Bernier And Wilson Bring Veteran Depth

The free agent market is a time for NHL teams to shop for players that can fill holes on their roster and better the club for the ensuing campaign.
Colorado Avalanche executive vice president/general manager Joe Sakic did just that when the first day of free agency opened at 10 a.m. MT on Saturday.

With 10 forwards on its NHL roster to begin the day, the Avs aimed for a versatile player that could play up and down the lineup. They got Colin Wilson in a trade with the Nashville Predators.
Then the Avs went out to find a backup goaltender to support Semyon Varlamov after the team lost Calvin Pickard to the Vegas Golden Knights in the NHL Expansion Draft. They found Jonathan Bernier.
While they may not have been the two flashiest names of the day, the two veterans have a proven track record and Sakic expects them both to make an impact next season.
Varlamov is the still the starting netminder of the team despite missing 49 games last year with various injuries that caused him to have season-ending hip/groin surgery in January. The Samara, Russia, native will be fully healthy when training camp begins in September and will still take the bulk of the load in net this coming year, but Bernier will still see his fair share of time between the pipes.
That's nothing new for the Laval, Quebec, native who has played in 252 career NHL contests and appeared in 39 outings last season with the Anaheim Ducks after starter John Gibson went down with an injury.
"We know Varly had his surgery; he'll be back 100 percent and ready to go for training camp. We just wanted to make sure that we had an experienced backup to compete with Varly and be there for a good one-two punch," Sakic said on a media conference call on Saturday afternoon. "With Varly coming back, we don't want him playing much more than 50 games. Jonathan played almost 40 games last year for Anaheim so we know he can do it."

Wilson has a strong track record of playing a good two-way game while still contributing on offense.
Selected with the seventh overall pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, the Greenwich, Connecticut, native had spent his entire career with the Nashville organization. Wilson has 237 points (95 goals and 142 assists) in 502 contests and has played in 47 Stanley Cup playoff games, where he's notched 13 goals and 11 assists.
Sakic noted that members of the Avs' hockey operations staff were "extremely happy" to get Wilson, who is listed as a center.
"He can play left, center, right wing," Sakic said of Wilson. "Another big body that plays the right way, two-way game, plays hard, goes to the net and score for you, chip in and score. Just provides us with another powerful forward that complement [Gabriel Landeskog] as a left winger and another guy like A.J. Greer. We're pretty happy about adding that depth."

The Avs GM's summer isn't done yet. He'll continue to explore ways to make the team better, which includes finding more help on defense. However, Sakic noted that Colorado isn't the only club looking for assistance on the blue line. Thirty other NHL franchises are trying to do the same thing.
"I would love to upgrade the D, for sure, if we could," Sakic said. "Every team wants to upgrade their D. It's not as easy as you think. Really, you have to draft guys and bring them through your system. We're always looking in that department. We went through the draft this year. We drafted some players, they're not ready yet. It takes time working to build up your D-corp."
As for speculation on possible player movement on the Avalanche's current roster, Sakic will defer a response until something has actually been done.
"I don't really have to say much about any rumors," he said. "I don't create the rumors, and I don't comment on them. Doesn't really matter to me about rumors. You guys will know if we decide to make a move that we think improves our club, both now and in the future."