Sakic: Previewing Free Agency and Draft Weekend Recap

One of busiest weeks of the offseason in the NHL and for the Colorado Avalanche continues.
Following the Seattle Kraken's expansion draft last Wednesday and the entry draft this past weekend, the Avs and executive vice president and general manager Joe Sakic turn their attention to free agency, which begins on Wednesday.
Colorado has several of its own restricted and unrestricted free agents it is looking to sign, as well as adding to the club's overall roster for the upcoming 2021-22 campaign. Sakic and company already took care of some of their business this past Saturday, signing defenseman and RFA Cale Makar to a six-year contract.
Sakic spoke recently to the media about inking Makar to a long-term deal, the team's 2021 draft class and the team's approach to this week. Below is a transcript of that conversation.

On drafting University of Denver-bound Sean Behrens in the second round:
"We're excited to have him. Our guys are really excited to have him. He's not the tallest D-man in the world, but he plays hard. He plays at a bigger size than he really is. A really competitive guy that is in your face, moves the puck, really shifty, plays a complete game and for somebody that doesn't have any weaknesses, he does all of the little things right. He's going to a great spot at DU. So it's going to be nice right up the road watching him develop the next few years at DU."
On using their seventh-round pick on Taylor Makar, the younger brother of Cale Makar:
"He's come a long way. Every year he's gotten better and better. He really took a big step, and we're excited. Obviously he's going to UMass as well, and he has a lot of time to develop. So we're excited to have him. He's a competitive guy that is a bigger guy, 6-3, that we have high hopes for down the line as he develops."
On Avalanche's first-round selection Oskar Olausson:
"He's a big mobile, good skating winger whose got a great shot. A knack for scoring goals. He's hard on the puck and he takes pucks to the net, and we're excited for that skillset."
On his confidence level of re-signing Gabriel Landeskog and Philipp Grubauer after signing Cale Makar:
"I don't know. Right now we are happy that we have Cale signed long term. We're really excited about that. He's a franchise defenseman and to have him here for six years is a big thing for our organization. Both Philipp and Gabe, obviously our captain, we're hopeful we can come to terms as well and have them signed to be part of us as well. I won't comment on the negotiations. They're still going on. We still have time. They're both unrestricted free agents. They'll probably, I'm assuming, look at where they are in the marketplace and they have to make that decision."

On if Landeskog and Grubauer won't return if they remain unsigned by Wednesday:
"Not necessarily. We'll see how that turns out. There's been a lot of free agents that test the market and then come back with their team. We'll see where that goes. Time will tell."
On defenseman Erik Johnson's health after missing most of the season with an upper-body injury:
"It's my belief that he's going to be healthy. Talking with Erik, he's working out real hard and as of right now that's his expectation, to be back and training and start skating on time."
On signing Cale Makar to a six-year contract:
"A deal of this magnitude, both sides have to feel good about it moving forward. He's a superstar. He is one of the top defensemen in the league, if not the best. He will be up for the Norris year in, year out. We are very fortunate for the next six years we are going to have Cale here, hopefully helping us win a Stanley Cup."
On if the Avalanche will be active in the free agent market:
"We'll see. To be honest, we would like to know where is Grubauer, where is Landeskog. Hopefully they're back, and then we'll just have to see (salary) cap-wise what we can fit in. I said last year that that was probably going to be the deepest team that we're going to have, and now as our top guys are getting more expensive, we're going to have to complement that with less expensive guys. If it happens to be that our young guys stepping in and taking over those roles, that would be a great thing. We just don't want to put too much pressure on them to make the jump if they're not ready. Like I said, as our top guys get more expensive, we're going to have to have less expensive guys surrounding them."
On acquiring forward Mikhail Maltsev in the trade that sent Ryan Graves to New Jersey:
"We think he's ready. We think he's ready to step in right away. Obviously we're not going to put too much pressure on him, but he did play for New Jersey last year. We liked what we saw. He's a big guy that skates, protects the puck well. He plays both ends of the ice, and that's what we're looking forward to, really to solidify, he could be our fourth-line center to start. So we think he's ready, but we're not going to put too much pressure on him, but we have high hopes for him. And obviously getting a second-round pick. We knew it would be tough on us if we went eight skaters (to protect in the expansion draft). Chances are we were going to lose Ryan, and we just thought we'd better get some assets for him that we could. It wasn't something that we wanted to do, but we felt we had to do to have the best possible situations and results for our team."
On being able to get Makar's contract done first and the potential for future contracts with Grubauer and Landeskog:
"We're just happy that we have him signed and signed right now before other teams can start talking to him. If another team came up to him and gave him a big offer, it would have been an easy match for us anyways. But yeah, just to have that finished and now we can focus on two other guys. At least we know Cale's number, which is big for us going forward."