Jeff Finger and Kurt Sauer didn't want to come back to Colorado to be the 7th defensemen. The Avs have Kyle Cumiskey, but not much else ready for NHL action so it seemed clear that Francois Giguere would be adding some low-salary depth to the Avs. Apparently, the Avalanche have signed defenseman Daniel Tjarnqvist from Sweden. Of course, there's no confirmation from the Avs as of yet.
Tjarnqvist has played recently with the Wild and the Oilers and was in Russia last season. I don't recall much about him, but I think it's safe to say this is a depth move and not much else. According to that article, several Swedish teams were interested in signing him, but the lure of the NHL was just too strong.