Bunny Slope Sports
Should have blogged these stories yesterday but I was pretty hungover and it took all of my low energy to focus on my real job. Couldn't multi task like I usually can. Sad!
Anyways, the Avs dropped two relatively big stories on Wednesday. First, the Avs smartly avoided arbitration with Mikhail Grigorenko (looking at you Tyson) and signed him to a 1 year deal. Second, the Avs have partnered with the Colorado Eagles of the ECHL. And with that, let's dive in. 1. 1 year, $1.3 million. Initial reports indicated that the Avs were offering $900K while Grigz wanted $1.6 million. So $1.3 million is an obviously fair deal for both sides. Only problem I have with it is the length of the deal. I would have much rather had Grigz for two years rather than just the one. Grigz was a top 10 pick who was horribly developed by the Buffalo Sabres. In my book, his potential is still wide open and you could see him grow and become a better player as the season went on last year. He showed flashes of top 6 talent at times when playing with MacKinnon and his puck handling ability is probably the best aspect of his game. I really wish the Avs would have been able to get him on a two year deal. There's no way his agent would let him sign anything longer than that. I'm optimistic about Grigz, and if he has a good year this coming season there's a chance the Avs lose him in free agency. In this scenario, the second year would have given the Avs a lot more flexibility in negotiating an extension. But maybe Grigz drops off the face of the earth, in which case the Avs will come out looking smart. The most important thing about Grigz contract is that we now know how much we have to work with to sign Tyson Barrie, which is right around $6.5 million. I will be saying a nightly prayer between now and Barrie's arbitration date that the two sides get a deal done. With $6.5 million to work with, there is no way the two sides shouldn't be able to work something out before the arbitration hearing. If not, we may very easily have another Rhino Reilly situation on our hands. 2. Great move by the Avs, even better move by the Eagles. Having a connection to the local NHL team will undoubtedly provide a little extra umph for the Eagles when trying to market their team to new fans. Not that the Eagles have a bad product or anything, watching a game at the barn is the tits. If you're a hockey fan in Colorado and you haven't caught an Eagles game then you have to go to one this year, it's too good of an experience not do it at least once. That's all the Avs news until probably Barries arbitration date. Until then, #ThoughtsAndPrayersForANewBarrieContract
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