Avalanche and Eagles Off to Scorching Start
2019-12-17After a disappointing first round exit to the Minnesota Wild, GM Kirklan Lycar knew he would have a busy summer ahead. Not only revamping the Avalanche, but continuing to build the Avalanche’s AHL affiliate the Colorado Eagles. “We knew our roster makeup was still feeling the effects from not only our cup run the season prior, but also from the 16-17 team.”
In saying that, the Avalanche still had a solid core to work around, revolving around cornerstone players like John Tavares, Mark Scheifele and veteran winger Blake Wheeler. “We know how competitive our division is and having two centreman like John and Mark is imperative in competing with the likes of Dallas and Nashville. Obviously with Crosby in Mcdavid it makes our division tough, you see Dallas going out and acquiring Toews, it’s almost an arms race for centreman in our division.” Lycar would go on to say.
The two trades that stand out for Avs fans this summer are of course the deal with Dallas, acquiring a starting goalie in Petr Mrazek and defenceman PK Subban. And a one for one deal with the Nashville Predators sending power forward Tom Wilson to the music city in exchange for Jeff Skinner. “As always, you want to be careful dealing within the division, but we are happy with both moves.” In Mrazek the Avs hope to have the goalie of their future, throughout Lycar’s tenure it has been a bit of a revolving door with that position moving out Semyon Varlomov, acquiring then shipping out Martin Jones and most recently Mike Smith.
For a top-heavy team like the Avs, Lycar knows how important depth is “We were really happy to bring in Brandon Tanev at the deadline last year.” As well the two-time GM of the year was able to add Brendan Leipsic, Miles Wood, Carl Hagelin and most notably a trade of magnitude with the New York Rangers aquirng Adam Lowry and Jayce Hawryluk. “We are extremely happy with our forward depth, all players should make an impact with our club this year.”
As for the Eagles, Lycar has managed to add some high quality AHL players, most notably trading for Riley Barber, Duncan Siemens, Tyler Gaudet as well drafting Karson Kuhlman. Thus far it has paid dividends as the Eagles have started firing out of the gate winning all three of their first games.
The Avalanche also have had a nice start (3-0) and GM Kirklan Lycar, decided to pull the trigger on a big move. Trading Nikita Gusev, a 2021 first and Valterri Filpulla to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for Evgenii Dadonov. “Obviously a big move, me and Cisco were talking all summer about this one, and we both felt the time was now right.”
As mentioned, the Central is an ongoing arms race, and this move seemed almost necessary for the Avalanche. “I would reject the notion that this move was to keep pace with Dallas, but I’ve never shied away from pulling the trigger, and this was no different.” “If we have a chance to make our team better, we will.”
Notes:
- Dadonov skated alongside Mark Scheifele and Jeff Skinner today in morning skate.
- The Avalanche announced Tuesday that former New Jersey GM Cole Bates has been added to Lycar’s staff in an advisory role. While it is unclear exactly what title he holds within the organization, Lycar had this to say “Cole is one of the brightest scouting minds in the game, we had to have him.”