NHL free agency begins July 1 and Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic said the club will be “more aggressive” — which almost certainly means marquee names will be recruited.
A year ago, Sakic added secondary role players in forward Matt Calvert and defenseman Ian Cole. This year, expect Sakic to attempt to lure some of the top free-agent forwards — including my top-rated guy, Jeff Skinner.
Skinner, who turned 27 last month, is coming off a career-high 40-goal season for a bad team. The Canadian from Toronto produced 40 goals and career-tying-high 63 points for the Buffalo Sabres in 2018-19, after being traded from Carolina to Buffalo last August as a pending 2019 free agent.