OffThePost.org

Avs sign ANOTHER big kid, this time Croatian winger Borna Rendulic.

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=30359

It's like the Euro portion of the Avs prospect pool doubled in the last month or so.

Did you see my tweets on past articles I'd wrote about Rendulic last night? One U20 game vs. Denmark (Denmark is just a tad more of a hockey power than Croatia) Denmark outshot Croatia 86-18. Rendulic still got a goal and two assists.

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Injustice? Cobain died and Eddy Fucking Vedder lived to haunt us with his shitty fucking voice, trite lyrics and his Eddy Vedderness.



- Ancient Chinese Proverb

Oh, really? No, I hadn't seen those.

Okay, now I have. Interesting.

Sandis Ozolinsh has apparently announced his retirement from hockey.



Hell of a player when he was in his prime.

Avs lose a "prospect" to the KHL. Mark Olver, a pint-sized pest forward whose most notable NHL moment was when he concussed Vladimir Tarasenko a couple seasons ago.

No big loss.

Pint sized... No big loss...

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

2012 2nd round pick Troy Bourke signed to an ELC.

http://blogs.denverpost.com/avs/2014/05 ... 3A+Blog%29

A couple developments: The Avs have opted to file for arbitration with Ryan O'Reilly, which all but assures he'll be in an Avalanche uniform next season. It's a shame though that negotiations, once again, haven't gone too smoothly.

Also, according to TSN, the Avs are shopping PA Parenteau, which I think is risky. One, he's one of only two right-handed forwards on the team (Nathan MacKinnon being the other one), and two, he's one of only two real scoring wingers on the team. Oh, and his contract is actually a really good value, at least IMO. Yeah, he's a bit one-dimensional, but the Avs won't easily replace what he brings. It's not like there are a ton of scoring wingers in the system. Guess Roy might try again to snag Rene Bourque, who knows...

Frankly, I still think Roy should put O'Reilly back at center and leave MacKinnon on the wing, unless the Avs lose Stastny, which makes this all a moot point.

Scuttlebutt on recent contract talks. Apparently things are getting a little hairy with Ryan O'Reilly and the Avs. Again.

The Avs made an offer to Stastny's agent a while back and the two haven't spoken since. But I'm told that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Lots of teams with cap space this year and he is probably the jewel of the market. You know, if I am Stastny, I get really one time in my career when I am at max value to others. If I've come this far, I'm going to listen to everyone otherwise I would have signed on with the AV's six months ago and had the security against injury during that time frame.

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

Yeah, he picked a good time to have one of the best seasons of his career.

At this point I'd be pretty surprised of both he and O'Reilly are re-signed. And yeah, there's a possibility neither will be, which frees up a ton of cap space but also leaves a gaping hole at center, not to mention leaving a shaky defensive team bereft of its two best two-way players. But you have to think they'd at least get something good in return for O'Reilly.

Someone on Twitter suggested doing a Vlasic-for-O'Reilly swap. No way in hell that happens, but I'd do that deal in a heartbeat.

Yea Vlasic ain't going to happen, however there is a team that really needs a 2nd line centre and has a bunch of good young dmen. Vatanen or Lindholm plus one of the their 1st rounders this year for O'Reilly sounds a lot closer.

And from a Nucks perspective that's the frustrating thing, with Thorton, O'Reilly, Statsny and Spezza possibly on all on the market, there is too much supply which diminishes the value for Kesler.

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

It's nice to see the Avs' penny-pinching ways have, ahem, kinda paid off. There's no glaring need for a compliance buyout. The only buyout the Avs exercised last year was on AHL healthy scratch Greg Zanon, and it's not even a compliance buyout.

Any rumor what they're looking for in return for Parenteau? He certainly worked well with Tavares.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

If you believe the rumormongers they want a top-four defenseman.



Honestly if they're shopping PA, I'm guessing it'll be a package deal or some kind, or they'll flip him for a pick/prospect. Pure speculation on my part, I'm guessing they just want to clear some salary space to make room for O'Reilly/Stastny/vet defenseman.

But since I just read that O'Reilly's agent is bitching about the Avs' move to file for salary arbitration, Parenteau might be sticking around.

I didn't know you could trade a player after filing for arbitration, so I guess O'Reilly's a goner. It's too bad--can't help but think his old man is the loudest voice in the room, and frankly the dude's a real flake. Someone should send him the tales of woe of Eric Lindros and Barry Zito. In fact Zito's situation seems eerily similar--he too had a goofy dad who always kept filling his head with mystical motivational mumbo-jumbo.

http://blogs.denverpost.com/avs/2014/06 ... gas/18662/

Dater posts some interesting thoughts. I personally think he's gonzo, and won't blame him a bit if he bolts. This is probably his last big contract in the NHL, no better time for him to cash in now. I also don't blame the Avs for playing hardball in what will be a horrendously inflated market.

Of the possible FA acquisitions, Hemsky looks very, very intriguing. Him on MacKinnon's wing would be...wow. Hell, him on Duchene's wing would be wow as well. Not at all interested in Callahan for the term he will likely get on the open market.

I'll be pretty surprised if Stastny doesn't get more than $6.5 for 5 years. There is so much cash this year and so few worthwhile FA's to spend it on that it really is a sellers market, values will be inflated.

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

Avs decide to draft Conner Bleackley in the first round, whom I'm told compares favorably to Jarrett Stoll or Brandon Sutter. Sounds like a decent role player, but nothing special. A safe pick that makes me think the Avs are hedging their bets on O'Reilly.

The rest of the draft consisted of a lot of big bodies from the looks of it.

I will proudly display my autographed Nick Holden puck! This is one of the worst defensive corps I have ever seen on paper. Lord help the Avs if Tyson Barrie is gone for a longer time or they don't sign OReilly. Might as well welcome Hunwick and Zanon back and then they can sign Martin Brodeur (this wouldn't surprise me).

Somebody forgot to slip management the upgrade the D memo. The young ones are going to have to do even more heavy lifting. If Varlamov gets hurt it could be a battle for a lottery pick next year. Thank goodness for Free Essentia Pillows!

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They talked about improving the D from within--did you want them to do what Washington did and overpay for Niskanen and Orpik (Sakic said the Avs were in on Orpik BTW...bullet dodged there thank goodness)? There isn't anything outside of a Subban offer sheet that'll drastically improve the Avs blueline. They have a few decent prospects and appear to be focusing on them.

The one thing that's encouraging about this bummer of an offseason is that it appears the Avs recognize that the foundation ain't quite there, despite the good showing this season. If they thought the time to go for it was NOW, they probably would have paid Stastny whatever the hell he wanted and gone big on a FA defenseman. I'm not a fan at all of the Stuart acquisition, but if he can at least provide some offense on the bottom pairing and a weapon on the power play, then I suppose it's a decent deal. Holden is bad...REALLY bad defensively, but I don't see how you walk away from a player who provided good offense in a depth role for so cheap.