Counterpoint: Ryan Smyth Should Leave Colorado

Everyone is well aware of the Avs’ spectacular slide from awesome to awful. Everyone except the front office it seems. It’s time to start thinking long term and, as much as I hate to say it, Ryan Smyth does not fit into the long term plans of the Colorado Avalanche.

Let’s take a look at the current situation surrounding Smyth and his contract with the Avalanche. Like Fred mentioned, he’s got a 5 year deal worth $31.25 million. Each year, that hits the Avs’ cap at a whopping $6.25 million. Now most of you would say that a salary like that would be impossible to move. Untrue. Smyth is a good player. Any good team would be happy to add him to their good roster in the hopes to make it a great roster. That’s something the Avs won’t be able to offer for quite a few years.

What should the Avalanche get in exchange for Smyth? There’s a few good ideas here.

• Get Budaj out of town too, and spend all that newfound cash on a worthwhile goaltender.
• Draft Picks! At some point the Avalanche will have to start rebuilding from the bottom, and this need to happen sooner rather than later. Smyth’s star status could bring in some pretty high picks in the next draft, which are needed after Columbus robbed the good ones when Foote came back to town.
• No goalie available? Put another star defenseman in front of the current one. Liles and Foote could use some support with the consistently inconsistent goalies currently in net.

The Avs will survive without Smyth. There are other players currently on the team, barring more catastrophic injuries, that can step up and play a great season. Guys like McLeod, Laperriere, and Wolski are just a few that have shown some real impact and worth on the ice.

But what about the argument that Smyth is the biggest leader on the team in the absence of Sakic? That’s good for now, but Paul Stastny is the next captain of this team, not Ryan Smyth. Stastny needs to be able to work towards filling his eventual role, and there is the potential of him suffocating under the stardom of a player like Smyth. But what makes the younger, less experienced, Stastny a better choice for team captain? He has family ties to the franchise thanks to dad Peter, who was a star on the Nordiques and played with Sakic. Paul is also an alumni of the University of Denver, making him a favorite in the city’s hockey scene already.

If Ryan Smyth stays in town, the Avalanche will certainly benefit from his play, and I won’t be too terribly upset about it. What the team and Smyth both need to see, however, is that there is so much more potential for both sides if they part ways now.

This is Part Two of this Point/Counterpoint. To read Part One, click here