Avs Talk - A Colorado Avalanche Blog

Adrian Dater has been keeping us up-to-date on late breaking news this offseason - what little there has been - via his blog as well as Twitter and has just reported that Marek Svatos has re-signed with the Avalanche. The deal is $4.1M over 2 years which strikes me as quite reasonable. On a cost per goal basis, he will likely be the second-best deal for the Avalanche this coming season.

We all pick on Svatos for his injury issues - and for good reason - but I love watching him play. Not only does he have a nose for the net but he's got a chip on his shoulder about his size. If he ever gets bowled over by someone, keep an eye on him. Odds are that he's going to get up, shake himself off and lay a bone-crushing hit on the next opposing player he can catch. He may be small but that gives him a low center of gravity and he knows how to use it.

Unfortunately for Svatos, he has been a bit fragile in his career. His career high for games played was in '06/07 when he played 66 games while struggling with groin injuries. Prior to that he had surgery on his left shoulder. Last season he tore his ACL. You start adding that up and you can see why he wouldn't ask for - nor would the team give him - a long-term, big money contract. For all his upside, he comes with a lot of risk.

When Svatos filed for arbitration, it didn't sound like the two sides were at a huge crossroads in negotiations. Svatos was even quoted in a Slovakian paper (to which I can't find the link now) as saying he was looking for around $2M so it's not shocking that he re-signed before his arbitration hearing. And given that the contract is only a $2M cap hit, any "Sign and trade!" folks will likely fall silent. Unfortunately anonymous hockey bloggers who thought Svatos would get $4M will likely keep yapping.

One thing I found amusing in TSN's news article -aside from the typo in the headline - was a quote from Francois Giguere:
"Marek Svatos has been a key ingredient to our success the last few years," said Avalanche Executive Vice President and General Manager Francois Giguere in a statement.

Was that the success of missing the playoffs two seasons ago or the sweep by the Wings last season? Ah, now I'm just being a bitter old (young) man.

Related Links
Svatos signs
Avalanche, Svatos agree to a two-year contract
Svatos under contract with the Avs
Avs, Svatos avoid arbitration
A look back: Svatos' season in review