Dater’s Daily Links: Avs standing pat in goal?

Happy Friday to all. We’re another day closer to this terrible year of 2020 ending. My first note is one about the state of the Avs and their goaltending.

• Joe Sakic indicated on Thursday that he’s not worried about his team’s goaltending for next season, and that the injuries to Philipp Grubauer and Pavel Francouz aren’t much to worry about. Not that I usually second-guess GMJoe, but he also said last summer that Tyson Barrie wasn’t on the trade block, and about a week later he was traded to Toronto.
• Ergo: Take some of what he said with a grain of salt. The fact is, the injuries to the goaltenders ARE something to worry about, especially Grubauer, who was hurt for a good portion of the season with lower-body ailments. He missed the rest of the playoffs after another lower-body injury in Game 1 against Dallas.
• That, added to Francouz’s injury, marked the second time in three years the Avs had to finish the playoffs with a scrub goalie that hadn’t played much all year. I liked how Jared Bednar, at least, said the team needs to “examine” the injury issue a bit in the off-season. If you can’t get through any extended stretches of a season without huge rashes of injuries, then that, indeed, does need to be examined.
• “Grain of salt”, by the way, is one of many sayings involving salt. I read a book recently on the history of salt. Did you know, that’s where the word “salary” is derived from? Soldiers in really olden days were actually paid in salt, because it was one of the most valuable things you could own. It was the only thing that preserved meat for longer than a few hours or days, for instance. That’s where “He is worth his salt” comes from.
• Great investigative work here by Frank Seravalli on how 17 teams in the NHL are already cutting salaries of staff, including coaches, with a “long winter” ahead (TSN)
• How to play Barry Trotz-style defense (Hockey News)
• Hockey book recommendation: “Too Many Men on the Ice” – a look at the Boston Bruins team that blew the 1979 conference finals to Montreal in the final minute because of such a penalty. I was 14 and watched that game in my New Hampshire home, and it still stings. (Thriftbooks)
• Looks like Torey Krug is gone in Boston (Boston Globe)
• More on the goalie market this off-season, which should be flooded with names (San Jose Hockey Now)
• What will with the Panthers do this offseason? (Florida Hockey Now)
• The price for Matt Murray may be going down. Are you listening, Avs? (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)