Avalanche Re-Sign Budaj, Koci

On Thursday afternoon, word came down that the Colorado Avalanche started to make a couple transactions, taking care of a couple potential free agents before the Summer hits. The Avalanche went ahead and re-signed goaltender Peter Budaj and tough guy forward David Koci to new 1-year deals.  Both players were scheduled to become unrestricted free agents on July 1st, but they were cut off at the pass to stay with the team for at least another season.

Budaj made 15 appearances for the Avalanche in the 2010 season, amassing a record of 5-5-2 with 1 shutout and an assist, earning him 13 points for the hockey pool this year. It was almost immediate, how quickly he became the back-up to Craig Anderson, who took the bulk of the starts through the regular season and the playoffs. This forced Budaj's appearances to really fall off the map from the 2009 season and his ranking as well. Budaj finished 2010 as the 59th ranked goaltender in the pool, which will likely keep him from being picked for the 2011 edition.

Saying all of that, his 1-year deal with the club will be worth $1.25 million.

Koci was not used a great deal in 2010, only playing in 43 games with the club in 2010.  The 6'6", 238 lbs. enforcer didn't make the biggest impact in his playing time either, scoring only 1 goal and picking up 84 PIM.  His use at the fantasy level is also quite limited, especially since he doesn't see all of the games.  The Avalanche do retain some toughness with this signing, but not a lot of offense.

Koci's deal is worth $575,000 for the single season.

Budaj should remain as the back-up and Koci did play half the season for the Avalanche, so both will be added to the team table when I get the next team update in, which means they will both factor into the salary cap figure for the 2011 season. The Avalanche still sit in pretty good shape for the coming year, having 16 players signed for $32.9 million against the cap at the moment. I would be expecting some more shorter-term deals to come out of Denver, since they are filling quite a few gaps with entry-level deals, keeping the cap hit low.