Adrian’s “All Things Avs” Mailbag

Eric,

Thanks for the good word on “Blood Feud.” It came out in 2006 and sales are still good. Passed the 20,000 mark not too long ago, actually.

So, about Bob and Bread: Yes, the Panthers can afford both. They have $23.9 million of cap space right now, according to the awesome site CapFriendly, and only a handful of marginal restricted free agents to re-sign. So, the money is there and I’m sure they’re going to want to spend it on those two.

Panarin posted a picture on his Instagram today from Madison Square Garden, so he’s obviously now added the Rangers to his visit list. (Will he visit Denver in person still? Nobody is saying, but time is getting late. His agent did visit Denver on Sunday and, yes, the prime topic of the meeting was the Bread Man. If the Avs don’t get Bread Man, they might downplay their interest in him to the media when all is said and done, but trust me, they want(ed) him.

The Avs can sign more than one free agent with that cap space, and I have no doubt they’ll get someone. Anders Lee’s name has bubbled up as one name the Avs may now be looking toward.

I love your new service, and I bought a year.
On the state taxes, Panarin (or any other player) would save state tax on HALF his salary by playing in Florida.
41 games at home are tax-free (plus any games at Tampa, or, in other tax-free jurisdictions), but taxation on the road games is governed by the tax laws of that State.
Former clients playing 10 games on the road in California (Sharks, Ducks, Kings) pay California tax on 10/82 of their salary!
I am a recovering tax attorney of 17 years.
Thanks
Nick

Thank you Nick, and to any and all who have bought subscriptions to Colorado Hockey Now. We’ve had a real strong first two weeks. I won’t divulge specific sales numbers, but I’ll say this much: I had a one-year goal for the number of subscribers I thought I’d need to make a viable go of this. After two weeks, 61% of that goal has been achieved. Thank you so much, to all.

Great point on the tax issue. Zero state income tax in Florida. In Colorado, it’s 4.63 percent. In New York, it’s 8.82 percent. In California, it’s a whopping 12.3 percent. Yes, players have to pay a tax for games on the road, based on that state’s tax rate. A lot of people don’t realize this. Here is a good article that explains all of this on the so-called “jock tax.”

Florida has a built-in advantage in luring NHL players because of the no-income-tax thing. Hey Governor Polis, rescind the Colorado state income tax will ya? We want the Bread Man!

Hi Adrian

You correctly predicted before the series that the Blues were going to defeat the Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals.  If the Avs had won the San Jose series, how do you think Colorado would have fared against the Blues?  Which team would have won that series and why?

Tim Larison

Yes, I did pick the Blues, didn’t I? Some of you might already know this, but I also write regularly for a couple of big sports betting sites – Gambling.com and Bookies.com – and I did pick the Blues to beat the Bruins. I thought the long layoff before the Finals would hurt Boston.

As for an Avs-Blues series: Hmm, tough one. I think the Avs would have matched up pretty well against the Blues. But let’s keep a couple of things in mind here: Nathan MacKinnon hurt his shoulder in Game 7 against the Sharks. He had to receive an injection after the injury to deal with the pain, just to get back out there. Mikko Rantanen was playing on a fractured leg, we later learned. Erik Johnson was dealing with a shoulder that would need surgery. And Ian Cole was receiving injections to deal with hip pain that would later require surgery – on both.

So, I think the Avs would have been maybe just a bit too banged up to move on and beat a Blues team that was pretty healthy overall and was playing great at the time.

Wtf happened over at Bsn?

Nothing too scandalous or anything. I know a lot of you have asked this, so I might as well say something. I think I felt like I needed to really try and be my own boss for the first time in my life. I didn’t want to be that guy who sits in his rocking chair near the end of his life and has regrets over not taking a risk.

I kind of feel like I’d outlived my usefulness there in a way too. I was there when the site launched as a subscription site, and I think I helped them gain liftoff. At some point, I started to think, “Why shouldn’t I do this for myself, and gain more of the rewards and create a site how I’d really want to read it, a purely Avalanche-only site?” I started to feel like I was spinning my wheels too much.

Were there some “creative and otherwise” differences there too? Yeah probably, but like I said, nothing scandalous. It’s just business and stuff happens. I respect everybody there and am grateful for the opportunity to have worked there. There were some really good times, and they’re good people and I truly wish them well. I’m sorry if some of you bought subscriptions there because of me, only to leave. But, hey, I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere for a good long while with this site.

My site is part of a network of new hockey sites, part of a network called National Hockey Now LLC. There are site already in Pittsburgh – PittsburghHockeyNow – and Boston – BostonHockeyNow. Check ’em out.

Do you know what the offer for Drouin was before he got traded to MTL? And did it really not happen because of Yzerman’s hurt feelings after the outdoor game?
Thanks. Greg

Well, that’s a new one. So, the rumor is Steve Yzerman wouldn’t do a deal with the Avs because his feelings were too bruised after the Avs alumni beat the Wings alumni in the outdoor game at Coors Field? Can’t honestly say I’ve heard that. I’d be pretty darn surprised if that were the case. (Here’s a story I wrote on that game when I worked at Bleacher Report for a couple of years).

I don’t think the Drouin talks ever got to a very serious stage as it was. I do think there was some conversation, yeah, but for whatever reason, they didn’t go far.

Hmm, tough one. Since most all NHL nicknames end in “er” or “ie”, or “y”: most are similar. “Biller (Craig Billington), “Smitty (Ryan Smyth), “Footer” (Adam Foote), etc, etc.

But I’ll have to go with one that didn’t end in either manner. I’m talking about Peter Forsberg, forever known as “Foppa.” I always liked saying that to him, “Hey Foppa.” Most teammates called him that. Guys like Joe Sakic just called him “Peter.”

Claude Lemieux’s “Pepe” was a good one. Scott Young was called “Ducky”, so that’s a good one. Chris Simon was “Chief.” Ryan O’Reilly was called “Factor.” Patrick Roy’s original nickname as a kid with the Canadiens was “Casseau”, named in honor of the brand of skinny boxes of french fries he used to always eat from. Later, everyone just called him “Patty.”

I’ll stick with Foppa, though, as my favorite.

Hi Adrian,

Thanks Andrzej,

1. I doubt the Avs would lobby to play in a place like Germany just because they have a goalie from there. It was a bit of a different case when the Avs went to Sweden in 2001 for training camp (yes, when 911 happened) and Peter Forsberg was, I think, one of the selling points the NHL wanted to use for the planned exhibition games there.

It’s more of an NHL thing, though, where they think it’ll be a good market to showcase its product, or maybe a sponsor wanted to pay a huge amount of money, etc. These things are usually planned out well in advance. I haven’t heard of anything imminent on that front regarding the Avs. Since they went overseas two years ago, it might be a while before their next visit.

2. No, there’s nothing to worry about regarding Rantanen. They know roughly what it’s going to cost them (more on a short-term team, between $8-9.5 million I’d bet -or maybe something like $8.5 million per on a longer-term deal. Either way, the Avs have so much cap room that a million or so either way isn’t going to scare them. They would match any offer sheet. I still don’t think there will be any offer sheets out there on July 1st, but I guess you never know. Marner in Toronto is a tempting target, I’ll admit. But I don’t think the Avs would do that. It’s too much of an old boys club in the sense that GMs don’t like to do that to each other. Plus, you lost so much of your draft future by doing these kinds of deals. Joe Sakic is loathe to trade first-round draft picks still.

3. Look, the Avs are going to bring in a name or two via free agency. They know the second line needs help. They want Panarin, but if that’s a no-go, then Anders Lee and/or any of the other names you mentioned become possibilities. I don’t think they’re in on Pavelski, though. Haven’t heard much on Wayne Simmonds either. Michael Ferland is a guy they may be looking at.

It’s all pretty speculative, of course, what will actually happen. Stay patient and just know the Avs are workin’ on it.

Thanks for reading, folks