The first step to a complete rebuild was just consumated tonight when the Avs traded Ryan Smyth, and his huge contract, to LA Kings for Tom Preissing, Kyle Quincey and a fifth round pick.

I'm split on this trade. I liked Smyth, he was always an extremely hard working player but was a little injury prone and a lot of overpaid. I like that we added Quincey, a guy that the Avs have been interested in and would have picked up on waivers had LA not.

However, I'm not sure I like Preissing. He's making $2.75 million dollars for the next two years which is a slight over payment (not as gross as the one that came with Clark) but he also has a shot from the point, something our Power play has lacked.

Quincey is the prize of this deal. He's a really complete defenseman with size, grit and offensive capabilities. He's also young which is something our defensive corps lacked until the en masse call-ups last year.

We save a total of about three million total on this deal, which I wonder if it'll be spent to bring back Alex Tanguay. I still want Clark gone as well as possibly Hannan and/or Salei but I'll make due with cutting a bit of salary.

This comes two days after the Avs signed Craig Anderson and David Koci. Anderson is a distinct upgrade over the terrible two tandem of last year. Still am not happy about Budaj coming back but Anderson is solid. He is solid and takes away to upper portion of the net.

Koci is just a simple tough guy, nothing more nothing less. His chances of making the team in a significant role are about the same as the LA Clippers ever winning a championship.

I like Sherman so far. He's done a great draft, smart, economical signings and made a good first trade. I'm excited to see him work the rest of the year to set us up for 2010-11.

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