Coming up on the trade deadline, the Avs traded away Skrastins (a solid player who has done well for the Avs in his tenure here) in exchange for Salei. A bit of a surprise to me, and I’m sort of sad to see Skrastins go, but hopefully Salei will give the Avs a good, disruptive defensive player.

More surprising than that is the return of Adam Foote, acquired from Columbus for a draft pick or two (Columbus will get a first round pick and might get a fourth round pick). No complaints from me; Foote, at 36, is still a top notch player and seeing him come back is a thrill. He will be much more immediately valuable than Forsberg and, barring injury, a solid player from his first shift on the ice.

The Avs have loaded up for their playoff run and given themselves a wild card in Forsberg that could dramatically impact their Stanley Cup chances.

This is a pretty exciting development.