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Trade Deadline Primer: Colorado Avalanche

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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.

Avalanche Had Interest In J.T. Miller, Fielding Calls On Casey Mittelstadt

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The Avalanche remain in the market for an upgrade at center, with Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reporting Thursday they were one of the teams who submitted trade proposals to the Canucks for J.T. Miller. Their offer “never got close enough to threaten the Rangers deal,” Friedman writes. Still, he confirms a report from Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff earlier in the week they’re listening to inquiries on struggling pivot Casey Mittelstadt to help facilitate an addition.

Colorado opened up a decent chunk of short-term financial flexibility when they swapped out Mikko Rantanen for Martin Nečas in last month’s blockbuster. They also managed to add some center depth in that deal by landing Jack Drury from the Hurricanes, but he doesn’t have top-six utility on a contending team. That leaves Mittelstadt, amid an underwhelming 9-23–32 scoring line in 55 games with some of the team’s worst possession impacts, as their only legitimate option to anchor the second line behind Nathan MacKinnon. His sputtering defensive play and lower volume of shots this season indicate the 26-year-old is a better fit elsewhere in the lineup or simply a better fit in another team’s system.

The Avs are hoping 20-year-old Calum Ritchie will be the long-term answer. Ritchie played seven NHL games earlier this season after a strong training camp, scoring once but posting a minus-seven rating. The 2023 first-round pick was returned to OHL Oshawa, where he leads the team with 1.83 points per game and ranks second in the league behind 2025 first-overall contender Michael Misa. He’s a top-50 prospect in the league and easily the best in the Colorado system.

But Ritchie could still need AHL adjustment time when he turns pro for good next season, and even if he doesn’t, he may be better suited for a bottom-six role out of the gate. Colorado needs a stopgap, and while they were searching for a longer-term fit in Miller, they could also look for short-term upgrades on Mittelstadt. Unfortunately, the options available to them for an in-season boost on the trade market are increasingly slim.

The only seemingly available unquestionable upgrades over Mittelstadt are the Islanders’ Brock Nelson and the Predators’ Ryan O’Reilly. There are issues with both. Despite a rash of injuries, the Isles’ recent hot streak makes it feasible for them to hold onto their pending UFA. At the same time, O’Reilly’s first tenure in Colorado ended 10 years ago with a publicly unpleasant contract saga. Nashville is treating O’Reilly like he has a no-movement clause despite not holding one in his contract, and whether the 2019 playoff MVP would be open to a return to Colorado is uncertain.

Other options available down the middle include Ryan Donato, Yanni Gourde, and Scott Laughton, but all carry risk. The latter two would be two-way upgrades over Mittelstadt, but they produce points at a lesser rate than his, which would exacerbate the Avs’ depth-scoring problem. Donato is clicking at a career-best 0.63 points per game rate with the Blackhawks but is untested in extended top-six minutes, especially at center. There’s also the Sabres’ Dylan Cozens, but he carries question marks similar to Mittelstadt’s when they acquired the latter from Buffalo at last year’s deadline.

A Mittelstadt move would likely be a separate transaction instead of Colorado leveraging him as part of an upgrade package. According to Friedman, the Devils, Maple Leafs, and Senators have “poked around” about his availability, but talks haven’t progressed past an initial stage.

Sharks Still Open To Moving Mario Ferraro, Avalanche Interested

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The Avalanche are one of the teams displaying interest in Sharks defense mainstay Mario Ferraro as they continue to listen to trade offers, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports.

San Jose hasn’t been actively shopping Ferraro but has been listening to offers for over a year. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported in December 2023 that the Sharks were beginning to field calls on the blue-liner. Pagnotta said before last year’s draft that they continued to weigh offers. He’s stuck around in the Bay Area in part due to a high asking price, something that made sense for Grier earlier in the process with plenty of term left on his contract and no urgency to move him.

However, Ferraro will enter the final year of his contract in 2025-26 and has a $3.25MM cap hit right in line with his market value, if not slightly lower. The Sharks could always opt to hold onto him and initiate extension negotiations over the offseason, but that would be out of line with Grier’s recent moves. Pending UFAs Mackenzie Blackwood and Cody Ceci both expressed interest in extensions with the Sharks midseason but have both been traded.

At first glance, Ferraro’s numbers are ghastly. He’s logged heavy minutes on an understaffed San Jose blue line over the life of his deal and has a cumulative -91 rating in 205 games over the last three seasons. He’s not a factor on the power play and has 11 points in 55 games, so he’s not a considerable factor offensively, either. But his relative possession metrics have improved in recent campaigns, especially considering the quality of competition he faces without much support. His 43.8 CF% last year and 45.2 CF% this year are right in line with team averages. Ferraro’s pairings with Timothy Liljegren and Jan Rutta this season have also been the best of a bad bunch at controlling possession quality, ranking first and second among qualified Sharks defense units with a 44.4 xGF% and 43.9 xGF%, per MoneyPuck.

There’s slightly more reason for the Sharks to move on with a year left on his deal, and there’s likely more interest from trade suitors with less financial risk if he doesn’t pan out. The 26-year-old lefty could have increased effectiveness in reduced usage, although he hasn’t seen third-pairing deployment since his rookie season in 2019-20.

Regarding the Avalanche’s interest, they have a clear need for a third-pairing upgrade, especially on the left side. Calvin de Haan and Oliver Kylington have been unimpressive enough to lose their roles to career AHLer Keaton Middleton, who has two assists in 26 games this season but averages just 10:44 per game. While Ferraro wouldn’t be relied upon for 20-plus minutes behind Devon Toews and Samuel Girard on Colorado’s left side, he can certainly manage far more usage than that and be a factor on the team’s penalty kill, which is already clicking at an above-average 80.4%.

Avalanche Activate Oliver Kylington, Place Valeri Nichushkin On IR

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The Colorado Avalanche have activated defenseman Oliver Kylington off of injured reserve. He’s missed the last two months and 31 games due to an upper-body injury suffered in the team’s November 27th win over the Vegas Golden Knights. In a corresponding move, Colorado has also placed winger Valeri Nichushkin on injured reserve retroactive to his last game on December 31st. Nichushkin is working through a lower-body injury and suffered a setback in his recovery in mid-January. He isn’t expected to return until after the upcoming break for the 4-Nations Face-Off.

The lineup implications of these moves are hard to gauge. Kylington has played in just eight games this season. He was a routine healthy scratch prior to injury and has only managed two points, four penalty minutes, and a minus-two in his appearances. Calvin de Haan has planted his feet as Colorado’s extra defender in Kylington’s absence, which could leave the latter exposed to waivers when Nichushkin works his way back to full health. The winger has contributed far more to the lineup this year, immediately returning to productivity in both ends after missing the first month of the season. Nichushkin has 17 points in 25 games this season, a mark that still ranks ninth on the Avalanche in scoring even though he hasn’t played in over a month. He’s scored 73 points over his last 82 regular season games collectively, but that span dates all the way back to April, 2023. Nichushkin’s last fluctuated on the same wave – with spans of high-impact play being marred by extended absences to injury or personal leave. His return after the 4-Nations Face-Off will be an exciting chance to break that spell, and help support a playoff push for an Avalanche roster now sans Mikko Rantanen.

Wedgewood Day-To-Day With Upper-Body Injury

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  • Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury, mentions Evan Rawal of The Denver Gazette (Twitter link). He will, however, accompany the team on the road so he shouldn’t be out for too long.  The 32-year-old has a 2.40 GAA and a .910 SV% in his first nine games with Colorado after being acquired from Nashville at the end of November.  Trent Miner is already up on recall so the Avs won’t need to bring anyone else up.

Nichushkin Likely Out Until After 4 Nations Face-Off

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  • It appears that Avalanche winger Valeri Nichushkin will be out until after the 4 Nations Face-Off, relays Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette (Twitter link). The 29-year-old has yet to play in 2025 due to a lower-body injury.  It looked like he was close to returning earlier this month but ultimately suffered a setback, changing his designation to week-to-week.  When available, Nichushkin has done well, tallying 11 goals and six assists in 21 games but Colorado won’t have him in the lineup for a while yet.

Avalanche Reassign Chris Wagner To The AHL

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The Colorado Avalanche have reassigned forward Chris Wagner to the Colorado Eagles of the AHL. Wagner was recalled last Thursday and did suit up on Saturday night against his former team, the Boston Bruins. The 33-year-old went scoreless in 6:51 of ice time.

Wagner was an NHL regular for over half a decade from 2015-2021, playing predominantly with the Bruins where he dressed in 186 games over five seasons. The Walpole, Massachusetts native never posted much in the way of offense but did have his best NHL season in 2017-18 when he registered 12 goals and seven assists in 76 games with the Bruins.

After the pandemic shortened 2020-21 season, Wagner would play just two NHL games over the next two years before signing with Colorado in the summer of 2023. Since then, Wagner has ping-ponged back and forth between the Eagles and Avalanche, dressing in 13 NHL games last season and 24 NHL games so far this year. Wagner hasn’t been overly effective in the NHL, posting a single goal along with a -7 plus/minus as well as a 48.2% CF%. His offensive impact is the lowest of any skater for the Avalanche this season at an abysmal 0.4 on-ice goals per 60 minutes at even strength (as per Money Puck).

While he is getting more nights in the NHL lineup, he isn’t seeing much action with the Avalanche, averaging just 6:55 of ice time per game. In the AHL, Wagner has been effective, tallying four goals and seven assists in 16 games.

Wagner has been put on the waiver wire three separate times this season and has cleared each time without an issue.

Additional Fallout From The Mikko Rantanen Trade

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Although plenty of new information has emerged regarding the trade that sent Mikko Rantanen from the Colorado Avalanche to the Carolina Hurricanes, we hadn’t heard from the player himself. In an article by Corey Masisak of The Denver Post, Rantanen finally spoke about the trade from his point of view. 

One of the biggest takeaways from the interview with Masisak is that he confirmed he was willing to take a discount to stay with the Avalanche organization, which had been widely reported in the days following the trade. Masisak quoted Rantanen saying, “I was ready to take a significant discount for my market value. We had some chats, like a couple days before. Then they traded me. That’s what happened. That’s why I didn’t expect what happened.”

Despite being blindsided by the trade, it doesn’t appear Rantanen is taking it too personally. Even though he had never been traded in his career, he acknowledged one of the realities of his profession when he said, “I don’t know. I didn’t know we were in a rush. That’s what I felt like. That’s my honest opinion. But it’s business and I understand. They’re trying to think what’s best for them and you’ve got to understand that. You’ve got to understand they are only doing the business how they think it is good for their future.”

Regarding the potential extension, several analysts and pundits have suggested that Rantanen’s starting point was Leon Draisaitl’s eight-year, $112 million extension with the Edmonton Oilers. Still, provided the added context of the Avalanche’s lack of desire to pay anyone more than Nathan MacKinnon’s $12.6MM salary, it was going to be hard to resolve even if Rantanen was willing to take a pay cut.

Moving on to one of the facilitators of the blockbuster deal, the general manager of the Chicago Blackhawks, Kyle Davidson, spoke about his team’s involvement in the deal. In an interview with Scott Powers of The Athletic (Subscription Required), Davidson was quoted saying, “In waiting, you run the risk of things like injury, (and) the role was diminishing almost by the game. It just wasn’t heading towards a way that was going to maximize or enhance value. In moving then, we moved at full price and held (salary) on the other player involved. It just didn’t make sense to wait and not really get a better return later on.”

Davidson was referencing Chicago’s inclusion in the deal beyond retaining half of Rantanen’s remaining salary. The Blackhawks traded former MVP Taylor Hall whose ice time had been precipitously dropping over the last several games. The fourth-year general manager wasn’t convinced Chicago would get a better offer had they waited closer until the trade deadline.

Avalanche Activate Miles Wood Off IR, Reassign Jere Innala

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The Colorado Avalanche have activated forward Miles Wood off of injured reserve, setting him up to return from a back injury suffered on November 27th. The injury is a nagging one, earning Wood a second placement on IR earlier this season – from November 4th to 14th – and holding him out of games for a week in the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs. He told Corey Masisak of The Denver Post that, based on conversations he’s had with other players, this back injury will likely be one he carries through the rest of his career.

In a corresponding move, Colorado has also reassigned Jere Innala to the minor leagues. Innala has appeared in most of the team’s games through January but averages just under seven minutes of ice time each game. He has no scoring and a -3 through 15 appearances this season.

Wood has spent the better parts of the last nine seasons as an impactful third-line winger across the league. He was originally the 100th-overall selection in the 2013 NHL Draft, hearing his name called in a fourth round that also featured Juuse Saros one pick earlier and Andrew Copp four picks later. Drafted out of high school, Wood went on to play two more seasons with Noble and Greenough before moving to Boston College in 2015. He had a dazzling freshman year, earning 35 points in 37 games and a spot on Team USA’s 2016 World Championship lineup behind the likes of Auston Matthews, Dylan Larkin, and Brady Skjei. That NHL company must have convinced Wood, who jumped to the AHL after his freshman year of college, then earned a full-time NHL call-up after 15 games and eight points with the Albany Devils.

Since then, Wood has been a stout bottom-six forward, routinely rivaling 25 points and making a mark in all three zones. His career year currently stands as the 2017-18 campaign, when he scored 19 goals and 32 points in 76 games – both career-highs. Wood made that mark with the New Jersey Devils for seven seasons – even serving as an alternate captain for two years. But he opted to instead join the Colorado Avalanche in the 2023 summer, signing a six-year, $15MM contract with the club just two years removed from a Stanley Cup win.

Wood has continued to make a consistent impact with the Avalanche, though his 2024-25 campaign started off ice cold. Through the mix of injuries, Wood has only scored two goals and three points in 16 games this season. He’ll now get a chance to buck that trend, returning to a Colorado lineup that looks very different from when he last played. Since late November, the Avalanche have traded away Justus Annunen, Alexandar Georgiev, Nikolai Kovalenko, and Mikko Rantanen. In their place, the Avs have brought in Scott Wedgewood, Juuso Parssinen, Martin Necas, and Wood’s personal friend Mackenzie Blackwood. Wood raved about that latter acquisition to Masisak, comparing it to when an NFL team acquires a strong quarterback. He told Masisak, “I’m not sure why New Jersey traded him. I’m not sure why San Jose traded him. But I’m sure as hell happy he’s here.”

Landeskog Ramping Up Skating Regimen

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  • Outside of more immediate news, the potential return of captain Gabriel Landeskog has been a major storyline for the Colorado Avalanche over the last two years. Speaking to that, Evan Rawal of The Denver Gazette reported today that Landeskog has been on the ice more than ever since the 2022-23 season, and fell short of designating him as week-to-week. Landeskog’s hypothetical return could make the loss of Mikko Rantanen more palatable for Colorado’s top-six.

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