[Signing] Avs sign Colborne (2 yrs, $2.5 mil AAV)

[BBQorMILDEW]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Wut?

In his three years in Calgary (his first three years in the NHL) he had 28, 28 and 44 points.

Year 1 - 0.35 points per game - 14:16 ice time
Year 2 - 0.44 points per game - 15:25 ice time
Year 3 - 0.60 points per game - 15:09 ice time

His production most certainly improved in his time in Calgary.

My bad, I was looking at his penalty minutes.

How's about we make a bet about his production this year?

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by BBQorMILDEW

My bad, I was looking at his penalty minutes.

How's about we make a bet about his production this year?

Yeah, no thanks.

Just saw an error in your post so brought it to light. Wasn't arguing either way where Colborne's career goes from this point.

[BBQorMILDEW]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Yeah, no thanks.

Just saw an error in your post so brought it to light. Wasn't arguing either way where Colborne's career goes from this point.

I figured that out after I posted. Thought I caught it before anyone else could correct it.

[Strange Brew]

Just wish we didn't lose him for nothing, especially since he was still under team control.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

The main argument against Colborne seems to be his late season meaningless points surge. Could it be that he was finally finding his groove and it is just an indication of his future? I think either take is reasonable and feel it was short sighted to let an asset walk.

It seems 28 other teams made the same mistake. If Colborne was such a great asset, it must've been pure folly that no one else could top Colorado's meager offer. I mean, 2 x 2.5m for a UFA? That's not even an average wage for an NHLer. Considering that's all he could manage to get as a UFA(!), that says a lot about his worth according to those whose job it is to assess mature NHL players.

[CsInMyBlood]

It's obvious the Flames didnt want him back. Thy assessed the player, most likely tried to move his rights and then washed their hands of him.

Again I will say it has given me even more faith in Flames management. Addition by subtraction. Gives other players a chance for his spot and prime minutes.

[Travis Munroe]

I believe that if Joe found a meaner side to his game, he would have been signed by the flames with no doubt. Management wants this to be a tough team to play and Joe was not a tough opponent to play.
His points production was increasing and that is a bright sign to his future however we have our point producers on this team and do not have the roster space in the top 3 lines for someone who can score but is soft. I really believe Ferland will be able to take his place this year ... perhaps a few less points but the nasty edge to his game will make up for it.
All the best to Joe in Colorado... outside of Calgary, seems to have been the perfect fit.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Fire of the Phoenix

It seems 28 other teams made the same mistake. If Colborne was such a great asset, it must've been pure folly that no one else could top Colorado's meager offer. I mean, 2 x 2.5m for a UFA? That's not even an average wage for an NHLer. Considering that's all he could manage to get as a UFA(!), that says a lot about his worth according to those whose job it is to assess mature NHL players.

We have no idea whether or not he could have signed for more money elsewhere.

We do know that it was likely he would re-sign in Calgary or with the Avs as those are the two places he is most comfortable playing in because they are his two "hometowns". Colorado probably topped any Calgary offer by .5 million or so and that was enough for him to move. Not a big deal and its part of the salary cap era....but nothing about his deal indicates his worth around the NHL except he wasnt offered enough money to make it worth his while to go anywhere but a city he preferred.

[Steve Bozek]

Originally Posted by CsInMyBlood

It's obvious the Flames didnt want him back. Thy assessed the player, most likely tried to move his rights and then washed their hands of him.

Again I will say it has given me even more faith in Flames management. Addition by subtraction. Gives other players a chance for his spot and prime minutes.

I thought Treliving made it pretty clear that he did want him back - just not at the risk of having to take a high arbitration salary, and then he was probably not willing to match the Colorado offer.

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by Steve Bozek

I thought Treliving made it pretty clear that he did want him back - just not at the risk of having to take a high arbitration salary, and then he was probably not willing to match the Colorado offer.

It's clear as day that the Flames wanted nothing to do with Colborne. Can't believe people are still having a hard time grasping that. Treliving said all the right things to not disrespect a highly thought of person in the community but come on the writing is all over the wall. The Flames wanted to go in a direction that didn't involve Colborne.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

It's clear as day that the Flames wanted nothing to do with Colborne. Can't believe people are still having a hard time grasping that. Treliving said all the right things to not disrespect a highly thought of person in the community but come on the writing is all over the wall. The Flames wanted to go in a direction that didn't involve Colborne.

Uhmm... the only thing that is pretty clear is that you dislike Colborne.

Treliving himself stated he was trying to re-sign Colborne, and hinted that Colborne ended up taking less money to play in Denver.

I guess I must be grasping at straws here actually believing what Treliving was saying though.

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

Uhmm... the only thing that is pretty clear is that you dislike Colborne.

Treliving himself stated he was trying to re-sign Colborne, and hinted that Colborne ended up taking less money to play in Denver.

I guess I must be grasping at straws here actually believing what Treliving was saying though.

As a player I dislike him. As a person he was one of the best players this city has ever seen.

So no I don't have a personal vendetta against him but yes I don't like him as a player. He's on his fourth team and he's still very young, why do you think that is?

He obviously didn't think of him very highly as a player if he couldn't sign a player who lived in Calgary, was from Calgary, his family was from Calgary and he loved the city and contributed to the city's community like no other. If Treliving wanted Colborne it would not have been very hard to make it happen.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

As a player I dislike him. As a person he was one of the best players this city has ever seen.

So no I don't have a personal vendetta against him but yes I don't like him as a player. He's on his fourth team and he's still very young, why do you think that is?

He obviously didn't think of him very highly as a player if he couldn't sign a player who lived in Calgary, was from Calgary, his family was from Calgary and he loved the city and contributed to the city's community like no other. If Treliving wanted Colborne it would not have been very hard to make it happen.

Going around in a circle here.

Salary cap and structure is what the issue is. Calgary - Treliving specifically - stated that they like Colborne, and want to re-sign Colborne, and held talks to get him re-signed. If they did not like him, talks wouldn't have happened, and Treliving wouldn't come out after he was not qualified and said that he is trying to work out a deal.

When that fell apart, Treliving came out yet again and stated that he would have liked to get Colborne re-signed, but didn't work out. He also hinted that Colborne left money on the table to join Colorado.

Again, not re-signing a player doesn't mean Calgary was not interested. Calgary obviously did not like the risk of arbitration, and couldn't get a deal done in time at a dollar value they were comfortable with.

You posted this:

It's clear as day that the Flames wanted nothing to do with Colborne. Can't believe people are still having a hard time grasping that.

Your opinion conflicts with what was happening and what Treliving was saying.

I don't know about you, but if I was a GM, and it was clear as day that I wanted nothing to do with Colborne, I wouldn't be wasting my time negotiating with him when I could be spending that time negotiating with other players on the team and league-wide. It would make no sense to do so - if I wanted nothing to do with Colborne.

[DeluxeMoustache]

^ Agreed. This was a deal likely close to the fence. Colborne chose another competitive offer.

I'm sure the Flames could have signed him but maybe all things considered, he felt his best opportunity was with the Avs.

Good for him. Best wishes

[Tinordi]

They treated Colborne well on his way out the door as any good management team should. But, to me, it was pretty clear by the Flames' actions that he wasn't in the plans. Nice guy, decent player, but not somebody you overpay for just because he's liked in the community. Glad we moved on.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

He's on his fourth team and he's still very young, why do you think that is?

Why? It's pretty simple. Well, he was traded in his first year, without any NHL games, by Boston to Toronto in a deal for an established NHLer. Seemed like a typical deal of a prospect for a player to fill a need in Boston.

He was dealt by Toronto to Calgary because they'd have had to put him on waivers.

He was IMO not re-signed by Calgary because he was arbitration-eligible and his point production was suddenly too high compared to what Calgary could pay and the role they foresaw for him.

[ricardodw]

It will be interesting how Colborne does with the Avs. With the Flames he was one of 3-4 players that was above average size. The Flames really needed his size and truculence in the line-up.

The Avs 2 smallest forwards are Mackinnon 6-0 187 and Duschene 5-11 200

This year they added Colbourne, 6-5 defenseman Wiercioch ... add that to Zaradov 6-5 who is looking to make NHL and their best AHL player 6-4 Rantanen 60 pts in 52 games as an 18 year old rookie pro. They have added a lot of size.

add that to 6-4 d-men Eric Johnson and 6-4 Eric Gelenias and it pretty much a freak show.... or Basketball team.

The line up I saw for Colorado has Colborne on a line with Mackinnon and Rantanen.

Colborne had his point spurge at the end of the year when he got to play with Backlund instead of Stajan.

If he gets to play on the 2nd line with Mackinnon he will have a good chance of carrying on his late season scoring rate.

[Fire]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

It will be interesting how Colborne does with the Avs. With the Flames he was one of 3-4 players that was above average size. The Flames really needed his size and truculence in the line-up.

[CsInMyBlood]

If the Flames wanted Colborne on this team, he would be on this team.

They did not and he isn't.

They didn't want him here.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by CsInMyBlood

If the Flames wanted Colborne on this team, he would be on this team.

They did not and he isn't.

They didn't want him here.

You are way over simplifying. Are you saying that none of the other 29 teams wanted Brouwer? Because they all could have had him. Frolik too last year.

Yeah I am disappointed that Colborne is gone for zero return when they still had team control, but to say unequivocally the Flames didn't want him is assuming a bunch of things most people wouldn't have knowledge of.