Adrian Dater
Sven Andrighetto’s days with the Avalanche are officially over.
The deadline for teams to tender qualifying offers to retain their own restricted free agents is today, and Colorado Hockey Now got the list of players NOT qualified, and the veteran winger is one of five who got the bad news. He thus becomes an unrestricted free agent July 1.
The other Avs’ restricted free agents not giving qualifying offers are:
Spencer Martin, G.
Sergei Boikov, D.
Julien Nantel, LW.
Mason Geertsen, D.
I can’t say I’m too surprised at any of the five being on this list, although Geertsen still has some potential, I think. Spencer Martin was supposed to have been a goalie of the future with the Avs, but it just never panned out.
As for Andrighetto, he still is only 26. He had a cap hit of $1.4 million. There has been some speculation he might sign to play in the KHL, but I’m sure he’d rather try to latch on with another NHL team first. He certainly had some good moments with the Avs, most especially that late goal that beat Nashville in Game 5 of the first round of the playoffs two years ago.
But his follow-up season was a bit of a step back. He scored only seven goals and 17 points in 64 games, becoming a healthy scratch late in the season and into the playoffs.
UPDATE: At the last minute, the Avs decided to qualify Boikov after all.