We are back from our family vacation, not that the Avalanche did anything of substance while we were away.

Still waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting for the Avalanche and defenseman Nikita Zadorov to reach an agreement on a new contract, if that's actually going to happen.

Meanwhile, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported, during an interview with Buffalo radio station WGR, that Adam Foote has left the Avalanche organization, apparently to spend more time with his family.

Foote, 46, listed as a development consultant with the Avalanche, was working with defensemen in June during the team's development camp. He attended the 2017 World Junior Summer Showcase in Plymouth, Mich., with other members of the organization.

The week-long camp, which ended Aug. 5, included games between the U.S., Canada, Finland and Sweden in preparation for the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship in Buffalo.

Foote, whose No. 52 jersey was retired Nov. 2, 2013, was a key member of the Avalanche's 1996 and 2001 Stanley Cup championship teams. He retired as a player following the 2010-11 season.

Foote's son, Cal, 18, was Tampa Bay's first-round pick in the 2017 NHL draft. Cal and another son, Nolan, 16, played for the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League last season.

“Adam Foote was a player development guy, but highly respected," Dreger told WGR. "He was a guy that the management types of the Colorado Avalanche would lean on from time to time. Now he’s got some focus elsewhere with his son Cal drafted high by the Tampa Bay Lightning. His younger son, Nolan, he’s going to be a high pick. Both are playing for the Kelowna Rockets this year. So there might be a level of distraction.

"But with a first-round pick being a defenseman and a high second-round pick being a defenseman, how do you allow Adam Foote to walk away from that organization? So there’s a lot of things that need to be corrected and perhaps straightened out in Colorado.”

The Avalanche used their first two draft picks in June on defensemen: Cale Makar and Conor Timmins. Makar will attend the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, while Timmins will return to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League.



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