One way or the other, summer seemed certain to usher in change in Denver. With a number of high-profile pending free agents and a desire to continue improving the team after a tremendously successful 2013-14 campaign, the Avalanche management group was busy both on the trade front and in unrestricted free agency, with the highlight being the signing of former Boston Bruins right wing Jarome Iginla, per ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun.
But activity doesn't always translate to improvement, and it isn't at all clear that Colorado is a better team now than it was a few days ago. Between trade and free agency, the team is essentially replacing four departing players with four others:
Average 82-game performance based on the last three seasons for each player.
The raw numbers don't look great, and in each case, the Avs added a player who was older than the one he was replacing on the roster. Iginla is 37, as Briere will be early in October, and Stuart turns 35 in November. Those are three key players all in their twilight years, and all are reasonably high risks to fall off a performance cliff (though both Stuart and ...
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Article written by Jonathan Willis
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