Needless to say, Joe Sakic is quite happy about signing goalie Semyon Varlamov to a five-year, $29.5 million contract extension through the 2018-19 season. The deal will be worth $5.9 million against the salary cap starting next season, a little more than double his current $2.833 million cap figure.
I spoke with Sakic, the Avalanche executive vice president of hockey operations, just before the third period of the Avalanche's hang-on-for-dear life 5-4 win against Minnesota on Thursday night at the Pepsi Center.
"I'm very excited to have him for the next five years," Sakic said. "He showed a commitment that he wanted to stay and be part of this. He's had such a tremendous year for us. He's obviously excited to be working with (goalie coach) Francois Allaire and (head coach) Patrick (Roy). Him and Francois have a great relationship. It's exciting that he's committed to be here a long time and trying to win a championship like we are.
"I've watched him play this year and there are not too many guys in the league I can think of who have been as valuable to their team as he's been for us. It's a great day for us."
Varlamov, 25, turned aside 31 shots Thursday to post his career-high 27th win. He owns a 27-9-5 record with one shutout, a 2.47 goals-against average and .924 save percentage in 43 games this season. The win was his 10th in January -- he went 10-1-1 -- a franchise record for the month. Varlamov has gone 14-1-5 in his past 20 decisions.
"He's only 25 and he's heading into his peak years," Sakic said. "We're just excited that we have our goalie locked in for a long time. We talked (with agent Paul Theofanous) for a couple weeks. His agent has been great to deal with. Both sides wanted to come together and get something done. It was pretty easy."
Varlamov has played a critical role in the Avalanche's improvement from a year ago, when the team finished last in the Western Conference and next-to-last in the overall NHL standings. Thursday's win gave the Avalanche a 34-14-5 record and 73 points. Colorado sits third in the Central Division, six points behind first-place Chicago, four behind second-place St. Louis and nine in front of fourth-place Minnesota with three games in hand.
"He's been everything for our team this year," Sakic said of Varlamov, who will play for Russia in the upcoming Olympics. "He's done such a tremendous job and worked so hard."
As for the Avalanche's play to date:
"It's been great, but the guys have worked real hard," Sakic said. "They've committed themselves to each other to playing the right way. I give the players all the credit. Varly, his consistency, the way he's played, we've had a great year up to this point. But we know there's still a lot of hockey left. As well as things have gone, we haven't accomplished anything and there's still a lot more to do." Varlamov said he's "excited" about his new contract. Why wouldn't he be?
"It's great news for me," he said. "I'm happy. I want to say thank you to the organization to give me a chance to play for this team. Thanks for my teammates. I think they have played very well for me. That's why I signed that contract, because they helped me.
"I didn't think I played that great the first two years," said Varlamov, who was acquired from Washington on July 1, 2011 in exchange for first- and second-round draft picks. "Thank God the right people came to the team during the summer, Patrick and especially Francois Allaire. Those guys helped me a lot. They changed my game. I want to say thanks to those guys and for my teammates."
Varlamov, who would have been eligible for restricted free agency after the season, said getting the contract out of the way is a big relief.
"It's a good thing to sign the deal right now so I don't have to worry about the contract situation anymore," he said. "Now I can stay focused on my game. The Olympics is coming and that's a big thing, too. I don't have to worry about the contract and the Olympics." *****
Roy called Thursday a "big day for us," referring to Varlamov's contract extension and the win against the Wild. The Avalanche finished 4-0-1 against Minnesota. "I’m sure it’s a great day for Varly as well," he added. "He certainly deserved that contract. We’re very happy it’s a done deal."
The Avalanche nearly blew all of a 4-1 lead in the third period. Rookie Nathan MacKinnon's breakaway goal off a pass from Andre Benoit with 2:25 remaining proved to be the winning goal. It gave the Avalanche a 5-3 lead, but Jason Pominville responded for the Wild 11 seconds later.
The Wild outshot the Avalanche 17-4 in the, well, wild final period.
"Tough game," Varlamov said. "I wish we could win 4-1 or 5-1. We always lead 2-1, 3-1, 4-1 and then give up goals in the third period. Maybe I have to be better than this, stay more focused and stay sharp in the third period."
Ryan O'Reilly gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead early in the first period with his team-leading 20th goal, a career high. The Avalanche dominated the second period and grabbed its 4-1 lead on goals by John Mitchell, Paul Stastny and Max Talbot.
"We got too unconfident with the puck and didn't do the things we do when we went up 4-1," said Matt Duchene, who had two assists and won 10 of 15 faceoffs. "Nate’s goal was almost a 3-on-0. I don’t think we’re happy with our third, but a win’s a win. It separates us big time from (the Wild). We have a lot to learn and things to get better at. We’re learning how to win and we have to take lessons from tonight.
"Seems like Chicago and St. Louis and San Jose, those big-dog teams in the West, they don’t have many lapses like that. We’ve had too many lately and we want to become a team like those teams."
Roy has been saying the Avalanche needs to cut down on the number of shots and quality scoring chances the team has been allowing, but he didn't seem all that concerned about the team's third-period play Thursday.
"I’m not," he said. "It’s just the small details like make sure we keep our focus. You’re not always going to win the 5- or 6-1 game when you’re up 4-1, especially if you lose your focus or take it a little bit easy. The other team just needs a little bit of momentum, they score and then you have to protect that lead. That’s something we have to figure out. We’re going to talk about it, but I’m not going to make a big story of it. The reason is very simple -- a win is a win."
Roy is concerned about Stastny. Just when the Avalanche was regaining nearly all of its health, Stastny sustained what appeared to be an ankle injury in the third period. Stastny has five goals and nine assists in the past 11 games.
"That’s a good question," Roy said. "I think he hurt his ankle. We’ll know more Friday."
*****
The Avalanche has gone 14-5-2 against Central Division teams ... Gabriel Landeskog had an assist to stretch his assist streak to four games. He has five assists in the streak ... Cody McLeod fought with Wild defenseman Clayton Stoner in the first period. The 5-minute penalty gave him 948 career penalty minutes, tying him with former defenseman Adam Foote for the most in Colorado history ... MacKinnon's goal was his 19th, first among NHL rookies. He had nine goals and 13 points in January ... Wild forward Zach Parise had two goals and two assists, matching his career high for points in a game. He's had four points in a game eight times ... The Avalanche combined for five shots while going 0-for-4 on power plays.