DAILY RUMORS: Peter Mueller Being Traded? Not Likely

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The contract status of Colorado Avalanche forward Peter Mueller remains a topic of interest around the NHL rumor mill.

A restricted free agent, Mueller struggled through most of last season with the Phoenix Coyotes, with only 17 points in 54 games but after getting dealt to the Avalanche at the March trade deadline regained his scoring touch, with 9 goals and 20 points in only 15 games until sidelined by a season-ending concussion.

Now symptom-free, Mueller remains unsigned likely due to the Avalanche having concerns about his inconsistency and recent injury history, as well as his possible salary demands.

While the Avs currently sit over $2 million under the league’s mandated cap minimum of $43.4 million they could easily get over that by re-signing Mueller and another player to round out their 23-man roster for the upcoming season.

It should also be remembered the Avalanche are still in a rebuilding phase and hope to keep payroll as low as possible, looking ahead to next season when they’ll have to re-sign goalie Craig Anderson and likely find replacements for pending UFAs Milan Hejduk, Adam Foote and Scott Hannan.

So it was interesting to read the following from Hockeyleaks.com regarding Mueller:

http://hockeyleaks.com/forum2/index.php?topic=8711.0

Colorado’s Peter Mueller remains an RFA and according to sources the Avs are very open to dealing the young forward.  One team who has shown significant interest in him as of late is the Calgary Flames, though the Avs are not in a hurry to trade him within the division.

I’d say the Avs aren’t in a hurry to trade Mueller at all.

While he’s struggled to play up to lofty expectations early in his NHL career there is no denying the 22-year-old Mueller is a very gifted young forward. The Avs wouldn’t have acquired him last March if they didn’t believe he’d be a good fit with their young team, as his 20-point tear in his first 15 games with the club late last season appeared to indicate.

Unless Mueller, who earned a base salary of $850K per season on his three-year entry level contract, is seeking a ridiculously expensive contract – and there’s been nothing out of Denver to suggest he has – the Avalanche have no reason to trade Mueller to the Flames, or to anyone else.

Lyle Richardson

SpectorsHockey.net
twitter.com/spectorshockey