What’s Next for Sean Avery?

The Dallas Stars used an NFL Sunday to officially announce what the rest of the hockey world had already surmised -- that there was no way back to Dallas for winger Sean Avery after he burned just about every last bridge between himself and his teammates, management and the front office in Dallas.↵↵If there was any surprise in the announcement, it was the lack of rancor between the two parties. Curiously, Avery will remain on the payroll while he’s dealing with his behavioral issues and the Stars attempt to find some place to stash the meddlesome winger. Meanwhile, Avery’s camp is saying all of the right things, even that they understand why the Stars have decided to let him go and not allow a path for return and redemption.↵

↵↵It’s almost as if the two parties have entered something of a cooling off period, where Avery’s stint in anger management -- one that can apparently be extended -- gives the Stars a little more breathing space to come up with an adequate solution.↵

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↵↵The first option, and the one you’d figure the Stars would prefer, would be to trade Avery out of town. But Avery has been branded a locker room cancer -- and by some of the most respected names in the game, players like Marty Turco and Mike Modano. That also makes the next option, waiving Avery in the hopes another team would pick him up at half his current salary, also unlikely in the short term.↵

↵↵I think the Stars are going to let time do its work for them. Look for the team to keep paying Avery while keeping him away from his teammates just long enough for another hungry general manager to come calling. My best bet -- we won’t see Avery back in an NHL uniform again until the start of next season.↵

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