(abcnews.com)
At 6'1", 212lbs and Salei should bring in a tough veteran presence which the Avalanche blueline is sorely lacking. He leads the Panthers, and now the Avalanche, with 122 hits and has always played a pretty hard-nosed game.
He's also picked up his point production in recent years and could hit 30 points again this season. He arrives with the Avalanche in a tie with John-Michael Liles for points by a defenseman with 23.
Salei brings a cap hit of $3M and is signed through the 09/10 season. So he's a bit more expensive than Skrastins but brings more to the table than Skrastins did.
Karlis Skrastins has been a shell of his former self when he was part of the #1 line with Brett Clark. It goes to show that one solid run doesn't mean an average player has broken out of his shell. It just means they had an above average run and are set to return to form. I'm actually happier to see Skrastins gone than I am to see Forsberg back.
James Duthie just chatted with Peter McNabb live from Calgary. McNab said that really nobody saw the Forsberg signing coming (you think!) and that it was a quick deal and may have been influenced by Sundin's decision to go with his heart and stay with Toronto. He also made a good point that the Avalanche now have only 5 healthy defenceman for the game tonight.
From Jay Onrait's TradeCenter blog:
Keith Jones cracks everyone up by suggesting that the Ruslan Salei/Karlis Skrastins deal would have been announced earlier but it took both players too long to get off the ice in practice because neither can skate anymore.
Zing!
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4 Comments:
Having watched Salei over the last few months (Actually get those games in HD) I am happy with this trade.
Really really hoping we can get Blake.
if Salei never plays a minute for us, this is a win.
ok, that's too strong, but this is still a GREAT example of addition by subtraction...except there's some actual addition as well. multiplication by addition and subtraction?
"He also made a good point that the Avalanche now have only 5 healthy defenceman for the game tonight."
he's reading my blog...
Who doesn't, DD? ;)
Should be interesting to see if Salei and/or Foote can make it in time for the game tonight. If not, ol' Johnny Boychuk might be boarding a plane as we speak.
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