First, here's my NHL.com story on Jarome Iginla from Tuesday after speaking to him on a conference call with Denver media.
I have another NHL.com story Wednesday following a conference call with Avalanche executive vice president of hockey operations Joe Sakic. Here are the highlights:
* On losing free agent Paul Stastny, who signed a four-year, $28 million contract with the St. Louis Blues:
"Both sides were open with what we could do. We had a heads-up. Obviously he tested the market and I had a pretty good idea (he would leave) the day before. It was Paul's right. We couldn't get to what he got in St. Louis. I respect Paul a lot, I respect everything he's done for the Avalanche. It was his right, he's going home and I wish Paul all the best in St. Louis, just not against us."
* On addressing the team's needs in the past couple days by adding forwards Jarome Iginla, Daniel Briere and Jesse Winchester, and defensemen Brad Stuart and Zach Redmond:
"We saw how last year went and we had a tremendous year, but at the end of the year after our playoff loss to Minnesota we knew we needed to have a little more depth on our third and fourth lines and we felt we needed to get tougher.
"We feel we got tougher and for sure the experience factor -- leadership -- you can never have enough of that. We know our core guys are young. To bring in this leadership to help them along is huge. Now you're not relying on one or two or three guys to be leaders. We have a whole bunch of leaders helping our young guys. There were a lot of things we tried to accomplish, which we think we did.
"Our core guys are all young and we wanted to surround them with great veteran leadership and we've done that. We feel our third and fourth lines, we were lacking depth in the playoffs and we really noticed it against Minnesota and we feel we've got some depth down there as well. We're pretty happy with where we are right now."
* On signing right wing Iginla, 37, who received a three-year, $16 million contract. He'll skate on a line with Matt Duchene or Nathan MacKinnon:
"Jarome was always tops on our list (to replace Stastny). Bringing Iggy in, he's winner and he got 30 goals for Boston last year. He might not be in his prime, but he's still got a lot left. I believe he trusts me when we talk, we're very honest with each other. I think he liked the direction of the team. He wants to try and win a Stanley Cup and he believes in the group we have.
"To be part of this group, and not only for one year but for a three-year run, it's a lot of trust on his part in feeling that that's our goal and he wants to be a part of it and he believes that he's got a chance here with this group."
* On Stuart, 34, who was acquired from San Jose in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2016 NHL draft and sixth-round selection in 2017. He'll likely be paired with Erik Johnson. Stuart has one year left on a contract that will pay him $3.6 million:
"Stuart is a physical, stay-at-home defenseman, he's won a Stanley Cup in Detroit. We expect him to help E.J. and be that presence in the locker room and obviously on the ice. We wanted to upgrade our 'D' and we feel that we did that by getting Brad in here, especially with his toughness and his leadership."
* On the trade that sent PA Parenteau and a fifth-round draft pick to Montreal for Briere, 36, who has one year to go on a contract that will pay him $4 million:
"The trade gives us flexibility. Briere is on a one-year deal whereas PA was on a two-year (contract). With our lineup, PA probably needs to be on the top two (lines). He's not a third-line player and that's where he would have been. Daniel Briere brings that experience, he scored big goals in the playoffs for Montreal and he's a guy who's almost a point a game in the playoffs. He's a big-time player, a competitor and we believe, especially on a one-year deal, he's going to add a lot to our dressing room."
Winchester, 30 signed a two-year, $1.8 million contract. He had nine goals and nine assists in 52 games with Florida and is expected to play on the fourth line.
Redmond, 25, signed a two-year, $1.5 million contract. He had one goal and two assists for Winnipeg last season, with six goals and 18 assists in 40 games for St. John's in the AHL.
Sakic said Avalanche scouts think Redmond could turn into another Nick Holden, who got a three-year, $4.95 million contract extension after collecting 10 goals and 15 assists in 54 games with Colorado.
The Avalanche has about $10 million of salary cap room left to re-sign restricted free agents Ryan O'Reilly, Tyson Barrie, Stefan Elliott and Joey Hishon. The Avalanche filed for arbitration with O'Reilly and the others received qualifying offers.
Said Sakic: "We're going to focus on trying to get Ryan signed. If we don't, we're going to arbitration so we know he's going to be here. We want Ryan to be here and to be here for a long time. I haven't spoken to (agent) Pat Morris since we filed. Now that we're all done with the draft and free agency I'll be getting in contact with him."