The Colorado Avalanche released their training camp roster yesterday and the one notable omission is the absence of defenseman Kyle Cumiskey. Although the Avalanche made a qualifying offer to Cumiskey, he has yet to sign a deal. It's hard to imagine what's holding things up...but that certainly hasn't stopped me before. So, here's a few theories I have as to why the Road Runner is still a Lone Wolf.
1) He is trying to leverage his 8 points last year into a massive raise from the $600,000 he made last year.
2) While doing some offseason skating, he accidentally hit 88 MPH and was transported back into a time period before Al Gore invented ice, rendering his skates useless and trapping him in the past until he can find Sarah Connor to train him on how to overturn a robot army.
3) His parents haven't signed his permission slip yet.
Frankly, I'm not sure which of those scenarios is the most ridiculous. I mean, he can't really be asking for much more than his qualifying offer (which would have been at a 110% raise), can he? He's got some great chops and all...but we're still just talking 35 points in 135 NHL games (an average of 22 points per 82 games).
Nope, I find that one harder to swallow than an ACME anvil. I actually think this one is about opportunities. Cumiskey is getting squeezed from both sides on the Avalanche depth chart. Not only are there a bunch of veteran defensemen ahead of him, there's also a few mobile, puck-moving youngsters like Stefan Elliott and Tyson Barrie who will be pushing for playing time sooner rather than later. When we did his grade, we weren't sure where Cumiskey fit in the grand scheme of things and that was before they signed Jan Hejda and Shane O'Brien. That's why my suspicion is that Cumiskey is holding out - figuratively, as he's technically unsigned - for a trade to a team where he might have a better chance to play.
Then again, maybe it really is the permission slip thing.