Every year before the trade deadline, I try to post a little look at the contract situation for the Avalanche for the following season and see if I can predict what might or might not happen on February 27th. This will probably be long enough to fill many leather-bound books, so I'll give you the cliff notes in the opening paragraph. I don't believe the Avalanche are going to be very active at the deadline. 17% of you can stop reading now. And yes, I know Andi did pretty much the same thing 2 hours ago...no one says we can't beat a topic to death here, right?

For the other 83%, here's my rationale. The Avalanche have 6 games remaining until the deadline. As long as they win a couple of those 6, they will likely still be in the hunt. So, very little chance that they would be major sellers at the deadline. On the flip side, I don't see them as buyers either. As you know, they are a tad short on high draft picks next year. And honestly, they don't have a ton in the way of desirable prospects in the minors. To add injury to insult, the Avs seem to be focused on remaining on the cap floor (remember, with all those deals last year the Avalanche didn't add any salary). With Pierre Lacroix *cough* Greg Sherman in charge, there's always the chance of a big Johnson-Stewart-Shattenkirk type deal, but I don't think that's in the cards this year. More on that in a bit. First, let's take a look at next year based on position. Oh, and I'm not bothering to spend much time talking about cap numbers here; salary is not an issue with this cheap *cough* fiscally conservative club.

Goalies

This one's pretty straight forward. Both Semyon Varlamov and J.S. Giguere are under contract next year. Varly isn't going anywhere. I would not be surprised if other GMs were calling to ask about Giguere, but he's such a key component on so many levels it would take an overwhelming offer to pry him away and I don't think that's going to happen.

The Avalanche also have Calvin Pickard, Cedrick Desjardins and Trevor Cann under contract. Pickard will make the jump to the AHL next year. Desjardins and Cann are both free agents this summer, but neither would be highly sought after at the deadline.

Defense

This is an area that could be interesting. On the veterans side, Jan Hejda and Ryan O'Byrne are both under contract next year. Erik Johnson, Ryan Wilson and Kyle Quincey are all RFAs. Matt Hunwick and Shane O'Brien are both UFAs on July 1st.

Clearly, Erik Johnson is not going anywhere. Jan Hejda has been the Avs' best defender; there's very little reason for him to be moved. I know O'Brien has been mentioned as potential trade bait due to his UFA status, but I think O'Brien has been extremely valuable to the Avs both on and off the ice. I can't see them parting with him.

The other four? Probably available. While neither Stefan Elliott or Tyson Barrie have shown yet that they absolutely have to be in the lineup, the Avalanche have enough depth here to move one or two blueliners without doing too much damage. Kyle Quincey is probably the most desirable of the bunch and probably the one the Avs would most like to move; his $3.25 million salary is fairly reasonable for October Quincey but is a huge overpayment for March Quincey. I think Ryan Wilson might be another guy the Avalanche would listen to offers for; he is a big hitter and has been, at times, a defensive beast. He's also maddeningly inconsistent. While the Avs anyone who hits like him, they have several others now who are better defenders. It would not shock me to see him moved. It would surprise me to see Ryan O'Byrne moved - I think he's quietly had a very solid season - but I don't believe he is as untouchable as Johnson, Hejda and O'Brien. Finally, I feel very badly for Matt Hunwick. He's a better player than we've seen with the Avs, but he can't crack the lineup which will severely hamper his chance to be moved to a team that has a spot for him.

My gut feeling is that Quincey moves at the deadline for a forward, Hunwick escapes via free agency this summer and O'Brien (UFA) and Wilson (RFA) re-sign with the clube leaving a core squad next year of: Hejda, Johnson, O'Brien, O'Byrne, Wilson, Elliott and Barrie. Also under contract next year: Duncan Siemens, Cameron Gaunce (maybe the one LEM player I could see the Avs trading at the deadline) and Joel Chouinard.

Forwards

As of today, the Avalanche have three players under contract next year: Paul Stastny, Gabriel Landeskog and Chuck Kobasew. More or less the holy trinity, right? Ryan O'Reilly and Matt Duchene are both RFAs who will certainly be back. Peter Mueller is also an RFA; I'd say he's a safe bet to come back...but if he suffers another setback before this summer, the Avalanche just might get cold feet. T.J. Galiardi is an RFA who would probably get a QO (at $700,000 salary, worth the low investment). Kevin Porter, however, would appear to be an unlikely tender at this point.

With Stastny, a trade has been imminently imminent since last summer but has strangely not happened yet. I don't think he's going anywhere. I believe the Avalanche still consider him a cornerstone player and the move of Matt Duchene to wing relieves some of the pressure to move a core center. His $6.6 million salary is no issue for the Avs (guffaw), but teams who actually try to be competitive would probably need to clear room to add him. And while he's playing better lately, his productivity has dropped 3 years in a row and the Avs would definitely be selling low here if they did make a move. I don't think he's going anywhere.

Along with Porter, the Avs have a bunch of UFAs this summer. Milan Hejduk and David Jones are the two most prominent names. Hejduk is the one player on the Avs with a no-trade clause. I have a feeling this might be it for Milan (36 tomorrow), but you never know. I do know that if he wanted to go to a contender for one last Cup run, he probably would have been moved a year ago, which makes me fairly confident that Hejduk will finish out his career in an Avalanche uniform. Jones is an intriguing case. Despite flashes, he hasn't proven to be consistent top 6 talent and his time with the Avs may be nearing and end. But the Avs need offense and Jones has shown signs of heating up. I have a hard time picturing another team offering a ton for Jones, and I suspect the Avs will ride out the season with him and evaluate his future with the team this summer.

Other UFAs: Jay McClement, Dan Winnik, Cody McLeod and David van der Gulik. Playoff teams could use a guy like McClement or Winnik or even McLeod in certain situations. But since the Avs aren't really sellers right now, they probably are holding on to all of them.

Bottom line, no one player stands out as being clearly on the block. The few guys that could be available are valuable enough to the Avs that a trade isn't highly likely. As for next year, count on starting with Stastny, Duchene, O'Reilly, Landeskog, probably Galiardi and Mueller with a hopefully-healthy Joey Hishon in the mix (Brad Malone and Luke Walker are also under contract). Beyond that, I think we may see some new faces in the lower half of the depth chart...but I don't foresee large changes here at the deadline.

Well, there you have it. As it looks now, it seems to boil down to moving Kyle Quincey for the scoring help the team didn't add via free agency in the offseason. There have certainly been surprises in the past, but I think this deadline is going to be fairly quiet from an Avalanche perspective.

It's that time of year again. The trade deadline is almost upon us. GM's phones are buzzing constantly and fans wait with bated breath to see who they will be welcoming and saying good-bye to in the next few days.

Let me go on the record as saying that I personally don't think the Avs are going to do too much this year. With the CBA almost up and 16 of our 24-man roster looking for extensions, I don't think we'll see any big blockbusters like we did last season. Even though that seems slightly counter-intuitive, we don't have the gaping holes in our roster that we did last year. There are still a lot of battles for spots going on right now, and unless Sherman is 100% sure that a player has no future with the organization, I think he'll just sit on his hands and see how the rest of the season plays out before shaking things up this summer.

But knowing this team, assuming that they'll be quiet almost guarantees something's going down before Monday, February 27 at 3:00PM EST.

Either way, deadline speculation is fun and entertaining. The "what-ifs" are endless, and it gives us something to talk about on non-game days.

Coming up to the deadline, teams are generally considered either buyers or sellers. I'd say the Avs are likely to be both this year, but they'll probably be more interested in selling than buying. However, there are plenty of areas that the team could realistically decide to change up over the next few days. I'll break them down after the jump.

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Joe Sakic isn't exactly known for giving interviews. Even though he's been the Avs' Executive Advisor for 10 months now, it's rare that we hear anything from him. However, he joined Peter McNab and Mike Haynes on Altitude during the first part of the 2nd period of the game on Friday. I paraphrased what Super Joe said during in the GDT, but now that the GameCenterLive blackout is up, I thought I'd write down the full transcript for everyone who missed it.

After the jump, there are some real gems from the long-time face of the franchise, including some really nice words about O'Reilly and Landeskog, what seems to be a premonition of a goal and it's subsequent breakdown by a guy who knows how Stastny and Hejduk play first-hand, his day-to-day life on the job, Milan as the Captain, the importance of playoff experience for young players, and what he sees as the future of the franchise.

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Those of you who know me, know that I love talking about the philanthropist ways of hockey players. Matts Sundin has decided to do some good.

Retired Toronto Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin is donating roughly $330,000 to fund a scientific exchange program for medical researchers in Canada and Sweden, with the aim of examining questions around developmental health — tracing the link between illnesses in adults and their formative years.

"When you visit Sick Kids Hospital and see the kids who are sick, even life-threatening ill, and what they’re going through with various treatments, you want to reach out and help," Sundin said at a news conference on Friday. "This program supports scientists trying to understand the most important thing; the importance of the first 2,000 days of our lives."

Jeremy Roenick has a rather large mouth, almost as big as Patrick Roy's ears (have you seen those Stanley Cup rings? They are massive!). Can you see him as an owner?

"We’ll see what happens. But the team is very, very interesting. If you can somehow get a hold of the building along with the team, then it becomes a different scenario."

Roenick currently lives in neighbouring Scottsdale, and according to the Arizona Republic, he was approached weeks ago by Greg Jamison. Jamison — the former CEO of the San Jose Sharks — has expressed his interest in buying the team.

Quebec really wants another NHL team, and apparently they might be closer to having an arena than many thought.

The public rarely sees how stories are made in the mainstream media. But the recent news about Quebec City’s preparedness for the NHL offers a unique exception. It also gives insight into how the In Plain Sight principle works in Canadian media.

Viewers watching Tuesday’s Prime Time Sports on Sportsnet, or listening on Sportsnet Fan 590 Radio, heard an interview with Quebec City lawyer Marcel Aubut, ostensibly about his role as chairman of the Canadian Olympic Association. As the chat neared an end, host Bob McCown casually segued into asking Aubut about the odds of Quebec City getting the financially strapped Phoenix Coyotes. Specifically, when could they have a new arena up and running? Any time now, Aubut said. The financing is in place for a new arena and we’re ready to go, he said. The news about a shovel-ready arena surprised both McCown and co-host Stephen Brunt. Clearly, neither had any idea that the arena plans were so advanced and said so.

Gordie Howe's son is talking about his father's memory loss, he seems to think it has to do with concussions.

But the younger Howe, 57, says he has no doubt his father’s condition is related to concussions, one of hockey’s hot-button issues.

"I can just about guarantee it," Marty said.

"His first year in the league when he went headfirst into the boards, they had to drill a hole in the side of his head to relieve the pressure on his brain. It’s like when you break your arm when you’re 12. At 30, it’s going to hurt you later. It’s the same thing with your brain. I know he’s had other concussions (a teammate once nailed him in the back of the head with a hard clearing pass). You play 33 years at that level without a helmet and things are going to happen."

Overall, Marty said his father "is okay." The son encourages the father to take naps in the afternoon, but at the same time, the family attends "50 to 60" public events a year, which "give him something to look forward to."

Even though content usually doesn't run on Sunday, I figured I'd share this with you all anyway since I promised I would.

Alright, I'll admit it - I'm a nerd. Even though I wasn't big into comic books growing up, superhero movies are always some of my favorites. So, after Ryan O'Reilly's positively dominant night on Friday and his new "you won't like him when he's angry" status, I decided to weigh in on our ongoing Avalanche Superhero debate with a photoshop of my own. Since the Avengers are the hot topic right now in the movie world, I decided to compare them to just our Top Six and I was actually surprised how well the comparison worked. More details after the jump....

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At the end of tonight's game, Blues' play-by-play guy John Kelly said the line that Avalanche have heard time and time again: "thank you, thank you, thank you". Although he was directing it at Patrick Berglund for firing the winning shot toward the goal, it could have equally applied to Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov. His teammates can thank him for getting them a point tonight.

The Avs were playing the 2nd night of a back-to-back - with travel - and it showed. The Blues had the better jump out of the gates...and then pretty much every step of the way until the end. The first period was a whistle-heavy affair - offsides, icing, frozen pucks and three brutally stupid penalties by the Avalanche (Jay McClement, Chuck Kobasew and Ryan O'Byrne). The Avalanche had killed off 13 straight penalties going into tonight, nearing their season high of 15. They didn't make it. David Perron scored on the first PP (with McClement in the box for an inexplicable tackle on Barrett Jackman) and then followed it up with a goal on the 2nd PP (a 5 on 3 with Chuck Kobasew off for blatantly obvious trip, and O'Byrne off for a dumb-headed boarding play). The Avalanche managed a couple of goals of their own, with David van der Gulik winning an offensive zone draw and dropping it back to Shane O'Brien with a beautiful shot that either fooled Elliott or was deflected. And Erik Johnson later scored on a blistering point shot on the PP, doubling his goal output for the year.

That would cover the regulation scoring. The Avalanche didn't have a ton of steam to start with and lost ground as the night went on. They were outshot in every period and the margin got wider as the night went on: 11-8 in the first, 13-6 in the 2nd, 18-4 in the 3rd. I'm not really picking on the Avs here, as it was clear they didn't have much in the tank and did their best to hang on against an onslaught from a sharp St Louis team. All in all, the Blues fired 79 shots, with 44 of them making it on net. The Avs took 35 shots, with 19 getting through to Brian Elliott.

Although several Avs looked okay tonight - O'Reilly and Landeskog (again), Johnson, David van der Gulik in a strong cameo role - the Avalanche story tonight was Semyon Varlamov. The first Perron goal was kind of shaky (he seemed to have it stopped but then lost the puck into the net when shifting his pads), but he appeared to gain strength as the night wore on while his teammates were wearing down. There was a shift midway through the 3rd where the Avalanche were stuck in their zone for a LONG time (Jan Hejda ended up on the ice for 2:54); I was fairly certain that was going to end poorly, but Varly made some huge saves and kept his team alive.

The Blues eventually scored late in OT (on a deflected knuckler that fooled Varly), but the fact that the Avalanche managed a point tonight is a testament to the strong play of Varlamov. Next time, hopefully they'll have some fresher legs so they can get him that much needed must-win.

• 3rd period Varlamov (18 saves)
• 2nd period Varlamov (13 saves)
• 1st period Varlamov (9 saves)
  

• Landeskog - O'Reilly - Mueller
• Jones - Stastny - Hejduk
• Winnik - McClement - Kobasew
• McLeod - van der Gulik

• Quincey - Jones
• Hejda - O'Byrne
• O'Brien - Barrie
• Wilson

Wasn't watching the Avs' feed, so not sure where Galiardi was tonight. Healthy scratch?

• Milan Hejduk played in his 967th regular season game, tying him for 2nd on the franchise all-time list (about 400 behind Joe Sakic). However, for just Avalanche totals, Hejduk is #1.
• The next active Avalanche players on the list? Paul Stastny (402) and Cody McLeod (323), followed by David Jones (214), Ryan O'Reilly (211) and Matt Duchene (200). Crazy.
• Tyson Barrie had just 11:44 of ice time, lowest of the 7 D the Avs dressed

NHL.com recap

Game Summary

Event Summary

NW matchup on Wednesday, with Avs in Vancouver. Oh fuck.

For so many reasons...WIN THIS GAME

Big game. The Avs are in St Louis tonight - their 7th back-to-back out of 10 this year - in the 4th and final matchup against the Blues (and the second straight game against a Stewart brother). With a win and a Phoenix regulation loss, the Avs will pass the Coyotes and the idle Stars and move into 8th. With a loss, they could fall behind Minnesota and Calgary; both are just a point behind and are in action tonight. With the Avs looking at anywhere from 8th to 12th based on this game, we're comfortable calling it a must-win - especially as their next two games are against NW teams.

The Avs have been in better shape offensively lately, with some new guys like Paul Stastny, David Jones and Milan Hejduk arriving on the scene to make a big impact. I don't know where those three came from, but it's been great to have some secondary scoring for Gabriel Landeskog and Ryan O'Reilly.

That added offense will be needed tonight, as the Avalanche will face the superb Brian Elliott tonight (not that facing Jaroslav Halak would have been any easier - both goalies have been ridiculous this year and St Louis has 10 total shutouts). The Avs will go with Semyon Varlamov, who has three straight losses and will need a BIG game tonight. He's 3-0 with a 1.62 GAA lifetime against St Louis.

I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone that Chris Stewart and Kevin Shattenkirk have 10 points in 5 games against the Avs since the trade.

Milan Hejduk ties Adam Foote with 967 games with the franchise, #2 all-time. I guess he's not so new after all?

	Stats
56	GP	53
28	W	32
25	L	14
3	OT	7
59	P	71
0.527	P%	0.670
2.45	G/G	2.47
2.77	GA/G	1.94
18.9	PP%	13.0
82.3	PK%	81.0
31.5	S/G	31.2
29.1	SA/G	26.4
52.1	FO%	49.8