Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post writes that the Colorado Avalanche are at a serious crossroads after the news that Mikko Rantanen would be out with a serious injury. He wonders if Avalanche GM Joe Sakic will scour the trade market to try and improve his team or chalk up Rantanen’s going down to a sign that the season is lost?
If Sakic does decide to go for it and make trades, he could be forced to mortgage part of his club’s future if he were to pursue someone like Montreal’s Tomas Tatar, Chris Kreider out of New York, or Kyle Palmieri out of New Jersey.
And, it’s not just a winger that the Avs need. As Kiszal writes, “Anybody who watched the fireworks in Tampa Bay’s 4-3 overtime victory against Colorado Monday night at the Pepsi Center could see the Avs don’t have a goaltender who can carry them to a championship.” He notes that currently injured netminder Philipp Grubauer and Pavel Francouz won’t cut it in the playoffs and this is a huge concern for the Avs moving into the post-season. But, don’t expect big changes there as it’s unrealistic to believe the Avalanche could acquire Carey Price or Henrik Lundqvist.
Kiszla also adds that Colorado might have missed the boat when Blake Coleman was moved to Tampa Bay and Tyler Toffoli to Vancouver. Both were players the Avs could have used.
So what’s left? Kiszla writes:
Calling his old friend Steve Yzerman in Detroit to inquire about a deal for a veteran forward as good in the room as Luke Glendening or as scrappy as Darren Helm, might be more palatable for Sakic.
In more of a long-shot deal, Jean-Charles Lajoie sees Canadiens center Max Domi as a replacement for sidelined Avs center Nazem Kadri. Plus, there are still wingers out there like Andreas Athansiou from Detroit or Ilya Kovalchuk from Montreal, so not all hope is lost. That said, none of those players will come close to replacing what the Avs just had to see leave their lineup.
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