from Adrian Dater of the Denver Post,

While the Avs cannot justify importing expensive rentals, as they could in the days of Ray Bourque, Theo Fleury and Rob Blake, neither can they be stuck in the situation of having essentially their own rental player on the roster beyond Wednesday in the form of top players with expiring contracts.

That's where it could get interesting with a player such as Paul Stastny. While the Avs would like to re-sign as many players in the last year of their contracts as they can, Stastny's situation is trickier because of his potential status as an unrestricted free agent July 1.

If the Avs can't reach agreement on a new deal by Wednesday — or lack the confidence they can sign him at some point before July 1 — it is possible Stastny could be traded. The worst of all worlds for the Avs would be to lose a top player such as Stastny for nothing on the unrestricted free-agent market this summer....

The Avs would not comment on any ongoing negotiations with Stastny toward a new contract, and Stastny's agent, Matt Keator, did not respond for comment. If Stastny is dealt, Avs fans can probably expect a young defenseman in return, someone who can play 20-25 minutes per night, someone with time still left on his existing deal or, if not, restricted free-agent status — but not unrestricted.

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