Colorado Avalanche Eyeing Goalie Market
09/19/23: Yesterday, Adrian Dater wrote on X confirming that the Avalanche are indeed “looking for new backup goalie.” He named Halak and DeSmith as options, as well as Calgary Flames netminder Daniel Vladar.
Vladar is an interesting case as the motivation from the Flames to deal him would in all likelihood be in order to clear an NHL spot for top goalie prospect Dustin Wolf. Wolf has accomplished just about everything a goalie could hope to accomplish in the AHL save for a Calder Cup title, posting a 77-20-7 record and .927 save percentage there. He’s a two-time AHL goalie of the year and the reigning AHL MVP, so it’s understandable that the Flames would want to give him a clear path in the NHL next to starter Jacob Markstrom.
What could complicate a Vladar trade is the fact that Vladar is making $2.2mM for the next two seasons, and struggled to the tune of a .895 save percentage last season.
09/14/23: Earlier this afternoon, Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff reported that the Colorado Avalanche will likely be without regular backup goaltender Pavel Francouz to start the year, as the goaltender has not yet fully recovered from an offseason adductor surgery. In one minor comparable to the Gabriel Landeskog situation, the timeline of Francouz’s recovery is seemingly unclear.
As an internal candidate to take over the backup role in Colorado, young netminder Justus Annunen would be the likeliest candidate. Of all the goaltenders in the Avalanche organization, he is one of only three with NHL playing experience, having played in four games over the last two seasons, posting a 2-1-1 record, carrying a .859 SV% and a 3.92 GAA. His numbers in the AHL have been markedly better but he has not struck much confidence at the top level, even with limited playing time, making it unlikely that Colorado will pick him as their second goalie.
In late June, veteran netminder, Jaroslav Halak, indicated that he is committed to playing for the 2023-24 NHL season, despite still finding himself on the free agent market. With little interest in his services up to this point, this may be the situation that Halak had been waiting for. With approximately $500K in cap space after putting Landeskog on LTIR to start the season, if Francouz also finds himself on LTIR to start the year, the Avalanche would have ample space to bring in Halak as a stopgap.
Lastly, in the trade market, the most obvious trade connection for Colorado comes from the Canadian Northeast. Only a few weeks ago, it became public knowledge that after acquiring goaltender Casey DeSmith from the Pittsburgh Penguins due to their involvement in the Erik Karlsson trade, the Montreal Canadiens have committed to finding a different landing spot for him. Last year, as a backup to Tristan Jarry in Pittsburgh, DeSmith posted a 15-16-4 record in 38 games, with a .905 SV% and a 3.17 GAA. Although the backup goaltender position does not typically carry the highest of expectations, DeSmith would likely improve upon those numbers behind a much more capable Colorado defense.
Nevertheless, even in the case of Francouz’s potential placement on LTIR, the Avalanche are going to be a bit close to the cap to start the year and will have to get creative in this situation. Relying heavily on goaltender Alexandar Georgiev last season, if the backup goaltending situation stagnates in Colorado, Georgiev could potentially see even more than 62 starts as he did last season.
Nikolai Kovalenko Could Join Avalanche After KHL Season
Colorado Avalanche General Manager Chris MacFarland spoke with the DNVR Podcast recently regarding forward prospect Nikolai Kovalenko. During the interview MacFarland spoke about the team’s excitement when the Russian signed his two-year entry-level contract, and that they were going to be paying a lot of attention to his play over the next few months. MacFarland said the plan is to have Kovalenko come over at the expiration of his current season with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the KHL and where he ends up is wide open.
The 23-year-old is on a tear to start the season with three goals and five assists in six games and is coming off a season in which he posted 21 goals and 33 assists in 56 games. He has been dressing as a regular in the KHL since 2017-18 but hasn’t been much of an offensive threat until the past two seasons. His case could be that of a late bloomer as teams didn’t really project this much offensive upside for Kovalenko, which might explain why he fell to the Avalanche in the sixth round of the 2018 NHL entry draft.
Kovalenko was born in the United States when his father Andrei Kovalenko was an NHLer with the Carolina Hurricanes but was ultimately raised in Russia and has played hockey there throughout his career. From 2015-2018 Kovalenko played in the MHL which is Russia’s junior league. He dressed in 72 games notching 17 goals and 33 assists while helping Yaroslavl win back-to-back MHL championships.
Kovalenko may be a long shot to make the Avalanche when he does come over to North America next year. Colorado identified their forward depth as an area of concern this summer and made several moves to address it by acquiring Jonathan Drouin, Miles Wood, and Tomas Tatar through free agency, as well as Ross Colton and Ryan Johansen via trade.
Josh Manson Cleared To Play; Pavel Francouz's Timeline "Uncertain"
Colorado Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland told reporters today that he expects defenseman Josh Manson to be ready for the start of training camp after an offseason procedure. Manson missed the last two games of Colorado’s first-round loss to the Seattle Kraken with an undisclosed injury, likely related to the procedure MacFarland mentioned.
- Reports earlier in the week surfaced that Colorado was looking to add a goaltender with backup Pavel Francouz‘s health uncertain. Today, MacFarland also confirmed that Francouz is not yet cleared to return after undergoing offseason adductor surgery and remains “banged up” without a timeline to return. He did note, however, that Francouz has returned to Denver and Avalanche team doctors will evaluate him next week. While often injured, Francouz has given the Avs solid play when cleared to occupy the crease, going 8-7-1 with a .915 save percentage last season in 16 starts.
Gabriel Landeskog Could Be Ready For Playoffs
Colorado Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland recently told The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun that the team is hoping captain Gabriel Landeskog can be healthy in time for the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs. MacFarland said to LeBrun, “We’re hoping… There’s still so much that needs to be gleaned in this so it’s hard to put a timeline on it.” Landeskog is recovering from receiving a cartilage transplant in his right knee that he received in May.
Landeskog underwent his first knee procedure in March 2022, returning for the team’s Stanley Cup run where he recorded a dazzling 22 points in 20 playoff games. But the weight of a Cup run may have taken a toll on Landeskog’s weak knee, which required an additional surgery in October 2022. This second operation was intended to be a less invasive way to get Landeskog back on the ice. But after he missed the entire 2022-23 regular season, he decided to opt for the transplant.
And while certainly daunting, the cartilage replacement process isn’t unheard of in top athletes. Landeskog worked with Dr. Brian Cole and Dr. Rachel Frank, two sports physicians who were involved when former Senators defender Marc Methot received the same surgery in 2019. And while the surgery has an 85 percent success rate, nothing is guaranteed. Methot told exactly that to the Associated Press, saying, “I’m sure [Landeskog] has had the same conversation with Dr. Cole where he won’t be promised anything… There’s no certainty that you’re going to feel the way you did when you left.”
Chicago Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball underwent the same surgery in March of this year and will be held out of the 2022-23 NBA season as a result. Ball had a similar path to the surgery as Landeskog, undergoing an unsuspecting knee surgery that spiraled into three operations, finished with the cartilage transplant. Landeskog used conversations with Ball, and plenty of research, to guide his decision to receive the operation.
Chris MacFarland remains optimistic about Landeskog’s prospects, if by necessity if nothing else. He told The Athletic, “… I wouldn’t bet against Gabriel Landeskog in anything. If there’s somebody that’s going to deal with what he’s dealing with, with the right attitude and determination, it’s him. He’s our Viking.” Landeskog was a point-per-game forward right up until his injury took him out of commission. Adding his scoresheet impact, and his leadership qualities, could provide an exciting jolt to the Avalanche lineup come the Spring. But that’s if the captain can overcome a difficult journey with this knee injury.
Nick Holden Retires, Joins Golden Knights Front Office
Longtime NHL defenseman Nick Holden is retiring after a 12-season career and will immediately join the Vegas Golden Knights’ player development staff, according to a team release. His specialty will be working with the team’s group of young defensemen.
Initially eligible for the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, Holden went undrafted and didn’t make it to an NHL organization until the Columbus Blue Jackets signed him to an entry-level contract in 2008 after completing his junior career with the WHL’s Chilliwack Bruins (who have since relocated to Victoria to become the Royals). He would remain in the Blue Jackets organization until 2013 but spent most of it in the AHL, playing just seven NHL contests without recording a point. An unrestricted free agent in 2013, he signed a two-year, $1.2MM contract with the Colorado Avalanche, which jumpstarted his career. Finally playing his rookie campaign as a 26-year-old in the 2013-14 season, Holden recorded 25 points in 54 games for the Avs while averaging nearly 19 minutes per game.
He would settle into a top-four role during his peak, averaging over 20 minutes per game from 2014 to 2019. His career-best season came as a member of the New York Rangers in 2016-17, posting 11 goals and 23 assists for 34 points in 80 games and a +13 rating. With the Rangers struggling the following season, however, they dealt him to the Boston Bruins at the 2018 trade deadline, where he played a depth role down the stretch. That led him to sign with the Golden Knights for their second season, and he gave them solid play over the course of three seasons from 2018-19 to 2020-21. After slipping down the depth chart and playing just 17 regular-season games in 2020-21, however, they dealt him to the Ottawa Senators in a swap for scoring winger Evgenii Dadonov.
Holden spent the final two seasons of his career in a Sens jersey, recording 35 points in 141 games while averaging 18:24 across the 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns. His final NHL appearance came in an overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres on April 13 of this year, in which he recorded a +1 rating, four shots on goal, 23:13 of ice time, and one block.
After turning 36 in May, Holden steps away from the playing side of the game with 654 career appearances. During his time with the Avalanche, Golden Knights, Blue Jackets, Rangers, Senators, and Bruins, Holden amassed 52 goals, 126 assists, 178 points, and a +16 rating.
“Nick was widely respected by management, teammates, and coaches during his time with the Golden Knights as a player,” Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon said. “He fills an important role with our player development and will work not only with our drafted prospects but also with our young pros with the Henderson Silver Knights.”
We at Pro Hockey Rumors congratulate Holden on a respectable career, and we wish him the best as he moves into the next chapter of his career in the sport.
Colorado Avalanche Sign Tomáš Tatar
The Colorado Avalanche have taken one of the best remaining free agents off the market. They’ve signed veteran forward Tomáš Tatar to a one-year contract.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Tatar’s one-year deal is worth $1.5MM. CapFriendly has added that the deal is $1.5MM exclusively in base salary, and does not include any form of trade protection.
Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland issued the following statement regarding Tatar’s signing:
Tomas has been a consistent, productive player throughout his NHL career. He is a veteran winger who brings scoring depth to our middle six and can contribute at both ends of the ice. We are excited to have him under contract for this season.
On one hand, it’s certainly surprising to see a player like Tatar wait so long to receive a contract, and receive a contract at a $1.5MM AAV. Tatar is, after all, one of the NHL’s more consistent regular-season goal scorers.
Tatar has crossed the 20-goal plateau seven times in his career, and at certain times has posted the numbers of a top-line scorer. In 2019-20, Tatar led the Montreal Canadiens in scoring with 61 points in 68 games, a 74-point pace.
He’s been a consistent first or second-line scorer throughout his NHL career, and isn’t even coming off of a poor season, as he scored 20 goals and 48 points in 2022-23.
But as NHL teams place more of a priority on players who can bring them playoff success, the biggest red flag on Tatar’s resume has to have been the single greatest reason he’s languished on the market so long.
At this point in Tatar’s career, there’s no mistaking what he is. He’s a high-quality, consistent scorer in the regular season who is all but certain to almost disappear come playoff time. Tatar has just 13 points in 52 career postseason games. Twice, Tatar’s team has left him a frequent healthy scratch en route to the Stanley Cup Final.
On a consistent basis, NHL teams have found Tatar’s playoff struggles so severe that they’re forced to simply sit him in the press box rather than hope that he can suddenly find a scoring touch. With that in mind, it becomes a little less surprising that Tatar has waited so long to receive a deal.
At a $1.5MM cap hit, though, those playoff concerns are far less important. Regardless of how he’ll fare in the postseason, the Avalanche are receiving a consistent 20-goal threat at a cap hit lower than what many teams pay their fourth-line centers.
Tatar stands a really strong chance at providing the Avalanche with a lot of surplus value on his cap hit, and the $1.5MM cap hit minimizes the downside risk of this investment should Tatar once again falter in the playoffs.
So while Tatar certainly has his critics due to his postseason play, his regular-season value is undeniable. At a $1.5MM investment, this is a no-brainer signing for the Avalanche.
They add Tatar to an already impressive mix set of scoring wingers, and should Tatar manage to win the left-wing job on the team’s first line (beating out three of his former teammates in Artturi Lehkonen, Miles Wood, and Jonathan Drouin for the job) he could even have a chance for a career year.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Ivan Zhigalov Expected To Play In USHL This Season
- Avalanche prospect Ivan Zhigalov was supposed to play in Belarus this season but the deal ultimately fell through. However, it appears as if he has found a new place to play as McKeen’s Brock Otten reports (Twitter link) that the netminder will suit up for USHL Tri-City in 2023-24. The 20-year-old was the final pick of the 2022 draft (225th overall) and spent last season with OHL Kingston where he posted a 3.59 GAA with a .889 SV% in 45 games. The Avs have until June 1st to sign Zhigalov to an entry-level deal.
Colorado Avalanche Sign Saku Mäenalanen To PTO
The Colorado Avalanche have signed veteran forward Saku Mäenalanen to a PTO, according to CapFriendly.
The 29-year-old forward will join the Avalanche for their preseason and training camp, adding to a crop of veterans on PTOs including Joel Kiviranta and Peter Holland.
Mäenalanen returned to the NHL last season with the Jets, skating in 69 combined regular season and playoff games with the club. He scored a combined 11 points in that span, averaging 10:19 TOI including 1:23 TOI per game on the penalty kill.
Standing six-foot-four, 207 pounds, Mäenalanen found his way into Jets head coach Rick Bowness’ nightly lineup on a consistent basis on the back of his ability to perform on a checking line.
In the NHL, he’s not the type of scoring-line productive forward he is in Europe, and the 41 points he scored in 2021-22 over in Liiga with Kärpät won’t be repeated in the NHL.
But in a depth capacity, Mäenalanen can hold his own on NHL ice and even contribute on a penalty kill, as he did last year on a top-10 shorthanded unit with the Jets.
In Colorado, Mäenalanen will compete for a bottom-six or spare forward role against his fellow PTO players and players on NHL deals with the Avalanche.
Ben Meyers, Fredrik Olofsson, and Riley Tufte are the main players Mäenalanen will likely be up against for one of the available jobs in the Avalanche preseason, and their battle for available depth roles will be one of the main storylines to watch of the preseason in Colorado.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Salary Cap Deep Dive: Colorado Avalanche
Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2023-24 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.
Colorado Avalanche
Current Cap Hit: $88,475,000 (over the $83.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
None projected to make the opening roster
Signed Through 2023-24, Non-Entry-Level
F Andrew Cogliano ($825K, UFA)
F Jonathan Drouin ($825K, UFA)
G Pavel Francouz ($2MM, UFA)
D/F Kurtis MacDermid ($987.5K, UFA)
F Ben Meyers ($775K, RFA)
F Fredrik Olofsson ($775K, UFA)
D Devon Toews ($4.1MM, UFA)
With cap space at a premium, the Avs had to shop for some bargains in free agency this summer. Drouin comes over from Montreal coming off a year that saw him score just twice although he added 27 assists. If he can lock down a role in the middle six, it won’t take much for them to get surplus value on this deal while he’d be positioned for a better contract a year from now. Cogliano returns after being one of the few consistently effective bottom-six forwards for Colorado last season. At 36, he’ll be going year-to-year from now on in all likelihood.
Meyers struggled in half a season with the Avalanche in 2022-23 but should get another look while Olofsson will push for a spot as well after being acquired from Dallas. Those spots on the depth chart will need to stay at or close to the league minimum moving forward. MacDermid can play both the wing and on the back end but while the versatility is nice, his playing time is limited in either role. That makes him more of an end of the roster candidate which will keep his next cap hit around this price point.
The same certainly can’t be said about Toews. Since being acquired from the Islanders as a salary cap casualty three years ago, he has blossomed into a legitimate top-pairing defender. In each of the last two seasons, he has recorded at least 50 points and logged more than 25 minutes a night. Only four other blueliners in the league are in that category: Roman Josi, Quinn Hughes, Rasmus Dahlin, and Cale Makar. Not a bad group to be in. Josi, Hughes, and Makar are already on pricey long-term deals and Dahlin is a year away from doing so. Meanwhile, Toews is on the books at second-pairing money for another ten months. He’ll be doubling it and then some soon enough.
Francouz, when healthy, has been quite an effective goalie for Colorado, posting a career save percentage of .919. However, over four seasons, he has only played in 73 games so it’s still a pretty small sample size. That is definitely limiting his earnings upside as he needs to show he can stay healthy for a full year and maintain that strong level of play. If he can do that, his AAV could push up toward the $4MM range if he looks to test the open market.
Signed Through 2024-25
D Bowen Byram ($3.85MM, RFA)
G Alexandar Georgiev ($3.2MM, UFA)
F Ryan Johansen ($4MM, UFA)*
F Logan O’Connor ($1.05MM, UFA)
F Mikko Rantanen ($9.25MM, UFA)
*-Nashville is retaining an additional $4MM on Johansen’s contract
Rantanen has flown under the radar to an extent but he’s undoubtedly a premier winger in his own right and is coming off a career year that saw him score 55 goals. If he’s able to stay near that rate over the next two years, he’ll have a strong chance of beating Artemi Panarin ($11.643MM) for the most expensive contract given to a winger in NHL history. Johansen hasn’t lived up to his contract but with the Preds eating half of it, Johansen should provide some value assuming he locks up the second center position. If he hovers around the 40-point mark, his next deal should check in around what Colorado will be paying him for the next two years. O’Connor has worked his way from being a depth piece to a reliable third liner at a below-market rate. Even if he stays in the mid-20-point range, he could add another million to his next deal.
Byram’s acceptance of a bridge contract this summer came as little surprise. When healthy, he has become an impactful blueliner but with Colorado’s cap situation and his concussion history, it would have been difficult to find a long-term agreement that worked for both sides. Notably, the deal is significantly backloaded, pushing the qualifying offer to $4.62MM. That said, if Byram can stay healthy these next two seasons, there’s a very good chance he’d be getting considerably more than that on a long-term pact at that time.
Georgiev was somewhat of a risky acquisition by then-GM Joe Sakic. He was coming off a down year and hadn’t yet played 35 games in an NHL season. Fast forward to one year later and he put up career-best numbers across the board in 62 appearances. Now, he is a legitimate starter for them making platoon money. Two more years like this would push his price tag into the range of the goalie he replaced (Darcy Kuemper who received five years at $5.25MM from Washington).
Signed Through 2025-26
D Josh Manson ($4.5MM, UFA)
Manson’s first full season with Colorado didn’t go well as he was limited to just 27 games due to multiple lower-body injuries. And when he was in the lineup, his deployment was that of a fifth defender most nights. This price tag for that role is on the high side and it has now been four straight years that Manson has missed significant time due to injury. At this point, it seems like it will be difficult for the Avs to get a good return on this contract.
Summer Synopsis: Colorado Avalanche
Last season, the Colorado Avalanche finished atop the Central Division as most expected. That’s despite missing captain Gabriel Landeskog and other core pieces such as Bowen Byram, Josh Manson and Valeri Nichushkin missing significant amounts of time. The 2022 Stanley Cup champions couldn’t find the magic for two seasons in a row, however, instead making history in another way by becoming the first team to lose to the Seattle Kraken in a playoff series, albeit in a hard-fought seven-game battle. That series loss was largely due to a lack of depth scoring, something GM Chris MacFarland addressed in a targeted manner this summer. Was it enough to return the Avs to 2022’s glory, however?
Draft
1-27: F Calum Ritchie, Oshawa (OHL)
1-31: D Mikhail Gulyayev, Omsk (MHL)
5-155: D Nikita Ishimnikov, Yekaterinburg (MHL)
6-187: D Jeremy Hanzel, Seattle (WHL)
7-219: F Maros Jedlicka, Zvolen (Slovakia)
While the Avalanche didn’t transform a weak prospect pool, they did make a shrewd move the day before the draft by trading Alex Newhook to the Montreal Canadiens, acquiring a second first-round pick in the process. Their two top selections, Gulyayev and Ritchie, were rather spectacular value moves for where they were taken – some public scouts had both ranked within the top 15 prospects available.
Ritchie is the closest to NHL-ready and could potentially see some time with the Avs as soon as 2024-25, but he’ll still need to be returned to juniors then if he’s not NHL-ready. All five players the Avalanche drafted are expected to return to the clubs listed above for the 2023-24 season, with the exception of Gulyayev, who is expected to join Omsk’s KHL team full-time.
Trade Acquisitions
F Ross Colton (from Tampa Bay)
D Gianni Fairbrother (from Montreal)
F Ryan Johansen (from Nashville)
F Fredrik Olofsson (from Dallas)
Colton has developed into the type of middle-six point-producing forward that the Lightning have relied upon so much over the past handful of seasons, but they simply couldn’t afford to keep him as he was a restricted free agent this summer in need of a new contract. Colorado, who had some additional flexibility with Landeskog slated to go on LTIR for a second straight season, swooped in and acquired the 26-year-old, who for now is projected to center the third line after scoring 16 goals and 16 assists for 32 points in 81 games last season. His defensive reputation becomes a bit inflated publically once you dig deeper into his possession metrics, but he has maintained a role as an excellent play-driver with an accurate shot – something the Avalanche desperately needed to add to their second and third lines.
Johansen is projected to slot in just above Colton on the Avs’ center depth chart, but he’s more of a reclamation project than the former, and the two could easily swap roles if things don’t go as planned. The 31-year-old has a previous first-line center pedigree but has been wildly inconsistent over the past few campaigns, scoring just 28 points in 55 games last season after notching 26 goals and 63 points in 79 games with the Predators the year before. The Avalanche are hoping that by sticking likely one of Artturi Lehkonen or Nichushkin on his wing, they can help unlock some of the offense that’s been missing and re-elevate him to the 60-point range.
Fairbrother came from Montreal as part of the return for Newhook and will spend next year in the AHL with the Colorado Eagles. Olofsson, whose signing rights were acquired from the Stars, was immediately signed to an extension after the trade and will be one of many names looking to lock down a roster spot and contribute on the team’s fourth line.
Key UFA Signings
F Andrew Cogliano (one year, $825K)
F Jonathan Drouin (one year, $825K)
D Jack Johnson (one year, $775K)
F Fredrik Olofsson (one year, $775K)*
F Chris Wagner (one year, $775K)*
F Miles Wood (six years, $15MM)
*-denotes two-way contract
Most of their key boosts to their forward core came via trade in Colton and Johansen, but the Avs did dish out some money to fill out bottom-six spots via unrestricted free agency. While he may not play the highest in the lineup, their biggest move (and perhaps one of the more surprising contracts of the entire summer) was Wood, earning a lengthy commitment to play a bottom-six checking role in Denver. The 27-year-old missed all but three games in the 2021-22 season with injury but suited up for a full campaign last year, scoring 13 goals and adding 14 assists for 27 points in 76 games whilst playing a fourth-line role for the New Jersey Devils. His reputation as defensively responsible did take a hit last year after the rather serious hip injury, raising some concerns about the rather extravagant length of the deal.
Another player who could end up playing quite a large role is Drouin, who, for now, projects to slide into the team’s top-six on the cheap to hopefully revitalize the former third-overall pick’s point production. If they opt to spread out the wealth and play wingers like Lehkonen and Nichushkin on the second line, they could match Drouin alongside former Halifax Mooseheads teammate Nathan MacKinnon and hope for him to reach the 40-50-point ceiling he showed earlier in his career with the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning. He scored just two goals last season in 58 games and hasn’t played close to a full 82 games since the 2018-19 campaign.
A handful of re-signings, including Cogliano, Johnson and Olofsson, aim to play fourth-line or third-pair roles. Wagner, who spent most of the last two seasons in the minors, does have a history of full-time NHL play and will aim to regain such a role on the team’s fourth line.
Key RFA Re-Signings
D Bowen Byram (two years, $7.7MM)
F Ross Colton (four years, $16MM)
F Ben Meyers (one year, $775K)
We covered Colton’s acquisition in the trade section of this piece, but Byram’s two-year bridge warrants some analysis. Despite his development being derailed multiple times by serious injuries and concussion concerns remain, the 2019 fourth-overall pick is a bonafide top-four defender among one of the highest-powered defense corps in the league. He recorded a career-high 24 points in 40 games last season (a 49-point pace) and shouldered nearly 22 minutes per game – a significant workload for such a young, developing defender. Posting better defensive results than his defense partner, Samuel Girard, he could be in line for even more ice time next season and will likely exceed the value of his new deal.
Meyers, on the other hand, takes a league-minimum deal after failing to elevate himself in the Avs’ lineup in his first full pro season. The highly-touted college free agent signing out of the University of Minnesota last season skated in 39 games with Colorado at the NHL level, collecting four goals. He’ll likely get a crack at the fourth-line center spot out of camp but needs to show strides in order to avoid another demotion to the minors.
Key Departures
F J.T. Compher (Detroit, five years, $25.5MM)
F Lars Eller (Pittsburgh, two years, $4.9MM)
G Jonas Johansson (Tampa Bay, two years, $1.55MM)
D Erik Johnson (Buffalo, one year, $3.25MM)
F Denis Malgin (Switzerland’s ZSC Lions, five years)
F Alex Newhook (trade with Montreal)
F Matthew Nieto (Pittsburgh, two years, $1.8MM)
F Evan Rodrigues (Florida, four years, $12MM)
Compher played the biggest role in Colorado last season out of anyone on this list, claiming the second-line center spot by default after Newhook failed to capture it in the opening weeks of the season. He would average over 20 minutes per game and record a career-high 52 points, not something that he should be expected to replicate in Detroit (even though they paid him as such). In fact, Johansen could very well be seen as an upgrade on Compher, given his track record, so despite the gargantuan minutes he covered last season, the Avalanche likely won’t feel his absence too much after their other offseason moves.
Rodrigues was a solid two-way middle-six forward for the Avs in his lone season there, as he has been for the past few seasons. He recorded 39 points in 69 games (a 46-point pace), something they’ll likely look for Drouin to replace, although he provides no guarantee.
Eller and Nieto found roles in Pittsburgh under new GM Kyle Dubas after they were both late-season trade acquisitions by the Avs who had a marginal impact on their record. Perhaps the biggest supplementary loss here is Johnson, who was the longest-tenured member of the Avalanche roster and had logged over 700 games with the team and was still a reliable defensive presence, albeit a declining one. His leadership will be missed, undoubtedly.
Malgin was a bit of an intriguing depth scorer last season, notching 11 goals in 42 games in an Avalanche jersey, but he’s opted to return home to Switzerland to play out the prime of his pro career.
Salary Cap Outlook
With Landeskog again expected to miss the entire season due to an additional knee surgery, the Avalanche are in a better salary cap situation than many other contenders. The team still has a fair amount of wiggle room and is expected to be cap-compliant by around $2.025MM once Landeskog is placed on LTIR, per CapFriendly. They have no dead money on their books: no retained salary transactions, buyouts, or projected buried salaries in the minors. It still leaves room for them to make one more marginal addition from the free-agent market if they choose.
Key Questions
Can Georgiev Repeat?: 27-year-old Bulgaria-born Alexandar Georgiev was a revelation in the crease last season. Coming over after a handful of inconsistent years in a backup role with the New York Rangers, the Avalanche caught lightning in a bottle with Georgiev, who churned out true starting-caliber numbers with a .919 save percentage and 2.52 goals-against average with a heavy workload – 62 games played, by far a career-high. He had just a .898 with the Rangers in 33 games the year before, however. While goalies often hit their primes closer to age 30 like Georgiev, the Avalanche will need another strong season from him with diminished defense depth in front of him.
Do They Have A Second-Line Answer?: One of Johansen or Colton commanding second-line minutes will be a must for Colorado to fix last season’s Achilles heel. If they can do so enough to give the team a legitimate secondary scoring option behind MacKinnon, much like Nazem Kadri did before his departure in 2022, it could very well keep them atop the Central. If not, they’ll need full health and full power from their stars to avoid slipping down the standings in a tight division headlined by improved Dallas Stars and Winnipeg Jets teams.
What To Do With Devon Toews?: He’s not-so-quietly transformed into a top-flight defender who would be the best defenseman on about half the teams in the league. However, he’s entering the final season of a contract paying just $4.1MM per season and is hurtling toward unrestricted free agency next summer. If they aren’t close to an extension by the time the deadline rolls around, will the Avalanche keep him around as a self-rental or aim to flip him for an asset with more control?
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.