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Valeri Nichushkin Re-Signs With Colorado Avalanche

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The Colorado Avalanche have reached a new deal with restricted free agent Valeri Nichushkin, re-signing the big forward to a two-year contract. The deal will carry an average annual value of $2.5MM and PuckPedia reports that he’ll receive $2.2MM next season and $2.8MM in 2021-22.

Talk about getting your career back on track. The big Russian winger appeared to be on his way out of the NHL when the 2018-19 season ended without him scoring a single goal. Ten points, zero goals in 57 games was an incredible stat line for the tenth overall pick from 2013, and it actually earned Nichushkin a buyout of the final year of his contract with the Dallas Stars.

Off the scrap heap and into the lineup said Colorado GM Joe Sakic, who brought Nichuskin in on a one-year, $850K deal in late August. Not only did the 25-year-old find the back of the net (13 times), but he was also one of the best defensive wingers in the entire league in 2019-20, earning multiple Selke Trophy votes and finishing eighth (second among wingers, behind Mark Stone).

Nichushkin isn’t going to hit the ice beside Nathan MacKinnon and become a first-line player for the Avalanche, but he has become an integral piece of the machine. The fact that he won’t turn 26 until March and could potentially have his best hockey in front of him should be an exciting prospect for Colorado fans (and his agent).

He’ll be an unrestricted free agent when this contract expires and one of the youngest players on the market. Of course, the Avalanche could still extend him at some point if he continues to give them excellent results at both ends of the rink.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Colorado Re-Signs Jayson Megna

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Jayson Megna is returning to the Avalanche as they announced that they have signed the winger to a one-year deal.  Financial terms were not disclosed by the team but Mike Chambers of the Denver Post reports (Twitter link) that the contract pays $700K in the NHL and $350K in the AHL.

The 30-year-old played in eight games with Colorado last season and was held off the scoresheet while averaging just under seven minutes per night.  He spent most of the year with the AHL Eagles where he picked up 18 goals and 16 assists in just 43 games, the best point per game mark of his career.

Over his career, Megna has 121 NHL games under his belt between the Penguins, Rangers, Canucks, and Avalanche.  He’s likely to pass through waivers and suit up with the Eagles again in 2020-21 but could certainly be recalled and play on the fourth line should injuries arise up front.

Colorado Re-Signs Andre Burakovsky

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Colorado has taken care of one of their restricted free agents as they announced that they’ve re-signed winger Andre Burakovsky to a two-year contract.  TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that the deal pays $4.4MM in 2020-21 and $5.4MM in 2021-22 for a $4.9MM AAV.  GM Joe Sakic released the following statement:

Signing Andre was a priority for us this offseason. He has been a great addition to our team and was a big part of our success this season.  He’s a very skilled player who brings speed and scoring to our lineup, and we’re excited to have him under contract for two more years.

The Avalanche acquired him from Washington last offseason for second and third-round picks and the move turned out to be a great one for both sides.  The 25-year-old fit in quite well with his new team and put up career numbers despite the pandemic and multiple injuries, collecting 20 goals and 25 assists in 58 games while playing 15:12 per night, also a new personal best.

Burakovsky was even better in the playoffs, finishing fourth on the team in scoring with seven goals and ten assists in 15 games despite spending a lot of the postseason on the third line.  Quality secondary scoring from the bottom six can be hard to come by and they got it from him which resulted in a nice raise from the $3.25MM he made last season.

The deal buys out Burakovsky’s final year of RFA eligibility as well as one UFA-eligible year but still has him poised to hit the open market in the prime of his career as a 27-year-old in 2022.

Colorado Avalanche Announce Four Minor Contracts

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The Colorado Avalanche are expected to be a potential landing spot for some of the very best free agents on the market, but for now they’ll announce some organization depth instead. Sheldon Dries, Miikka Salomaki, Kiefer Sherwood and Mike Vecchione have all signed contracts with the Avalanche. Financial details have not yet been announced.

Dries was already in the system, signed out of Michigan University in 2017 as an undrafted free agent. He has played in 45 NHL games over the years but does most of his damage in the minors. In 50 AHL games this season he recorded 21 goals and 35 points, making him an easy call-up option.

Starting with Salomaki, the other three names have NHL experience of their own. The 27-year-old former Nashville Predators forward has played 167 games at the highest level, but registered just 27 points in that time.

Sherwood, who is just 25, has played 60 NHL games over the last two seasons but was another strong minor league performer. He’ll provide even more goal scoring for the Colorado Eagles, a team that will be loaded once again.

Vecchione was a sought after college free agent in 2017 and ended up inking a deal with the Philadelphia Flyers, but hasn’t played in the NHL since that spring. Instead he’s been a monster in the minor leagues, recording seasons of 40, 38 and 36 points without even playing 70 games in a single one.

Taylor Hall Considering Signing One-Year Deal With Contender

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Taylor Hall has played in the league for 10 years, but has appeared in a total of 14 playoff games. Despite being one of the top unrestricted free agents on the market, there are plenty of rumors that Hall is hoping for a big payday, but more than anything, the forward wants to play on a winner. With a flat salary cap coming this year, the Denver Post’s Mike Chambers writes that Hall might be willing to accept a one-year deal with a team like the Colorado Avalanche to play on a winning team and then test the free-agent market in a year, hopefully after the COVID-19 concerns have lightened up.

With the league being hit hard due to the coronavirus, most teams are reconsidering spending big when a flat cap could be a given for not just next year, but potentially the next few years. That isn’t good news for someone like Hall, who was looking to ink a long-term deal and with most of the top teams already close to being capped out, his goal of playing for a top team seems even more unlikely now.

However, Chambers writes that Hall is considering signing a one-year deal and Colorado is a team that makes the most sense as they are already one of the top teams in the league and the Avalanche have the cap space (approximately $21.5MM to spend) to at least offer a short-term deal. While the team’s top needs include a goaltender and some bottom-line toughness, but a top-six forward could be a great addition, especially on their second line. Hall might be the perfect fit alongside Nazem Kadri and restricted free agent Andre Burakovsky to form a second dominant line behind the Nathan MacKinnon–Mikko Rantanen–Gabriel Landeskog line.

Colorado general manager Joe Sakic seriously considered trading for Hall in December when the New Jersey Devils were shopping him. However, they decided against it, mainly because of the likely asking price and term that Hall would likely demand once his contract ran out at the end of the year. The team currently has plenty of cap space to work with, but the team will have to work out long-term deals for defenseman Cale Makar and Landeskog next year and still have to sign a number of restricted free agents this year, including Burakovsky and Ryan Graves.

If Colorado can get Hall on a one-year deal, then the team shouldn’t lose long-term cap space as well as they can see what kind of fit Hall is on their team. Since winning the Hart Trophy back in 2017-18, Hall has not been able to duplicate that type of season. He struggled with injuries in 2018-19, playing just 33 games and then struggled between New Jersey and the Arizona Coyotes with 16 goals and 52 points in 65 games.

All Colorado Avalanche UFA’s To Test The Market

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Don’t expect any impending unrestricted free agents out of Denver to re-sign prior to next Friday. The Athletic’s Ryan Clark reports that all of the Colorado Avalanche’s current UFA’s are expected to test the market. Not all of group have been ruled out from re-signing with the club, but they will all at least take the chance to talk to other teams.

Among the group still negotiating with the Avalanche are forwards Vladislav Namestnikov and Matt Nieto. Namestnikov is coming off of a strong season, especially considering he played for three different teams. It was with Colorado that he found the most per-game success, recording four goals and six points in nine regular season games and another four goals and five points in a dozen playoff games. It makes sense that the Avs would like to bring the talented two-way forward back, but Namestnikov could command a significant salary and is likely looking for some long-term security as well. With Colorado hoping to improve their roster from the one that fell short in the postseason, they will likely let Namestnikov discover his market value before deciding what the best use of their cap space is. Nieto is a different case. The experienced role player has been a solid contributor for the Avalanche for the past four seasons, but still has not established himself as a player worthy of a high-value contract. Colorado could re-sign the bottom-six forward without much of a hit to their salary cap status, but will likely weigh their roster space and needs versus the market value of extending Nieto.

Those who will not be returning to Denver next season? Clark states that forward Colin Wilson, defensemen Kevin Connauton and Mark Barberio, and goaltender Michael Hutchinson will not be re-signed by the Avalanche. Barberio has in fact already signed in Switzerland for next season. Wilson and Connauton are both veteran, experienced NHLers, but played very limited roles for Colorado this season, combining for just nine games played. The pair should be able to find new homes where the potential for NHL ice time is higher than it was with the Avs. Hutchinson is one of the best veteran No. 3 goalies in the NHL and played well for the Avs this year when pressed into action in the regular season and postseason. However, with the talk being that Colorado could look at bringing in a third goalie to challenge Philipp Grubauer and Pavel Francouz, combined with a couple of young pros in the system, Hutchinson appears to have lost his role. He will surely find work given the need for depth in net ahead of a condensed 2020-21 season.

With all of these players potentially moving out, the Avalanche have plenty of room to make some additions this off-season. While Clark warns that the team is keeping future extensions in mind when evaluating their salary cap flexibility, it still seems likely that Colorado could make a major splash or two this summer to improve a roster that is already very close to being a top Stanley Cup contender.

Offseason Keys: Colorado Avalanche

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The offseason has arrived for most squads.  Having covered the teams that weren’t a part of the NHL’s return and the ones ousted in the Qualifying Round and official first round, we shift our focus to the ones that were eliminated in the second round.  Next up is a look at Colorado.

Things were looking up for Colorado for most of the year.  They had a strong regular season and were dominant against Arizona in the first round.  However, by the time they got through the second round against Dallas who eventually eliminated them, they were down to their third-string goalie and had several other injuries which ended their year on a sour note.  Still, they’re a team that’s largely viewed as being on the rise and as a result, GM Joe Sakic’s list of tasks this offseason has almost as much to do with the long-term outlook of the team as it does building for 2020-21.

Add Short-Term Help

As far as contenders go, Colorado is in great shape salary cap-wise for next season.  While they do have several regulars to re-sign, they have more than $22MM in cap room at the moment and won’t come close to using all of it to re-sign their restricted free agents.  However, with some prominent players in need of new deals the following year (more on them momentarily), Sakic should be looking to prioritize adding expiring contracts to augment his roster for 2020-21.

That doesn’t present a great situation when it comes to attracting free agents as most impact players won’t want to sign a one-year deal and forego the stability that comes with a long-term contract even with it being a depressed marketplace.  In order to lure someone on a one-year pact, they’d likely have to pay higher than market value to bring that player in which is something they should be able to afford.

However, they may be better off taking advantage of the teams that need to clear out money and look to acquire a veteran or two with an expiring deal for a cheap return.  Colorado already has a top-five offense and defense based on goals scored and allowed so there aren’t any glaring holes to try to fill.  Instead, shoring up their depth to better insulate them against another rash of injuries may be the smarter play.  If Sakic wants to go that direction, there should be some quality players available for bargain prices which would make an already strong team even better for next season.

Work On Long-Term Extensions

There are two top-end players for the Avalanche that will be entering the final year of their respective contracts next season in winger Gabriel Landeskog and defenseman Cale Makar.  Getting a deal done with one or both of them would give Sakic some much-needed certainty when it comes to planning for 2021-22 and if he can get one done in the next couple of weeks, it would even give him a bit more clarity as to whether or not he could try to add someone on a multi-year deal this offseason.

Landeskog saw his production dip this season although injuries and the pandemic certainly played a role in that.  Even so, he managed to put 21 goals and 23 assists in just 54 games which would put him at a 67-point pace over a full 82-game campaign.  Although he probably won’t command as much as linemate Mikko Rantanen ($9.25MM), Landeskog still should get a sizable bump on his current $5.571MM price tag.  He’s also still only 27 years old despite the fact that he already has nine NHL seasons under his belt so a max-term contract (eight years) is certainly a possibility.  It’s going to cost a lot to keep that top line intact (which also features Nathan MacKinnon) but it’s a price that they should want to pay to keep one of the best trios in the league around.

As for Makar, he’s already entering the final year of his deal with only one season under his belt; the first season was burned in the 2019 playoffs when he got into ten games.  The Calder Trophy winner has very quickly become a significant part of their back end and with 50 points in 57 games this season, the offensive potential is quite tantalizing while he has the mobility to lead the rush at any time.  The 21-year-old certainly looks that the type of defenseman that franchises will want to build around so a long-term contract will certainly be the priority.  It might be a bit cheaper to sign it now as if his sophomore campaign sees him take a big step forward like many think he can, the price tag will only be higher next summer.

Goaltending Decision

On a team that allowed the fifth-fewest goals in the league this season, it’s hard to say that there are questions regarding Colorado’s goaltending but there are.  Philipp Grubauer set a new career high in starts this season but still only played in 36 games which is the workload of a platoon goalie on most teams, not a starter.  Pavel Francouz had a strong year but looked to wear down at times when he was asked to shoulder the lion’s share of the workload.  Both are more than capable netminders but is this a tandem that can take them all the way?

There isn’t much more time to find out either.  Grubauer is another player that’s eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2021 and even though he hasn’t quite cemented himself as a starter, he’s probably going to be looking for a raise on his $3.33MM price tag.  Francouz, meanwhile, is only signed for one more year than Grubauer and will be unrestricted in 2022.  Internally, there isn’t anyone that’s expected to be an NHL starter within two years to plausibly fill one of those spots.  They have high hopes for Justus Annunen but he’s a few years away from being ready.

This offseason has the feeling of musical chairs when it comes to the goaltending market.  There are free agents that will be changing teams while some teams have a netminder to trade.  If an opportunity to upgrade presents itself (or least provide a bit more long-term stability from a contractual standpoint), it may be wise for the Avalanche to get involved.  It would mean more money committed for 2021-22 when Makar and Landeskog’s new deals will come into play but it would also give them some more stability at a position that has been somewhat in flux lately.  It’s not something that has to be done but even with how well Grubauer and Francouz did this season, those questions about whether they can go deep in the playoffs with that tandem will only persist.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Free Agent Focus: Colorado Avalanche

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With free agency now just a few weeks away, many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  While their top performers may still be locked up, Colorado has a ton of work to do on their depth pieces.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Valeri Nichushkin – After a season that saw him score exactly zero goals in 57 games following several years in the KHL, it looked like Nichushkin’s NHL career might be over after the 2018-19 campaign ended. He was bought out by the Dallas Stars in June and could have easily decided to go back to Russia and continue his career there. Not so fast, said the Avalanche, who signed Nichushkin to a one-year, $850K deal that gave him another chance in the NHL. After scoring 13 goals and 27 points in 65 games while being one of the best defensive wingers in the entire league—he finished eighth in Selke Trophy voting—the 25-year-old Russian has probably earned himself a multi-year extension with Colorado.

F Andre Burakovsky – Quick, after Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, who was the leading scorer on the Avalanche this season? Gabriel Landeskog? Mikko Rantanen? Nazem Kadri? No, it was Burakovsky, whose 45 points were a career-high despite the shortened season. In just 58 games he scored 20 goals for the first time in his career, finally getting the opportunity to play big minutes and rewarding the Avalanche by fulfilling the huge potential he had shown as a young player. Importantly, Burakovsky has already played six full seasons in the NHL despite being just 25, meaning he could become an unrestricted free agent next offseason. Waiting for a one-year arbitration award would get him there, meaning the Avalanche will have to try and work out a multi-year deal in the coming weeks if they want to lock him up.

D Nikita Zadorov – For all the frustration at the fact that Zadorov still hasn’t grown into that minute-munching two-way star that fans have been dreaming off since he came into the league as a teenager, he has already logged nearly 400 games in his NHL career and only turned 25 a few months ago. He’ll never be the leader of the Colorado blueline, but he still represents a valuable asset that they’ll have to make a decision on this summer. Like Burakovsky, Zadorov already has six NHL seasons under his belt and could use an arbitration award to get to unrestricted free agency at 26 next offseason. Unlike Burakovsky, the Avalanche might be okay with that outcome given the pipeline of defensemen they’ve created over the last few years.

Other RFAs: F Tyson Jost, F Vladislav Kamenev, D Ryan Graves, F A.J. Greer, F Sheldon Dries, G Hunter Miska

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Colin Wilson – When the 2018-19 season came to an end, the Avalanche decided that Wilson was worthy of a $2.6MM contract. They waited until July 1 to do it, but they obviously felt it was acceptable after his 12-goal, 27-point campaign. He was an option on the powerplay and a depth piece for a team that looked like they were gearing up for a real Stanley Cup run. Unfortunately, that $2.6MM resulted in just four points and nine games. Wilson suffered a (somewhat mysterious) injury in October and never returned, opening the door for other players to take his opportunities. If he’s healthy, perhaps the Avalanche bring him back. But with so much firepower ahead of him on the depth chart, it might be wise for Wilson to go somewhere else to build his value back up.

F Vladislav Namestnikov – If a trade deadline pickup ends up playing just nine regular season games for your team, it usually means the transaction was a mistake. Not so with Namestnikov, who scored four goals for the Avalanche before the shutdown and then added another four in their 12-game postseason. You can bet the team is wondering what kind of a resurgence they could milk out of the 27-year-old Russian forward, given he has shown an ability to score in bunches, but there simply might not be enough to go around. If the team is set on bringing back all of their restricted free agents, Namestnikov may be better served looking for a free agent landing spot.

F Matt Nieto – What can you say about Nieto? A few years ago he was lining up beside some of the very best players on the Colorado roster, but even after being dropped out of that group has still performed relatively well. 21 points in 70 games are nothing to sneeze at, especially when it comes in just over 11 minutes of even-strength ice time a night. Nieto was Colorado’s top penalty-killing forward this season and will be missed if the team is forced to let him reach free agency. There’s not always enough money to go around, especially if Nieto’s versatility and consistency end up drawing a crowd when the market opens.

Other UFAs: D Kevin Connauton, G Michael Hutchinson, F Jayson Megna, D Mark Alt, G Antoine Bibeau

Projected Cap Space

The $22.4MM in cap space Colorado has this offseason is a testament to the way GM Joe Sakic has built his squad, but it doesn’t mean they can take endless shots at high-priced free agents. The team has to consider their own core first, with Makar and Landeskog both heading into their final season under contract. MacKinnon will be up two years after that, with Kadri due for a new deal in the middle. No, they’re not in cap trouble, but they could be if they lean in and spend all of their room this offseason trying to chase a Stanley Cup right away.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

NHL Announces First And Second All-Star Teams, All-Rookie Team

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Following the announcements of the final five NHL regular season awards, the league also revealed their three all-league rosters: the First-Team All-Stars, the Second-Team All-Stars, and the All-Rookie Team. Below are the 2019-20 honorees:

First All-Star Team (link)

G: Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets
D: Roman Josi, Nashville Predators
D: John Carlson, Washington Capitals
LW: Artemi Panarin, New York Rangers
C: Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers
RW: David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins

The 2020 First-Team All-Stars are a historic group, the first time since the inaugural all-league honors in 1930-31 that all six honorees are first-time members of the team. Unsurprisingly, this team also covers most of the league’s major awards with Draisaitl taking home the Hart, Ted Lindsay, and Art Ross, Josi winning the Norris, Hellebuyck winning the Vezina, and Pastrnak earning the Rocket Richard.

Second All-Star Team (link)

G: Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins
D: Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues
D: Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
LW: Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins
C: Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
RW: Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning

The President’s Trophy-winning Boston Bruins finish with a league-best three players on All-Star rosters. Their division rival, and current Stanley Cup finalist, the Tampa Bay Lightning are the only other team with more than one inclusion on the all-star rosters. Noticeably absent from either all-star teams are future Hall of Famers Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals. This is just the third time since 2005-06 that at least one of the pair have not been on a postseason All-Star team, while they have both have been selected in the same year eight times in the past 15 years.

All-Rookie Team (link)

G: Elvis Merzlikins, Columbus Blue Jackets
D: Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche
D: Quinn Hughes, Vancouver Canucks
F: Victor Olofsson, Buffalo Sabres
F: Dominik Kubalik, Chicago Blackhawks
F: Nick Suzuki, Montreal Canadiens

The rookie elite, led by Calder Trophy-winner Makar, is an older group than usual. Merzlikins, Olofsson, and Kubalik, all 25 or older, played in Europe for a considerable amount of time before jumping to North America as a polished product, while Makar and Hughes each played a pair of seasons in the NCAA and Suzuki aged out of juniors before turning pro. Nevertheless, the first-year pros were all impressive and still have many  quality years ahead of them.

Cale Makar Named 2020 Calder Trophy Winner

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The NHL Awards kicked off with the presentation of the Calder Memorial Trophy, awarded each year to the first-year player judged to be the best of the rookie class. This year, the award went to Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar, as voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association. Makar beat out fellow defenseman Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks forward Dominik Kubalik.

While Kubalik was indeed a finalist for the Calder, this was a two-horse race between Makar and Hughes as expected. The PHWA voting revealed that only the New York Rangers’ Adam Fox received a first-place vote besides Makar and Hughes (and he received only one) while just five second-place votes were cast outside of the duo. At the end of the day, Makar did not receive any votes that were not first- or second-place and earned more than double the number of first-place votes as his Canucks counterpart. That was more than enough for the Colorado wunderkind to take home the Calder.

Makar, 21, has received a major hockey award for the second year in a row after he was named the Hobey Baker Award winner last year as the best player in NCAA college hockey. Just as Makar took the University of Massachusetts to the NCAA Championship game last year, he helped the Avalanche to a top-five record in the regular season and to the semifinals in the Western Conference. A dynamic puck-moving defenseman who recorded 50 points in 57 games as a first-year pro, all while logging big minutes for a rookie, Makar has the makings of a superstar in the NHL and could be back in awards contention sooner rather than later as a Norris Trophy candidate.

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