With the trade deadline one week away, the Colorado Avalanche have some serious questions to address, both for the remainder of the season and for the foreseeable future.
Do the Avalanche sell off players like David Jones and Shane O'Brien? Who sticks? Who doesn't?
Only Paul Stastny, Gabriel Landeskog, Jan Hejda, Ryan O'Byrne and goaltenders Semyon Varlamov and Jean-Sebastien Giguere are signed past this summer. Oh Chuck Kobasew, can't forget that wonderful signing from last summer.
Erik Johnson, Matt Duchene, Ryan O'Reilly and Peter Mueller are RFA's that the Avs will probably want to bring back. Outside of that, it is a grab bag to try to determine who will be around for the 2012-13 season.
On defense, this is an easy question to answer, as the Avs filled out their defense with the Erik Johnson trade last year. Maybe not for next year but for the future.
When all is said and done, the Avs are planning to have a defense of Johnson, Duncan Siemens, Stefan Elliott, Tyson Barrie, Cameron Gaunce and Ryan Wilson or Shane O'Brien. Kyle Quincey could be a player to factor in but then again, he could fetch a good price on the market.
If Pavel Kubina can get a second, a fourth and a prospect, imagine what the 26 year-old Quincey, who has been through a Stanley Cup run with Detroit, get. A first? The Avs could certainly use that. A scorer? Could be useful. Maybe even put him in a package to get Alexander Semin. Quincey is one of those players that could stay and could go and either way it would be fine.
Quincey is not the real question mark facing the Avs, it is David Jones. Jones is hot recently but with Duchene back, coach Joe Sacco appears determined to play Duchene at wing on the first line, whether it works or not, which, sadly it hasn't. Avs should really trade Jones for something since he won't get the playing time he needs to be good.
There's also Shane O'Brien, who has been a good leader, a physical force and a great teacher, to market to other teams.
Planning a future for the Avs at the forward position is tough. Centers? They have enough of those to fill two entire teams but wingers are a little tough. For grinders, Daniel Winnik, Cody McLeod, T.J. Galiardi will be good players. Brad Malone will also be a good grinder when he matures.
It is top six wingers where the Avs are weak. Duchene is not a winger, his puck possession mentality belies that. That leaves Peter Mueller (if and when he is healthy), an aging Milan Hejduk, an unproven Mark Olver, a free agent pending David Jones and a concussed Joey Hishon. The only guaranteed winger the Avs have is Gabriel Landeskog, the only Avalanche player to get stronger as the season has gone along.
So the Avs have three top six centers and three maybe four wingers, one of whom won't be around much longer. Hejduk finally looks old this year and his hands just don't have the magic that they used to. Maybe he won't be around as soon as last year.
That leaves the Avs looking for three wingers if David Jones is traded. With like Zach Parise, Alexander Semin and Ales Hemsky looking to enter the market, the Avs have a chance to fill one slot but it might be an asset they already have to help them fill out a roster.
O'Reilly is not a third line center. Well, he was but after his year, he is not anymore. Nor is he a first line center. However, he will make a desirable second line center. That means the Avs would have a 1-2 punch of Duchene and O'Reilly should they so wish.
For any math major, that means the Avs have one center to try to trade for a top six winger. Paul Stastny is a good player with good vision but he will always be second fiddle to Duchene, no matter how poor Duchene is playing.
There are a few teams looking for first line centers and the Avs could finally get their top six 30-40 goal sniper by using Stastny.
This is all moot for now since the Avs are hovering at the cap floor, they will be constrained by making a deal just to get them above the cap floor. At that time the Avs aren't dealing from a position of strength. So unless it is Stastny for Rick Nash, the Avs should wait until the draft to get the best possible offer for Stastny.
It is a week before the dealine and the questions about the future of the Avalanche are lining up with each answer bringing two new ones. In a week, we might know better what is to be expected of the Avs.
Colorado Avalanche Blogger • 
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