Friedman: Avs hunting available defensemen

Elliotte Friedman was on Calgary’s Sportsnet 960 on Thursday afternoon.

On if he sees Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy doing something to shake up the Colorado Avalanche:

“Well, I think they’re in on almost every defenseman who might be available. Like, I know at the beginning of the year when Leddy was available they were a team chasing him. I’ve been told, ‘You name a defenseman, they’re in on it.’ So I think they do look at it like they need blueline help.

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“Roy had an interesting quote today. Somebody asked him about losing Stastny, and he said, ‘Well, two years ago we were what, second last in the league with Stastny in our lineup, so it wasn’t that a big deal.’

“I just think what he did was he shielded a guy like Nathan MacKinnon. Nathan MacKinnon is a great player. He’s going to be an even better player. But when you’re 18, 19 years old, you always could use the help of a guy who can just take some of the heat off you. Particularly down the middle. And I don’t think Nathan MacKinnon has been too bad this year, but I think he doesn’t have Paul Stastny to shield him and that hurts you sometimes, and I think that’s affected the Avalanche as much as anything.”

Source: Sportsnet 960/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey