Trade Deadline Primer: Colorado Avalanche

With the 4 Nations Face-Off break approaching, the trade deadline looms large and is about a month away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Colorado Avalanche.

The Colorado Avalanche have been busy on the trade market this season, moving on from long-time star Mikko Rantanen and acquiring two netminders to remake their goaltending. Given the talent on the team, it would be fair to say their season has been a disappointment. However, with the injuries that the Avalanche have dealt with this year, it’s fair to say that they’ve navigated some bumpy waters admirably. Colorado does have holes in its lineup, but with how busy they’ve been in-season up to this point, it’s hard to imagine them making many moves over the next few weeks.

Record

33-22-2, 4th in the Central

Deadline Status

Buyer

Deadline Cap Space

$3,986,500 on deadline day, 1/3 retention slots used, 46/50 contracts used, per PuckPedia.

Upcoming Draft Picks

2025: CAR 2nd, NYR 2nd, COL 4th, VAN 4th, COL 7th
2026: COL 1st, COL 4th, CAR 4th, COL 5th, PHI 5th, COL 7th, NYR 7th, OTT 7th

Trade Chips

The Avalanche don’t have many desirable trade chips that they would be willing to move on from, which is the price you pay when you are a team that has been in Stanley Cup contention for the last few years and you’ve already moved on from your biggest pending UFA . In terms of roster players that Colorado could move, center Casey Mittelstadt and forward Ross Colton come to mind, but both players have term remaining and have struggled this season.

Mittlestadt started the season on fire, posting six goals and seven assists in his first 10 games. However, since that torrid start, the 26-year-old has struggled considerably, tallying just three goals and 16 assists in 47 games. His underlying numbers have also fallen off this year; his possession numbers have dropped at even strength, as evidenced by his CF%, which was 56.7% last season and has fallen to 50.5%. Any acquiring team is going to see Mittelstadt as a bounce-back candidate with a change of scenery but likely won’t want to pay a big cost to trade for him.

Colton’s decline this season hasn’t been as pronounced as Mittelstadt’s, however, his play hasn’t been what it was in previous years. On the surface, Colton’s 13 goals in 40 games represent the best pace of his career, however, he has produced these numbers with the most favorable deployment of his career. His overall point production has declined, with just 16 points in 40 games, and his control of the puck has been a problem throughout the season. Colton has 33 turnovers in 40 games compared to just 23 in 80 games a year ago.

Outside of their roster players, Colorado isn’t exactly ripe with draft picks, but they do have two second-round picks in this year’s NHL Entry Draft, as well as two fourth-round picks. Next season, Colorado has eight draft picks available, including their first-round pick. However, they don’t have a second or a third-round pick, and three of those eight picks are in the seventh round.

Finally, Colorado could dip in their prospect pool and look to move out some pieces from an already thing depth chart. Center Calum Ritchie and defenseman Mikhail Gulyayev are arguably their top two prospects, and while neither player is a can’t miss prospect, they do have an upside, though. Both players would be a valuable trade piece if Colorado is looking to swing a bigger deal. Ritchie had a seven-game NHL audition this season, posting a single goal. He has since been tearing it up in the Ontario Hockey League with the Oshawa Generals, registering 14 goals and 42 assists in 30 games.

Gulyayev, on the other hand, has been playing in the KHL this season and has posted six goals and six assists in 52 games. While those numbers don’t jump off the page, it is a solid improvement on last season’s numbers when he had four goals and eight assists in 64 games. The 19-year-old was a late first-round pick and is undersized at just 5’10” and 172 lbs, which could chase some teams off who have seen undersized defensemen struggle in recent seasons when trying to break into the NHL.

Other Potential Trade Chips: F Jonathan Drouin

Team Needs

1) A Center: With J.T. Miller off the market, the options for Colorado might be limited here. At the start of the year, it didn’t seem possible that Colorado would be hunting for a center, but the play of Casey Mittelstadt has been a major cause for concern.  Acquiring a second line center could allow Mittelstadt and recently acquired Jack Drury to shift down the depth chart, which would likely suit both players better at this point in their respective careers. If that is a route Colorado opts to go, their options will be extremely limited. Dylan Cozens of the Buffalo Sabres is available, but the cost would be high, and like Mittelstadt, the young center has struggled this year. Brayden Schenn is another possibility out of St. Louis, but with three more seasons at $6.5MM per year, Colorado might not want to take on a veteran on a high-priced long-term deal. If they want a younger center under control, Trevor Zegras out of Anaheim would be an option. The 23-year-old has one more year at $5.75MM and would be an arbitration-eligible RFA in the summer of 2026.   The Avalanche might need to pivot and look at other forwards or perhaps add a center to the bottom half of their forward group, it will all come down to how the market shakes out.

2) A Defenseman: In an ideal world, the Avalanche would probably love to acquire a right-shot, second-pair defenseman to slot alongside Samuel Girard. Injured defender Josh Manson could certainly fill that role when he returns but would be better served on a third pairing at this point in his career. Bumping Manson down to the third pairing would mirror what the Avalanche did in 2022 when they acquired Manson and bumped veteran Erik Johnson to the third pair. Manson has dealt with injuries this season and would likely be more effective in a less demanding role. Right shot defensemen are always in demand, and acquiring one is never easy, especially in season. Erik Karlsson and Seth Jones are two defensemen who are available, but both would come with high-priced cap hits and may not fit in the salary cap structure of the Avalanche.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.