Perhaps no decision will be more crucial for the Avalanche this offseason than what to do about the team's goaltending situation.

Speculation already has begun that the Avalanche won't attempt to re-sign six-year veteran Peter Budaj but will bring back Brian Elliott and seek another goalie on the free agent market.

Budaj, 28, has spent his entire professional career with the Avalanche and is eligible for unrestricted free agency on July 1 after earning $1.25 million in 2010-11. He posted a 15-21-4 record with a 3.20 goals-against average and .895 save percentage.

Elliott, 27, is eligible for restricted free agency and is coming off a dismal season in which he went 15-27-9 with a 3.34 average and .893 save percentage. Acquired on Feb. 18 from Ottawa in exchange for goalie Craig Anderson, Elliott had a 2-8-1 record with the Avalanche, along with a 3.83 average and .891 save percentage.

But the Avalanche doesn't necessarily believe that Elliott, who made $850,000, is a lost cause. He went 29-18-4 with a 2.57 average with the Senators in 2009-10 in his second full NHL season, and Colorado could be looking at him as a reclamation project who might thrive as a decent backup behind a legitimate No. 1 goalie and an improved defense.

The Avalanche has plenty of money at its disposal if it chooses to spend it in the free agent market. A number of capable goalies are expected to be available, the two most prominent being Florida's Tomas Vokoun and Phoenix's Ilya Bryzgalov.

The Avalanche has several goalie prospects in the organization, but none are expected to be ready for the NHL for another year or two.

SEASON HIGHLIGHT
Things were looking good for the Avalanche when it won six consecutive games from Dec. 10-19, a stretch that included a road win against Washington and sweeping home-and-home series against Chicago. The streak gave the Avalanche a 19-10-4 record and reason to believe it could compete with Vancouver for first place in the Northwest Division.

TURNING POINT
The season began to turn sour on Dec. 21 in a dreadful 5-0 home loss to Los Angeles, snapping the Avalanche's winning streak at six games. Colorado won just 11 of the remaining 49 games. Included was a 10-game losing streak (0-9-1) from Jan. 26-Feb. 19 and another 10-game slide (0-9-1) from Feb. 23-March 17. The Avalanche went 2-20-2 from Jan. 20-March 17, with the only victories coming against St. Louis.

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