On the Colorado Avalanche …
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Elliotte Friedman was on the NHL Network on Friday and was talking about the Colorado Avalanche, and he wonders if Matt Duchene will tell the Avs to trade him.
“I think the other big question is we’ve heard a lot of rumors about guys like Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog. Matt Duchene is a guy you can tell – this is wearing him down. I think my question is going to be at the end of the season is he going to sit down and say, ‘Look, I didn’t like hearing my name in rumors. I don’t like how unsettled this is.’
“I wonder if he’s going to say, ‘Look, it’s time for you guys to move me and I’d like to go.’
“I think there is a possibility that that conversation happens.”
Friedman was on Sportsnet 960 yesterday talking about the Avalanche. Friedman notes they haven’t drafted and developed the greatest, especially when it comes to adding depth to the lineup, something you really need to have now in the NHL.
Friedman on Semyon Varlamov.
“I wonder what his future is. Are they going to buy him out or not. But they don’t have goaltending and they don’t have depth. I think it’s really tough.”
Coach Jared Bednar will likely take a lot of heat how this season played out.
“He’s probably going to take the heat for a lot of it. It’s not his fault. He got into a tough situation. Once the losing started – sometimes guys when it rains, it pours. I think they’re going to make some big decisions this year in the front office, in their organization. I think they’re going to be given a blank canvas to kind of start all over again.
“I just think the biggest question is going to be who are in the key positions of power and which of their core players do they trade to get those pieces.”