Avalanche Notes: Toews, Makar, Holland

Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews is one of the top names headlining the 2024 unrestricted free agent class.  The 29-year-old has emerged as a legitimate top-pairing player since being acquired in 2020 and has seen his production take off the last couple of years as he reached the 50-point mark.  However, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that the industry thought is that Colorado doesn’t want to give Toews more than five years.  If he gets to the open market, it stands to reason that seven-year max-term offers would be on the table while the Avalanche could go as high as eight.  A long-term structure like that might allow for the AAV to be a bit lower than a medium-term agreement would be but would also carry some risk in the later years between his workload and age.

More from Colorado:

• Cale Makar skated with the main group at practice today as he works his way back from a lower-body injury, relays Peter Baugh of The Athletic (Twitter link). However, the defenseman stated that while the injury hasn’t gotten any worse, it “hasn’t really gotten much better”  With the regular season still two weeks away, it stands to reason that the Avs will take their time with their star blueliner.
• Peter Holland’s tryout appears to have been a somewhat successful one as the team confirmed to Colorado Hockey Now’s Evan Rawal (Twitter link) that they have made the forward a contract offer, one that also includes a reassignment to the AHL level. Whether the offer is a two-way deal with the Avalanche or a one-way AHL proposal remains to be seen.  Holland didn’t play anywhere last season and last played at the minor league level back in 2018-19 where he was quite productive with 65 points in 73 games.  Colorado shuffled through depth players frequently last season looking for the right fit so even though Holland won’t be making the roster now, he could get an opportunity down the road.