Report: 15 teams have contacted Stastny, who won't accept a paycut

Colorado Avalanche center Paul Stastny is just a small handful of days away from becoming the consensus top forward on the unrestricted free agent market. As you'd expect, considering his talent level and the dearth of skill on the free agent market this offseason, Stastny's availability has piqued the interest from an overwhelming number of clubs.

"15 teams as of Thursday had contacted the Paul Stastny camp," TSN's Pierre LeBrun reported during an Insider Trading segment on Thursday night. That's half of the league!

As for what Stastny's camp is telling would-be suitors:

What (teams contacting Stastny) are being told by (Stastny's) agent Matt Keator, is that he's not going backwards from his current salary, which was $6.6 million. I believe the Colorado Avalanche's best offer was in the fives, so if the Avs are going to keep Paul Stastny, it's going to have to be higher and I don't know if they're going to go past 6 million.

So it would appear that the Stastny-era in Colorado is likely at an end. The question now is where will Stastny land, since he pretty much has his pick of the litter. Among the 15 teams that have contacted Stastny this week are the Winnipeg Jets and Chicago Blackhawks, TSN reported Thursday.