Theodore Out, Raycroft In

Colorado quickly filled their gap in the crease by signing UFA Andrew Raycroft to a 1-year deal on Tuesday. Raycroft was bought out, just before the frenzy began and it didn't take too long for him to be snapped up by another NHL club.

Raycroft lost his job to Vesa Toskala in Toronto at the beginning of last season, which prompted his numbers to be so low. Raycroft only won two games, one being a shutout, for 6 pool points. He'll now have to battle Peter Budaj for the number one job in Denver, which won't be an easy task.

The deal is reportedly worth $800,000, which could encourage him to work hard enough to earn a bigger deal for the seasons after. That now brings the Avalanche totals to 14 players @ $35.3 million. The switch from Theodore to Raycroft, in essence, will save them $3.7 million in cap space this season.

Forwards	Defense	Goaltenders
Paul Statsny	John-Michael Liles	Peter Budaj
Milan Hejduk	Ruslan Salei	Andrew Raycroft
Ryan Smyth	Brett Clark
Tyler Arnason	Scott Hannan
Ben Guite	Adam Foote
Ian Laperriere	Jordan Leopold

This is not a bad idea for the Avalanche. They may have found the bargain of the day, when it comes to free agents in Raycroft. Although his stellar play wasn't at all consistent in Toronto, he did do some good things for the team and the Avalanche could certainly benefit from a goalie like that. As the minutes tick by on Tuesday, the Northwest Division gets harder and harder to play in.