Evan’s NHL Daily: Gudas Shuns Canada, Top Avalanche Goals Ever

When he hit free agency this summer, Radko Gudas was a very popular man, as he was approached by several NHL teams with contract offers. A few of those teams just happened to be located in Canada.

He wanted nothing to do with that.

With the Colorado Avalanche, I put together my list of the top five goals in franchise history. I thought I had a pretty good list, but everyone has their own opinion, and that’s what makes it fun.

All that and more in this Wednesday edition of Evan’s Daily.

Colorado Hockey Now

Ranking the Top Five Avalanche goals of all-time was not easy, but I gave it a shot. I’m pretty happy with my list, but when you limit it to just five goals, there will always be people that think you missed one or two. And the thing about lists like this is that no one is really wrong. It just comes down to what you value more. Some of the goals that I didn’t have room for were:

• Uwe Krupp’s Cup clinching goal
• MacKinnon’s G5 goal against St. Louis
• Kadri’s G4 winner against Tampa
• Sakic’s 3OT winner against Chicago in 1996

It was a fun exercise, and we’ll probably do more this month, as it’s not likely to get busy again anytime soon.

Nathan MacKinnon was rated 2nd among NHL centers by NHL.com. Not bad.

On Wednesday, I’m going to start a new series as we look forward to next year – Over/Under. And I’ll begin my next film room/analysis for Miles Wood.

Around The NHL

We already know there are a lot of NHL players that don’t want to go play in Canada.

You can add Radko Gudas to that list of players.

Gudas, who signed a three-year deal in Anaheim this summer, got offers from three Canadian teams. He didn’t consider them. Why? Well…

In an interview with @DenikSport, Radko Gudas said that he received offers from CGY & EDM & TOR. But he didn't want to play in Canada, especially in Toronto. He said the media pressure in the playoffs was crazy. He felt it even though he only played for Florida & not Toronto.

— Andy & Rono (@ARHockeyStats) August 2, 2023

Ryan O’Reilly said something similar this summer after signing in Nashville. He mentioned the media scrutiny as one reason he didn’t re-sign in Toronto.

That sort of media attention isn’t for everyone. Just goes to show how little Gudas wanted to do with the media up in Canada if he chose to sign with the Ducks, who will likely be bad.

National Hockey Now

Boston: Going to arbitration is usually not a fun process. The Bruins and Jeremy Swayman had to go to arbitration, and it’s something he never wants to do again.

San Jose: More details on how the Erik Karlsson trade went down.

Washington: Tom Wilson spoke about why he chose to re-sign with the Capitals. I’m sure the contract he was offered is a big reason why…

Montreal: Canadiens fans have so many questions that Marc can do a mailbag every week.

Nashville: Revisiting the five best David Poile trades.

Carolina: The Hurricanes front office has questions to answer.