Sakic: Looking at ‘Impact Players’, Wants ‘Depth’ Goalie

Joe Sakic met with some media today, and unfortunately, I was not part of the mix. Basically, my wonky back seized up on me and I had to take a bunch of steroids just to be able to move again later in the night. I am slated for surgery at some point on the back.

In a nutshell, Sakic basically said the recent injuries to the team won’t change the team’s outlook for Monday’s NHL trade deadline. That’s not to say a deal or two won’t still happen, though. And, Sakic made the rare public disclosure of the type of player he’ll be looking for by Monday: another goalie.

“The (injuries) won’t change anything. The only thing we might do is look for a depth goaltender, to protect ourselves,” Sakic told Altitude TV between periods of tonight’s 3-1 Avs win.

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That said, again, don’t be shocked if there is another deal or two. Sakic said there are “certain guys” the team has been looking at for a month or so who would be a “good fit in our dressing room…impact players.”

Impact players, hmmm. So, on the one hand, Joe Sakic says the injuries won’t change anything with regard to the deadline, and on the other hand he’s saying they’ve got their eye on guys they’d like to get who would be “impact players.”

Sakic did say that any of none of the team’s top prospects – like a Bo Byram, Connor Timmins, Martin Kaut or Alex Newhook – are going anywhere.

“We know what we’d like to add, but we know what we’re not willing to part with,” Sakic said. “Over the last, I don’t know how many years, it hasn’t paid off for a lot of teams, just giving up assets for a run. We feel we’ve got a deep team here and more than content in staying with it. But, it’s my job to see what else we can maybe do here.”

I think what we’re looking at here, maybe, are straight hockey trades. Player for player. Don’t expect it to be any huge contract coming back this way, though. There are potentially a lot of goalies available, for one thing. The kid Georgiev from the Rangers could be one, or maybe a Robin Lehner or maybe a Ryan Miller or a Craig Anderson or maybe a whole bunch of guys.

Sakic said “all of the injured guys are going to be back by the end of the year.” That presumes Philiipp Grubauer too. That explains why a “depth” goalie is likely to be coming. But what does that mean for a Pavel Francouz? Don’t forget, he’s a UFA next year. Does this mean the Avs would really carry three goalies for the playoffs? Or, might they be dealing Frankie?

Heck, I’m not sure on that one.

It’s clear that something is going to go down by Monday. If I had to guess who on the roster might be on their way out as part of one of these “hockey trades”, I guess it could come down to someone like a Jost or a Nieto or a Zadorov, maybe a Kamenev.

It’ll be a tense few days for some guys, no doubt, but eyes around the league will be on Joe Sakic and the Colorado Avalanche.