Paul Stastny: should he be traded?
After reading the results of a poll taken by our friends over at Mile High Hockey, it seems there is a sizable segment of the Avalanche fan base that wouldn’t mind seeing Paul Stastny traded for a player like Bobby Ryan of Anaheim.
Fact is, Ryan has made it very clear he’s not happy in Anaheim anymore. He’s a left winger, and the Avs need a left winger to fill a hole vacated by Peter Mueller. P.A. Parenteau, the more I’ve talked to him and others, is a right wing who isn’t going to feel all that comfortable if asked to play on the left side. He’d do it I’m sure, but he’s just much more comfortable on the right side.
I still don’t think Stastny will be traded yet, though. I could be proven wrong on that, but if the Avs were offering him around for a player like Ryan, I bet Anaheim would have already made that deal by now. To me, Anaheim would be foolish not to take Stastny if offered for Ryan. They need a center quite badly, and they can afford his $6.6 million cap hit. To pass up a player of his caliber for an unhappy Ryan would be just plain stupid.
My sense is that teams call the Avs and inquire about Stastny from time to time, but that the Avs are highly reluctant to move him. As much as he has frustrated fans with his up-and-down play the last couple of years, the fact remains: he’s still only 26, he’s scored 20 or more goals in three straight seasons and five of the six in his career. The only season he didn’t, 2007-08, he missed 37 games with injuries. He has 374 points in 427 career games.
http://blogs.denverpost.com/avs/2012/07/06/paul-stastny-traded/11037/