Avs sign Kamenev, but where does he fit in and and what’s the holdup with A.J. Greer?

So, the Avalanche ticked another RFA off the list today, signing oft-injured forward Vladislav Kamenev to a one-year, $750,000 Show Me contract.

A broken wrist his first game with the Avs his first year and a dislocated shoulder the second year have limited the 22-year-old Russian forward (he’ll be 23 next month) to just 26 games in his Avs career (two goals, three assists) since being acquired from Nashville as part of the Matt Duchene blockbuster.

It’s difficult to see where Kamenev fits in right now on the Avs’ depth chart, quite frankly.

The way I see it – this is just my opinion, mind you – the Avs’ lines look like this to me right now:

Landeskog-MacKinnon-Rantanen (yes, we know he’s unsigned)

Jost-Kadri-Burakovsky

Donskoi-Compher-Wilson

Calvert-Bellemare-Nieto

Kamenev certainly can make the Avs’ roster out of camp, but where would he play? Do we really want to limit his development again by making him a healthy scratch? Sure, you can send him to the Eagles, but he’s got nearly 150 games of AHL experience.

It will all sort itself out, but Kamenev just doesn’t seem like a great fit anymore on this team, and maybe never really was. I haven’t really liked his game all that much, to be honest. But maybe that’s too harsh, too soon. Injuries have certainly played a big reason as to why things haven’t gone as well as hoped. Sure, he could step in for an injured guy and play well and carve out that niche for himself that has eluded him so far. But I have a feeling this guy may not be around after this one year, or even that long. We’ll see.

The signing of Kamenev to the $750k deal means the Avs’ cap situation looks like this, per CapFriendly:

Two RFAs to go: Rantanen and A.J. Greer. Rantanen’s deal will come home to roost eventually, but what about Greer?

Is his contract situation being held up by his pending legal situation? You know what, I’ve asked a couple people who should know, including his agent and someone from the Avs themselves and…surprise, they’re not talking about it. Like, not a word about it.

When it comes to legal stuff, people clam up quick. It’s essentially in the hands of the lawyers, I assume. His court hearing in New York is slated for Sept. 4. I have no idea which way this will go. But, officially, Greer remains unsigned, and I think it’s fair to guess that a lot of the reason for it might hinge on how the legal stuff plays out.