The Colorado Avalanche played perhaps their best game of the 2015-16 NHL season on Tuesday night against the hapless Philadelphia Flyers, emerging with their second shutout victory of the year. Despite the promising win, the Avalanche remain a flawed team - especially defensively - and they've got the seventh spot in the Central Division to show for it. Because of this, rumors and reports have swirled since prior to last season's trade deadline that Colorado GM Joe Sakic remains hot on the trail of any and every potential deal that could upgrade his roster. Sakic indicated to Adrian Dater of Bleacher Report that, 15 games into the season, he's still very much open to potential trades (as long as they don't involve Nathan MacKinnon, of course).
"You know what, it doesn't matter what I say or what anyone says," Sakic said recently, per Dater. "Nate's not going anywhere, and there are guys that don't want to move. But you're always talking with teams, and you're wanting to listen on anybody, really."
While Dater notes that Sakic doesn't seem interested in the "blow up his team and start from scratch" approach, the Avs GM does certainly seem to feel the mounting pressure of being a top personnel man whose team performed so dominantly only two short seasons ago and now has the look of a group not worthy of a playoff berth.
The Avs are currently 20th in the NHL, having surrendered 42 goals this season. They're also 17th in the league in shots allowed per game, with opponents launching an even average of 30.0 shots on whatever goalie - Semyon Varlamov or Reto Barra - happens to be in net.
There are issues, and this clearly is not lost on Sakic or head coach Patrick Roy. Unfortunately, finding a deal that actually upgrades the Colorado roster will be difficult. A player like Jarome Iginla could be considered a prime trade candidate if the franchise goes shopping for blueline help, but Iginla indicated to Dater that he's unwilling to waive his no-move clause in order to facilitate a trade this season.
Iginla is in the second year of a three-year deal and, citing family reasons, stated unequivocally that he's not interested in a move elsewhere. The Avalanche certainly aren't hindered by this - Iginla led the team in scoring last season with 29 goals and has another seven markers and 12 points total to start this year - but again, whatever issue is ailing the Avs, it seems to be team-wide and it seems to represent a general mediocrity, as the team has just 40 goals on the season, a total that puts them in a three-way tie for 15th.
With expensive players like Matt Duchene and Varlamov struggling and Sakic and Roy unlikely to be the ones to bear the brunt of another thus far disappointing Avalanche season, changes to the lineup are not only likely to come, they may be necessary.
