Avalanche Final Grade 2012: TJ Galiardi

2011 Cap Hit: $700,000

2012 Status: RFA

Disappointing. That was TJ Galiardi in 2011-2012 for the Avalanche.

Abysmal. That was TJ Galiardi for the San Jose Sharks.

As bad as he was for Colorado this past season, the formerly tenacious, often gritty, and frustratingly enigmatic TJ Galiardi performed even worse after being traded to the Sharks as part of the multi-player deal for Jamie McGinn. The stats below are damning enough, but then when you take into account the fact that TJ played in only 3 of the Sharks post-season games, his star is definitely fading.

Maybe Galiardi was playing through injuries or maybe it was just an off year, but he is a far cry from the battling pest we grew to know and love during his earlier days in a Unipron. No doubt the Sharks feel the same way. After watching Galiardi frustrate their top players and provide the Avalanche with a visceral spark in the 2009-2010 playoffs, the Sharks were more than willing to give up McGinn in order to bolster their playoff roster with someone like Galiardicus. Unfortunately, all they got was the 2011-2012 version of TJ Galiardi, and the trade is looking quite one-sided as Jamie McGinn excelled for the Avalanche, and trade add-on Michael Sgarbossa ended up leading the OHL in scoring. Point: Sherman.

2012 Outlook: Take into account that Galiardi scored more points (2) in 6 games against the Sharks in those 2010 playoffs, than he did in 14 regular season games and 3 post season games for the Sharks in 2012, and you have the makings of a possibly untendered offer to this particular RFA. My feeling is the Sharks will make a qualifying offer in hopes that Galiardi reclaims his game and becomes the player they - and we - thought he would be.

Cheryl's Take: Damn it. If only The Teej could figure out what type of player he is and fill that role with the kind of determination it took to beef up over last summer, he could be an extremely effective player. His problem is that he has just enough grit to make him look like a grinder and just enough offensive ability to look like a top sixer, but he has neither the consistency nor the skill to fully be one or the other. I picked Galiardi as (one of) my break out players for 2011-2012. I thought that if he got regular shifts with O'Reilly--someone he showed great chemistry with the previous season--he would settle in and flourish. But the extra weight he gained changed his game, slowed him down, and he fell quickly out of grace with his coach. He never really got that back. Sadly, he faced similar difficulties in San Jose. Hopefully, for him, he figures it out this summer...whatever "it" is. Regardless, he will continue to dominate Twitterdom in the most awesomest of ways. Move it, BizNasty. The Teej has taken over.

Galiardi's 2011-2012 Splits: