because the core is complete and there is enough in the system to replace him. No more "future" talk. I posit that the Avalanche have turned the corner from "build today, succeed tomorrow" to "we build yesterday, we will win today".

The waiving, and "giving up on", of Yip is minor in the scheme of the team, but humangous big in the picture of the the mindset of the front office. I have been waiting for a trade that involves a youthful core member, like Jones, for a player who can help immediately, as that sort of trade would mark the turning point for the Avs and the plan of the front office. (I also waited for it in order to prove my point that the front office has a concerted plan and will add talent this off season) Though that trade has not come, the Yip transaction I think is an even clearer example of what the front office has for a plan.

In closing, I postulate that Yip's largest contribution to the team, sesame street references notwithstanding, will be that his waiving marked the change in the Avalanche, as a team and front office, that brought them from focusing on rebuilding to focusing on winning.

Also, if I am right, I will look like a genius. If I am wrong, I will have AJ erase any existence of this fanpost.

MileHighHockey.com is a fan community, allowing members to post their own thoughts and opinions on the Colorado Avalanche and hockey in general. These views and thoughts may not be shared by the editors of MileHighHockey.com.

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