"Our goal is to win the Stanley Cup": Sakic opens up about summer plans

The offseason is underway for the Avalanche and there’s plenty of business to conduct. General manager Joe Sakic met with the media today for his annual post-season presser in which he addressed the season as a whole as well as looking ahead to what is setting up to be a busy summer for the organization.

The team finished its exit interviews with players already and are getting into the process of creating the plan of attack on which of its own players to bring back and which to let go. The organization has 26 unsigned players so there are plenty of decisions to be made.

“We’ll probably start talking with agents next week,” Sakic said. “First thing is first. We’ll meet with our coaching staff and go over the team and build our plan for what we want to try and do. I’m not too concerned about signing all those guys.”

One of “those guys” is star forward Mikko Rantanen, whose entry-level contract ended this year. The 22-year-old Finnish forward is coming off back-to-back seasons of 80-plus points, making this contract negotiation one of the more interesting stories of the summer.

“It’s a priority to get [Rantanen’s contract] done,” Sakic said. “We prefer long-term but if it has to be short-term, it has to be short-term. We want to make sure we have him signed. Don’t ask me the timeframe; there’s a lot of players in that same situation, a lot of great hockey players coming up. We’ll see how all the players and agents handle that.”

Speaking of extensions, head coach Jared Bednar only has one year remaining on his current deal. Sakic announced at last year’s presser following the loss against Nashville that Bednar had been extended one more year. That apparently has not happened this year with Sakic saying the organization will “get to that at the appropriate time.”

Where Bednar succeeded this year was in steadying an uneven ship that occasionally took on far too much water. His demeanor and ability to build relationships with his players were key components of turning the season around and getting to the playoffs.

“He’s a calm coach, he’s player’s coach, but players know his expectations and there’s a good respect and a good relationship the way he handles the players and the way the players respond to him,” Sakic said.

One of the people it sounds like the organization is fine with moving on from is goaltender Semyon Varlamov, who watched his job get taken as Philipp Grubauer excelled late in the regular season and then took his game to another level in the playoffs.

“I met with Varly,” Sakic said. “We’ll see what happens July 1 with him. He’s going to be UFA and we’ll be in communication.”

While the Avs will play wait-and-see with Varlamov, they will have just under $36 million in cap space to play with as they head into free agency. Their most obvious needs are at forward and backup goaltender.

“It’s a pretty good class this year,” Sakic said. “We already have target players in mind if they come available that we’re going to want to talk to about joining the club. We see positions of need what we’re looking to do. There’s a few guys that we’re going to want to talk to if they come available. We’re going to be more aggressive this year with that. If it doesn’t work out with the players we want to talk to, we’re not just going to spend on anybody. We want the right players and the right fit.”

As the team makes its foray into free agency, the eyes are on the ultimate prize: the Stanley Cup. With a team that’s made the postseason two years in a row, they have the ability to go add impact players in free agency that can help them take the next step towards securing home-ice advantage instead of just sneaking into the postseason.

“Our goal is to win the Stanley Cup,” Sakic said. “That’s the endgame. We want to better next year. We want to be more consistent during the regular season. And when you get in the playoffs, you’ve got to be healthy and playing your best. For us, the focus right now is to try to get better in the offseason and then have a more consistent regular season.”

The other major focus of Colorado’s summer is the draft haul they are expected to walk out of Vancouver with. They have five picks in the top three rounds in order to set themselves up for the next generation of young Avs. Their work begins fourth overall thanks to the Ottawa Senators finishing 31st in the NHL and Colorado losing the draft lotto for the second time in three years.

“We’re going to listen to all options,” Sakic said of the possibility of trading down. “To be honest with you, we’re comfortable with four. We know we’re going to get a good player at four. We know we’re going to get a good player at 16. We have five picks in the first three rounds this year. We’ve got to do our best to hit those because you don’t always have that opportunity to have that many picks in the first three rounds.”

Whether Colorado targets a forward or defenseman at four could be determined by what the Chicago Blackhawks do in front of them with third overall.

“We’ve got our list so we can go either way, to be honest with you,” Sakic said. “We know who is going one and two so we’ll see who Chicago takes at three. We had our amateurs here last week to finalize the list. We’ve still got to meet one more time before the draft just to make sure but we know we’re going to get a good player.”

The last time Colorado drafted fourth overall was back in 2017 when they selected Cale Makar out of the AJHL. There was some serious doubt from some about the decision back then but it sure looks today like it was the right call after Makar made his NHL debut in the playoffs and scored six points in 10 games.

“I’m not surprised at all,” Sakic said of Makar’s success. “You saw what he did, the growth that he made from year one to year two at UMass. The way he skates, the way he handles the puck, his vision, sometimes I feel like at this level because he’s playing with and against better players, and a little more structure that he will have more time and he made the most of it. He’s going to be an incredible player.”

The other high-profile pick in 2017 was Conor Timmins, who had a great season immediately following being drafted but missed all of this past season with a concussion. All signs are pointing towards him participating in the team’s training camp in September.

“He was practicing the last month, got a lot better,” Sakic said. “He’s in a good situation to come back to camp 100% after a great summer of training. I think that was the one thing – he wasn’t able to train the way he needed to train to get ready. We saw a lot of growth in that area, a lot of positive improvement. He doesn’t have restrictions now when it comes to training. Listen, I’m hoping that he’s 100% for training camp. He’s starting from scratch like everyone. We have high hopes for him.”

The last piece of business stays on the defense as Tyson Barrie’s contract enters its final year. There’s been a lot of chatter about what the team might do with him. Sakic seemed to put to bed the notion that Barrie would get dealt this summer and they would at least have a conversation about a contract extension at some point.

“All I can tell you is he’s an incredible player,” Sakic said. “He’s a driving force down our stretch. What we saw with him, Cale, and Girard, we’re very, very comfortable starting the year with that group. I think they can do a lot of special things together. Right now, where we are right now, that’s all I can tell you. Love Tyson, love the way he’s played, so we get to that point we’ll probably have conversations.”

That defense is a strength for Colorado right now, which is a strange reality for the Avalanche after years of seeking upgrades on the back end. It’s going to be a busy summer as they look to address the needs they do have.

For full audio of the presser, be sure to check out today’s podcast!