“I’m just happy to play hockey for a living” – A.J. Greer is trying to keep things in perspective

So, how was your summer? For A.J. Greer? Well, it was interesting anyway.

He signed a new contract with the Avalanche, but it was just off his qualifying offer and only one year, and his salary with the Colorado Eagles, should he play there this season, will be $90,000. Some guys are making considerably more, with only similar experience. Sheldon Dries’ two-way contract with the Avalanche, for instance will pay him $395,000 with the Eagles. Ryan Graves’ two-way deal will see him make $350,000 in Loveland.

Greer was the Eagles’ second-leading scorer last season, with 44 points (19 goals) in 54 games. He played 15 games with the Avs. It looks a little odd for Greer to make so much less than those two at the AHL level – though, in fairness, it should be noted that Dries played 40 games with the Avs last year and Graves played 26, while Greer played 15.

If Greer’s relatively small AHL salary had/has something to do with the other thing that made headlines over the summer, well we’ll probably never know. But there is no question that the other thing made for some unsavory headlines, the kind of which teams want in no way in which to be associated.

Greer, along with Sonny Milano of the Columbus Blue Jackets, was arrested July 7 in New York City, after allegedly roughing up an acquaintance in a dispute over a bar tab at a nightclub named 1 Oak. The case is still pending, but the attorneys for both players say the whole thing was overblown and not worthy of any assault charges.

“My mommy spanked me harder than this guy got hit,” Milano’s lawyer, Daniel Ollen, told The New York Post.

Greer’s attorney, Kevin Keating, told the Post, “My client acted lawfully and, frankly, exercised tremendous restraint.”

Asked Monday about the whole thing, Greer had this to say: