Trade Deadline Primer: Colorado Avalanche
With the Olympic break approaching, the trade deadline is about a month away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We begin our look around the league with teams that have clear plans at the extremes of the standings, this time with the Avalanche.
Colorado will come out of the Olympic break as the Presidents’ Trophy favorites and will likely remain so up until the trade deadline. There are a few teams that could conceivably catch them between now and then, but the Avalanche have put themselves in a spot where they won’t need to be too active at the deadline, barring injuries. Colorado ranks first in GF/G, first in GA/G, 31st in PP%, second in PK%, and first in SV%.
Record
36-9-9, 1st in the Central (~100% playoff probability)
Deadline Status
Buyer
Deadline Cap Space
$6.48MM on deadline day, 0/3 retention slots used, 46/50 contracts used, per PuckPedia.
Upcoming Draft Picks
2026: CAR 4th, COL 4th, PHI 5th, BOS 5th, COL 5th, NYR 7th, OTT 7th, PIT 7th, COL 7th
2027: COL 1st, MIN 2nd, COL 2nd, COL 4th, SJ 5th, COL 5th, COL 6th, COL 7th
Trade Chips
Depending on how aggressive they want to be, the Avalanche could likely use their plethora of draft picks to acquire the depth they need. Obviously, it’s more quantity over quality, but as the league’s best team, they only need to add around the fringes.
Still, if they wanted to make a more notable addition, particularly to their defensive core, Colorado has a few prospects at their disposal. It wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world for the Avalanche to push most of their chips in with only two more guaranteed years of consistent Norris threat, Cale Makar.
Two of Colorado’s better prospects are playing in the KHL, so they wouldn’t be negatively impacting the NHL squad or the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. Defenseman Mikhail Gulyayev, whom Colorado selected with the 31st overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft, is playing for the Avangard Omsk. Furthermore, Ilya Nabokov, selected with the 38th overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, is having a solid year with the Metallurg Magnitogorsk.
Considering how he’s played the last three years, Nabokov would have significant value if the Avalanche included him in trade conversations. Nabokov, 22, has managed a 67-34-9 record in 123 KHL games with a .920 SV% and 2.31 GAA. Although it’s not a direct comparison, the Florida Panthers were able to acquire Sam Reinhart with Devon Levi and Seth Jones with Spencer Knight in recent years. Both played integral roles in the Panthers’ back-to-back Stanley Cup titles.
Outside of those two, Colorado could include defenseman Sean Behrens or forward Nikita Prishchepov, both of whom are playing with AHL Colorado, for less significant additions. Unfortunately, according to Daily Faceoff’s preseason rankings, the Avalanche have the 29th-ranked farm system, meaning their cupboards are lacking in prospect capital. Regardless, it’s unimaginable that Colorado would part with anyone on the active roster, considering how the team has played this year.
Team Needs
Defensive Depth: At the time of writing, the Avalanche has only six defensemen on the active roster, without much depth. Yes, the likes of Keaton Middleton, Jacob MacDonald, Ronald Attard, and Jack Ahcan can and have all served when needed, though they wouldn’t be the best options to have in case of injuries leading up to or in the postseason. In a perfect world, the Colorado would target a defenseman who can play on both sides of the blueline, though they’ll want to seek out a left-handed shot at the very least. Fortunately, there should be a few options available to them with varying degrees of talent. Logan Stanley of the Winnipeg Jets, Matt Grzelcyk of the Chicago Blackhawks, Mario Ferraro of the San Jose Sharks, and Brett Kulak of the Pittsburgh Penguins all make sense as potential additions.
Bottom-Six Center: Outside of most contending teams, the Avalanche don’t have much to be concerned about regarding their center core. Nathan MacKinnon (51.1%), Brock Nelson (49.4%), and Jack Drury (59.2%) are all having solid years in the faceoff dot, with the former two providing much of the team’s offense. However, there is a steep drop-off in faceoff talent on the team’s fourth line. The team has typically used Parker Kelly or Zakhar Bardakov in that role. However, they’ve only managed a 32.1% and 43.4% in the faceoff circle, respectively. If he’s willing to leave his native Winnipeg in pursuit of one last shot at the Stanley Cup, Jonathan Toews would be a perfect addition, as he has a 61.0% faceoff rate this season. However, if Toews is unwilling to leave Manitoba, lower-cost additions such as Jason Dickinson (49.7%) or Erik Haula (50.3%) would also help round out the bottom-six.
Image courtesy of John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images.
Predators Recall Reid Schaefer
The Nashville Predators have added some forward depth to their lineup ahead of tonight’s game against the Minnesota Wild. According to a team announcement, the Predators have recalled forward Reid Schaefer from the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals.
Schaefer, 22, is viewed as one of the better prospects in Nashville’s system. He was originally selected with the 32nd overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft by the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers moved off him relatively quickly, trading him to the Predators a year later in the deal that brought defenseman Mattias Ekholm to Alberta.
Since then, he’s been a relatively solid secondary contributor with AHL Milwaukee. Debuting in the 2023-24 season, Schaefer has registered 21 goals and 53 points in 103 games in the game’s second-highest league. That averages out to just over a point every two games.
Being nearly a point-per-game player with the Admirals this season, the Predators believed it was time to allow Schaefer the opportunity to contribute at the NHL level. The Edmonton, Alberta native was recalled for the first time in late November and remained with the team for nearly two months.
He didn’t make too much noise during his first stint in the NHL, though it wasn’t all bad. Schaefer scored four goals and six points across 25 games with a -9 rating, averaging 10:30 of ice time per contest. He showed flashes of decent physicality, averaging 2.5 hits per game, and was efficient on offense, shooting at a 17.4% clip.
Considering the recent news that Barry Trotz will be stepping down as the team’s General Manager, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Schaefer get another extended look at the NHL level. Depending on how the team approaches the upcoming trade deadline, the next leader of the front office will want a better understanding of what the team has in some of the younger players.
Penguins Reassign Melvin Fernstrom
The Pittsburgh Penguins are bringing one of their forward prospects to North America. According to a team announcement, the Penguins have assigned forward Melvin Fernström to the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Fernström, 19, is only a few years removed from being drafted by the Vancouver Canucks. Vancouver selected the Bålsta, Sweden native with the 93rd overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft. At the time, Fernström had been playing for the Örebro HK program, scoring 23 goals and 57 points in 48 games across three separate U20 divisions. The Canucks traded Fernström to the Penguins last season in the Marcus Pettersson trade.
He’s remained in the Örebro HK organization, making the jump to the SHL over the last few years. Fernström has been relatively successful after making the jump to professional hockey, particularly as a younger player, scoring 11 goals and 21 points in 84 games since the beginning of the 2024-25 season.
Making the jump to the North American professional circuit, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Fernström struggle offensively for some time. Still, standing at 6’2″ and 190lbs, he won’t look out of place with the WBS Penguins.
Most of the public scouting information available on Fernström suggests he has a tremendous hockey IQ, which is fairly common for Swedish forwards. He is credited with efficiently assessing where the puck is going, which makes up for his subpar shooting ability. Regardless, he’ll immediately join a contending team in the AHL and will benefit from better players around him.
Morning Notes: Panarin, Liljegren, Ekman-Larsson
There’s no question that the New York Rangers are looking to move pending unrestricted free agent Artemi Panarin before today’s 3 p.m. CT Olympic roster freeze. A handful of teams have already been prominently linked to Panarin, and a recent update from David Pagnotta alerted that the situation remains incredibly fluid, lowering the chances of a trade coming together by this afternoon.
In his update, Pagnotta suggested that the Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings, and San Jose Sharks remain interested in acquiring Panarin with an extension. In contrast, the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, and Edmonton Oilers view him only as a rental. Additionally, Pagnotta mentioned that unless something changes relatively soon, the Anaheim Ducks, Detroit Red Wings, Utah Mammoth, and Washington Capitals are no longer in the running.
On yesterday’s edition of Insider Trading, TSN’s Chris Johnston reported that at least one team has put $40MM on the table for Panarin, which would presumably translate to a three-year deal with an AAV of $13.3MM or a four-year contract with an AAV of $10MM.
Other updates from this morning:
- In the same update from Pagnotta, he suggests that the Sharks are actively shopping Timothy Liljegren, as well as other pending-UFA defensemen, on the trade market. San Jose could ultimately sign a few of them to extensions over the next few weeks, though Pagnotta confirmed that Liljegren is not a part of the organization’s long-term plans. The former 17th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft has 10 assists in 41 games this season, averaging 20:15 of ice time per contest.
- Lastly, Pagnotta reported that if the Toronto Maple Leafs pivot toward selling ahead of the March 6th trade deadline, plenty of teams will be interested in acquiring Oliver Ekman-Larsson. It won’t be without hurdles, as the 34-year-old defenseman is signed through the 2027-28 season at a $3.5MM salary with a 16-team no-trade clause. Still, he’s having an excellent offensive year with Toronto, scoring eight goals and 34 points in 56 games, with most of that production coming at even strength.
Anthony Cirelli To Miss Olympics
In an unfortunate update, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman shared that Tampa Bay Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli will be unable to play for Team Canada in the upcoming Olympics due to injury. Friedman added that Sam Bennett would replace Cirelli on Team Canada’s roster.
Cirelli, 28, sustained the injury in Tampa Bay’s Stadium Series win over the Boston Bruins. He was on the receiving end of a hard hit from Bruins forward Mark Kastelic in the first period and didn’t return to the game. He finished the game with a +1 rating in 6:25 of action.
Since then, there haven’t been any firm updates. After the game, head coach Jon Cooper was quoted as saying, “It was kind of a stinger. Cirell’s a tough kid. For him not to come back, clearly, there’s something wrong with him. So hopefully he’ll be okay. There’s some big games coming up ahead of him.”
Unfortunately, those big games will have to wait for the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs. It’s a tough break for a player who has dramatically turned his career around in recent years and helped Team Canada win the 4 Nations Face-Off last season.
Back in the 2022-23 season, after scoring 11 goals and 29 points in 58 games, Cirelli became a legitimate trade candidate for the Lightning. Tampa Bay had just signed him to an eight-year, $50MM extension, a high price to play for a center that wasn’t always available.
Still, over the last two years, he’s made that contract look well worth it, scoring 42 goals and 94 points in 129 games with a 49.4% success rate in the faceoff dot. Furthermore, he’s responsible on his own end, managing a 91.2% on-ice SV% at even strength through 49 games this season.
While it’s a depressing development for Cirelli, Team Canada has added more snarl to their forward core at the very least. Bennett scored one goal in three games during last year’s 4 Nations tournament. He famously got into a fight with Brady Tkachuk during the opening minutes of the much-awaited tilt with the United States. Outside of the obvious, Olympic opponents will be extra intimidated by Team Canada, which will also have Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson.
It’ll be interesting to see how Bennett responds offensively. Due to the number of injuries suffered by the Panthers this year, Bennett has earned more responsibility. At this time last year, he had scored 17 goals and 33 points in 53 games. This season, he has 19 goals and 42 points in 55 contests.
While that isn’t the typical production of a forward on Team Canada, Bennett tends to raise his game when the lights are brightest. Over the past three postseasons, Bennett has helped Florida reach three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals, scoring 27 goals and 51 points in 62 games, culminating in the Conn Smythe Trophy last season.
Lightning Recall Scott Sabourin
After more than a month away from the team, an old-fashioned enforcer is returning to the Tampa Bay Lightning. According to a team announcement, the Lightning have recalled Scott Sabourin from the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch.
Sabourin, 33, was only in the AHL for the last week and a half. On December 28th, in a game against the Montreal Canadiens, Sabourin got into a fight with defenseman Arber Xhekaj, leading to an undisclosed injury. Tampa Bay placed him on the injured reserve a few days later, and he wasn’t activated until January 23rd.
Unfortunately, Sabourin’s return to the Lightning’s roster comes with some bad news. Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times reported this morning that forwards Anthony Cirelli and Nick Paul, both injured in the Stadium Series contest against the Boston Bruins, aren’t expected to play again before the upcoming Olympic break. Additionally, Brayden Point, who is recovering from a knee injury, isn’t poised to return until after the Olympics, either.
The Lightning’s defensive core has already been tested this season. Now, their center depth will face a similar uphill battle over their last two contests before the break. Fortunately, Cirelli and Point are expected to play for Team Canada in the upcoming international contest, meaning there shouldn’t be any long-term injury concerns.
Assuming he plays in at least one of Tampa Bay’s final two contests, Sabourin will register his 10th game of the season, meaning he’ll need to clear waivers should they attempt to assign him back to AHL Syracuse. Over his nine contests thus far, he’s scored one goal and three points, averaging 8:12 of ice time per game.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen To Miss Olympics
According to a team announcement, Buffalo Sabres netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will miss the Olympic Games due to his lower-body injury. In the same announcement, the Sabres shared that Joonas Korpisalo of the Boston Bruins will play for Team Finland and Luukkonen’s stead.
Obviously, even though it’s never a good time to sustain an injury, it really couldn’t come at a worse time for Luukkonen. He’s been fairly healthy since missing the first month of the 2025-26 season. Still, an injury report from a few days ago indicated that Luukkonen would miss the next week of action. It’s unclear if he’ll actually be injured through the Olympic break, or if he and the Sabres agreed it would be best for him to sit it out as a precaution.
Furthermore, it was likely the expectation that Luukkonen would be Finland’s starter for the upcoming international contest. He’s managed an 11-7-2 record across 20 starts with Buffalo this season, earning a .902 SV%, 2.73 GAA, and 3.3 Goals Saved Above Average. His fellow countrymen, Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators and Kevin Lankinen of the Vancouver Canucks, haven’t come close to matching that production.
It would have also been his first international appearance as a professional netminder. Luukkonen was technically included on Team Finland’s roster for last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off, though he didn’t participate in any action. His last time representing Team Finland in a game came back during the 2018-19 IIHF World Junior Championship. He managed a 3-2-0 record in six games with a .932 SV%.
Meanwhile, Korpisalo was the best available of the remaining options. Despite being a backup netminder with the Bruins, he was the obvious choice over Ville Husso, Justus Annunen, or Leevi Merilainen. He’s managed a 10-8-1 record in 21 games with Boston this season with a .895 SV% and 3.12 GAA.
Like Luukkonen, Korpisalo hasn’t played for Team Finland in some time. His last showing was in the 2017 IIHF World Championships, where he collected two wins in six appearances with an .858 SV%. Finland lost the Bronze medal game to Russia.
Injury Notes: Bennett, Avalanche, Rielly, Foligno
Outside of losing an important divisional matchup to the Buffalo Sabres, the Florida Panthers also suffered a loss to their roster. During the contest, the Panthers announced that Sam Bennett had left the game with an upper-body injury.
At this point, there’s no clear answer for how Bennett sustained the injury. Regardless, he joins a growing list of injured players in Florida as their quest for a third consecutive Stanley Cup Final continues to slip away. Bennett finished the game with a -1 rating in 5:11 of action.
If Bennett is unable to play in tomorrow’s game against the Boston Bruins, the Panthers will assuredly need to make a recall to their forward core. The Panthers were already without forwards Anton Lundell, Brad Marchand, and Tomas Nosek. Additionally, forwards Aleksander Barkov, Jonah Gadjovich, and defensemen Seth Jones and Dmitry Kulikov are all on the team’s injured reserve.
Additional injury updates:
- Despite returning defenseman Devon Toews in last night’s loss to the Detroit Red Wings, the Colorado Avalanche remain waiting for a pair of top-six forwards to return. According to Jesse Montano of Guerilla Sports, the Avalanche hope that Martin Nečas will return tomorrow. Additionally, although he’s expected to play tomorrow, captain Gabriel Landeskog is nearing a return and is poised to play with Team Sweden for the upcoming Olympics. The 33-year-old winger has not played since January 4th due to an upper-body injury.
- Before taking the ice against the Calgary Flames yesterday, The Athletic’s Joshua Kloke reported that the Toronto Maple Leafs won’t return defenseman Morgan Rielly to the lineup before the Olympic break. Rielly left Toronto’s recent win over the Vancouver Canucks due to an upper-body injury. Given that he’s not playing for Team Canada at the upcoming Winter Olympics, Rielly will likely return after the international event, but the Maple Leafs couldn’t specify a recovery timeline.
- The Minnesota Wild were without a middle-six forward last night against the Montreal Canadiens. Before the drop of the puck, the Wild announced that Marcus Foligno would miss the game because of illness. The 34-year-old forward had been playing better of late, scoring three goals and eight points in his last 15 games, including the first hat trick of his career a few weeks ago. He’s not expected to miss the Wild’s final contest before the Olympic break.
Wild Recall Cal Petersen, Activate Zach Bogosian
6:03 p.m: The Wild officially announced Bogosian’s activation in advance of their game tonight against the Montreal Canadiens.
In a corresponding move, they reassigned defenseman Matt Kiersted to the AHL. Kiersted, 27, began his most recent recall on Jan. 27, and ended up serving as a healthy scratch for the club’s game’s on Jan. 29 and Jan. 31. The 27-year-old undrafted blueliner has gotten into four NHL games for the Wild this season, and has four points in 28 AHL games. He’s under contract through next season at a league-minimum NHL cap hit, with a $450K AHL salary.
12:13 p.m.: The Wild have now activated Bogosian from injured reserve, per the NHL’s media site. Since teams can exceed the roster limit to have a third goalie under emergency conditions twice during the season, they won’t need to make a move to reinstate him. He’s been out for 13 games with an undisclosed injury sustained on Jan. 3 against the Kings. In 23 appearances this season, the veteran righty has four points with a +8 rating while averaging 14:52 of ice time per game.
11:30 a.m.: According to regional reporter Jessi Pierce, the Minnesota Wild have recalled netminder Cal Petersen from the AHL’s Iowa Wild. Minnesota confirmed the news, sharing that it’s under emergency conditions. The Wild will need to make an additional transaction before tonight to activate defenseman Zach Bogosian from the injured reserve.
Fortunately, there are no injury concerns with Minnesota’s usual goaltending tandem. Several reports from practice indicate that Jesper Wallstedt is dealing with the flu, and he won’t be available for tonight’s contest. Filip Gustavsson will assume the starting position.
This morning’s roster move is the first call-up of the year for Petersen. He was waived shortly before the start of the 2025-26 campaign after signing a one-year, $775K contract with the Wild last offseason. He’s spent the entire year with AHL Iowa up to this point.
Although his win/loss record isn’t great, it’s not the worst performance Petersen has had throughout his professional career. The 31-year-old veteran has a 4-13-0 record in 17 games with a .897 SV% and 2.82 GAA. Last season, with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Petersen finished with a 13-15-3 record in 31 games with a .885 SV% and 3.14 GAA.
His results are more indicative of the team in front of him rather than his individual performance. It’s much of the same for AHL Iowa, a team that has only made the playoffs twice since the 2013-14 season, though no postseason was held in 2020 or 2021. That’s not expected to change this season, as the Wild are in last place in the Central Division with a 12-26-4-1 record in 43 games.
Predators GM Barry Trotz To Step Down
In a notable announcement from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Barry Trotz will resign as the Nashville Predators’ General Manager later today. Friedman noted that since no successor has been decided upon yet, Trotz will remain as the General Manager until a replacement is found.
Until the Predators have their press conference formalizing the move, there’s no word whether Trotz will retire or continue his professional career in a different capacity. If it is the end of his hockey career, he’ll leave as one of the most celebrated sports figures in Nashville.
His first year with the team was in the 1997-98 season when he was hired as a scout. He didn’t last long in that role, as he was elevated to the team’s head coaching position ahead of the 1998-99 season. The Predators didn’t know it at the time, but Trotz would become one of the league’s longest-tenured coaches.
Serving as Nashville’s head coach for 15 years, Trotz guided the Predators to a 557-479-60-100 record in 1,196 games. Throughout the last decade of his run as the team’s bench boss, the Predators made the playoffs seven times. Unfortunately, they failed to advance past the Western Conference semifinals, being ousted by the Vancouver Canucks and Phoenix Coyotes in 2011 and 2012, respectively.
At the end of the 2013-14 season, Nashville announced that it wouldn’t be retaining Trotz for a 16th season. A month and a half later, Trotz was named head coach of the Washington Capitals, where he worked as a scout from 1988 to 1991.
His time in the District of Columbia was arguably the most successful of his career, finishing with a 206-89-34 record in 328 games. The Capitals won the Metropolitan Division in three out of four years under Trotz’s tutelage, and he guided the team to its first Stanley Cup championship in 2018. Despite the impressive climax of his tenure in Washington, he resigned as head coach later that summer due to a contract dispute.
Trotz moved quickly, signing on as the New York Islanders’ head coach for the 2018-19 season. The team reached the Eastern Conference Final in 2020 and 2021, but relieved Trotz of his duties after failing to qualify for the postseason in 2022. Being his last coaching experience, Trotz is fifth all-time in coaching wins with 914.
Without a home for the 2022-23 NHL season, Trotz moved to the front office, rejoining the Predators as a special advisor with the understanding he would become the team’s next General Manager after David Poile retired.
Despite the legendary coaching career, it’s safe to say that Trotz’s career as an executive hasn’t gone as well. Back in May, PHR’s Josh Cybulski analyzed many of Trotz’s head-scratching moves with the Predators.
It got off to a relatively good start, ridding the team of high-priced contracts for Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen. The team used that newfound cap space rather quickly, signing Ryan O’Reilly, Gustav Nyquist, and Luke Schenn to multi-year deals.
Since then, rather than targeting veterans to fill a serious need, Trotz has seemed to throw money at the wall to see what sticks. Highlighted by the summer ahead of the 2024-25 season, the Predators signed Steven Stamkos, Brady Skjei, and Jonathan Marchessault to big-ticket contracts. Infamously, the Predators immediately bottomed out, finishing in 30th place with a 30-44-8 record.
He hasn’t done much to alter the roster in any meaningful way, since. Yes, the Predators have added a few younger players with good potential, but they’ve continued to add veterans like Michael Bunting, Erik Haula, Nicklaus Perbix, and Nicolas Hague, showing little internal direction.
Whether he faced top-down pressure from ownership or if he’s making the decision entirely on his own volition, it’s clear that Nashville is looking for a new voice to lead the front office. It allows the franchise to implement a firm refresh after being governed by the Poile/Trotz regime for the last quarter-century.