Happy Canada Day! In honor of Canada's birthday, we have this raucous live thread going. Also, it's the start of NHL free agency. But, you already knew that. It's why you're here.
For those who are new here, free agency day live threads can be a blast. And today should be a very interesting day. The majority of MHH readers (about 2/3) think the Avalanche should be pursing Ilya Kovalchuk, but a source with the Avalanche has told Adrian Dater this won't be the case. The Avs could probably use another defenseman (Anton Volchenkov, Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek were the three receiving the most votes in a MHH poll last week), but will the Avs spend ANY money? Are the Avalanche committed to building slowly (a tactic that no team I can think of has pulled of successfully in the age of the salary cap)...or are they still trying to keep costs at a bare minimum (the rumored Tom Preissing buyout would be an argument fort he latter). Or, is there some subterfuge involved? We'll know in a few hours.
I generally stick with the TSN trade tracker for trades. Of course, there are about a zillion twitter accounts now with breaking trade news. Dater always does a good job with breaking news on his feed. Of course, there's always Bob MacKenzie, Darren Dreger and Pierre Lebrun. There's a MHH feed too, but don't go there for breaking news...this thread is the best place for that.
We'll try to keep this main article update with moves today, but deals by the Avalanche and movement by former Avs; the only UFA the Avs are expected to retain is Matt Hendricks, and even that isn't a guarantee. Shane bids a fond farewell to our departing free agents over at Avs Talk. And Jibblescribbits has his picks for who the Avs should pursue.
Avalanche Signings:
Potential Avalanche Targets:
F Ilya Kovalchuk
F Alexander Frolov
F Matthew Lombardi
F Ray Whitney
F Raffi Torres
F Lee Stempiak
F Alex Ponikarovsky
F Yan Stastny
D Paul Martin
D Dan Hamhuis
D Anton Volchenkov
D Zbynek Michalek
D Willie Mitchell
D Kurt Foster
D Andy Sutton
D Pavel Kubina
D Henrick Tallinder
D Toni Lydman
D Jon Scott
2009-2010 Avalanche Players:
F Darcy Tucker
F Marek Svatos
F Matt Hendricks
F Stephane Yelle
F Chris Durno
F Brian Willsie
F Darren Haydar
F Julian Talbot
F Codey Burki
F Marty Sertich (signed with Swiss NLB)
D Brett Clark
D Ruslan Salei
D Brian Fahey
D Derek Peltier
D Wes O'Neill
D Brett Skinner
G Tyler Weiman
G John Grahame
Other Notable Former Avs:
F Paul Kariya
F Alex Tanguay - Calgary Flames, 1 year, $1.7 million
F Teemu Selanne
F Owen Nolan
F Brad May
F Tyler Arnason
D Derek Morris
D Martin Skoula
G Jose Theodore
G Andrew Raycroft