Before I jump into the real purpose of this article, just thought I would tell everyone that Steve Downie re-signed yesterday with the Avalanche. His two year deal holds a $2.65 million cap hit.

The NHL’s free agency period begins tomorrow. As such, I thought I would look at players who the Avalanche could potentially target and sign.

Franly, I wouldn’t expect the Avalanche to sign any free agent goalies or defensemen. The tandem of Semyon Varlamov and J.S. Giguere is just going to be stronger this year. Also, the Avalanche have signed 5 NHL defensemen already, and Erik Johnson WILL be signed, or I’m a fruit bat. Unless Ryan Suter tells the Avalanche that he will play for free, don’t expect them to sign any defensemen. As such, I would look for the Avalanche to target 1-2 wingers, and potentially a fourth line center (though they may elect to just let Brad Malone fill that role, as he had a strong year last year).

Potential Wingers:

-Ideally, the Avalanche will sign Zach Parise. Parise is a fantastic player, and he is good friends with Paul Stastny and Erik Johnson. Perhaps the allure of reuniting with his Olympic linemate Paul Stastny, combined with Colorado being a great place to live, will bring Parise to the Avs.

-P.A. Parenteau scored 67 points last year, and he could potentially fill a hole on Matt Duchene’s wing.

-Jordin Tootoo could work well. He had a good season with Nashville this past year, and it looks likely he will be leaving in search of a new home. If he came to the Avs he could work well on a line with Matt Duchene (not all season, but occasionally), and he could also fill in some fourth-line minutes with strong skill. Unfortunately, Tootoo is a smaller player, something the Avs seem to have too many of.

-Ray Whitney could really work. The man is 100 40 years old and he still put up 77 points last year. That’s 20 more points than any Avalanche player last year.

-Jiri Hudler did have 50 points last year. He might be a nice fit, and he might spread his wings out on a team that doesn’t have Datsyuk or Zetterberg stealing all the ice time.

-Brandon Prust would be a really good energy player for the Avs to add, as a fourth-liner.

-Alexander Semin: I don’t know much about him, other than the fact he is a sniper and everyone whines about his effort level. If the Avalanche feel he could be a motivated player, he might come. He and Semyon Varlamov are good friends, afterall.

Potential Centers:

-Paul Gaustad might be a nice addition in the role of fourth line center. He’s good for about 25 points a year (10 goals), and is a very large player. At 6′ 5″ he could outmuscle other centers in the faceoff circle easily.

-Richard Park was the Penguins fourth-line center for much of this year. He would bring some veteran leadership to the team, as well as strong faceoff skills.

Last year, we got this dude + Duncan Siemens in the first round. This year, nobody. Photo: Bridget Samuels/Flickr.

The Colorado Avalanche did not have a first round draft pick this year, after trading for Semyon Varlamov. However, I watched the round one in case General Manager Greg Sherman decided to make a trade. I’m not surprised that he chose to stay out of the first round. This draft has been touted by many as “underwhelming”, and it seems foolish to lose proven talent for an untested commodity. However, I do have a few notes (some random, some understandable) for the Avalanche.

-The Washington Capitals had the 11th overall pick from the Avs. Fittingly, they chose a player who shares a name (but no relations) with one of the Colorado Avalanche’s most important players in franchise history. Filip Forsberg was the 11th overall pick, which was surprising to a number of scouts who believed he would be gone after the top five.

-You may recall a player named Cameron Gaunce. He played a few games for the Avalanche in 2010-2011, and is probably the Avs most promising defensive prospect behind Stefan Elliott and Tyson Barrie. (Side Note: It feels weird calling Elliott a prospect. Technically this year was his rookie NHL season. However he did bounce in between the Monsters and the Avs. Should we call him a ‘tweener?) Anyways, Gaunce’s little brother Brendan was drafted 26th overall by the Vancouver Canucks. It will be fun to see them play against eachother in a couple of years. (Side note Number Two: I call Gaunce “NPC”. Any guesses why?)

-I know a lot of people, myself included, were perplexed as to why the Avs did not have a second round pick from the Liles trade. Alas, that pick was also sent to Washington for Varlamov. I am not sure, but I think that must be one of the most-traveled pick prior to a player’s name ever being attached to it. First, the Bruins gave it to the Leafs in the Tomas Kaberle trade. Then the Leafs gave it to the Avs in the Liles trade. Then the Avs gave it to the Capitals in the Varlamov trade. Then the Capitals gave it to the Stars in the Ribeiro trade. Basically, it traveled like a communicable disease, or a piece of gossip.

-Pierre Maguire said “woo” or “ooh” at least nine times.

-”Gabriel” was pronounced “Gabrielle” twice.

-Also, a lot of people on twitter have been claiming that the Devils are in the process of trading Parise to the Avs for Giguere and Kobasew. You guys are idiots. Let’s think about this: Zach Parise, captain, one-time 40 goal scorer. Giguere, an aging goaltender; and Kobasew, a player who has failed to meet the 20 goal mark for the past three seasons. The Devils have Martin Brodeur. They are going to play him as long as they can, and then they are going to need a YOUNG goaltender to pop in and hopefully fill the void. DID YOU PEOPLE LEARN NOTHING FROM PATRICK ROY’S RETIREMENT? (Note: I think the Avs could and should make a good case for Parise. However, wait until he hits the free agency market.)

Tomorrow, the Avalanche will be focusing on drafting, but they need to focus on re-signing Shane O’Brien before free agency on July 1. Letting O’Brien go would be a HUGE mistake. Come on Sherman.