- According to Colorado Hockey Now’s Adrian Dater, who spoke to several sources today, a return of Nazem Kadri to the Colorado Avalanche seems less likely than it had previously appeared. One of the market’s most desired players this offseason, Kadri is among the few notable UFAs who has yet to sign, with some speculating that he would like to go to a true contender, and thus those teams would have to work on making room under their salary cap, Colorado included. It’s unclear what, if anything, transpired today to shake Dater’s belief that Kadri could come back to Colorado, but it could mean that the tires are beginning to move on Kadri here on day six of free agency.
Avalanche Rumors
Brad Hunt Signs With Colorado Avalanche
11:55am: The team has officially announced the signing of Hunt.
9:55am: The Colorado Avalanche could be adding some veteran presence on the blueline, as Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV tweets that Brad Hunt will sign a two-year contract with them.
Hunt, 33, has probably played more in the NHL over the last several years than you remember, including 50 games with the Vancouver Canucks this season. The undersized puck-mover has shown himself to be a strong seventh option that can come into the lineup and contribute when necessary, though he won’t be logging big minutes when he does.
In his 241-game career, which includes stops with the Edmonton Oilers, Vegas Golden Knights, Minnesota Wild, and Canucks, Hunt is averaging just over 15 minutes a night and has 76 points. In Colorado, he will be behind such a deep group that even when he does get into the lineup, he might not see the ice that much.
Still, for a club looking to repeat as Stanley Cup champions, inexpensive experience is key in free agency. Hunt can replace someone like the outgoing Ryan Murray, who played 37 games during the regular season and then was not dressed in the playoffs.
Colorado Avalanche Sign Josh Jacobs, Spencer Smallman
As the reigning Stanley Cup Champions worked on bringing back two key players in Valeri Nichushkin and Josh Manson, they also brought in two depth pieces in that of forward Spencer Smallman and defenseman Joshua Jacobs, the team announced. Smallman’s contract runs for two years, while Jacobs’ is just for one. The Jacobs contract is a two-way deal, worth $750K at the NHL level and $265K in the minors, says PuckPedia. Smallman’s contract is worth $750K in the NHL this season, rising to $775K next season, according to PuckPedia. In the minors, the contract will pay Smallman $350K this season and $400K next season, but does guarantee him $400K this season regardless.
A fifth-round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2015, Smallman has spent his professional career between the ECHL and AHL levels in the Hurricanes’ system. This season, the 25-year-old had 27 points, 10 goals and 17 assists, in 65 games for the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. Prior to his pro career, Smallman spent five years as a member of the Saint John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL, his best and final season coming in 2016-17, where he notched 30 goals and 49 assists in 60 games.
Once a top prospect in the New Jersey Devils organization, Jacobs hasn’t lived up to the expectations set for him after he was drafted 41st overall in 2014. Quite the opposite of Smallman, Jacobs made his way through three leagues before turning professional, starting with two seasons in the USHL as a member of the Indiana Ice before heading to college at Michigan State University for a season, finishing his amateur career with a season in the OHL as a member of the Sarnia Sting. Since then, Jacobs has spent most of his career playing in the AHL with the Devils, making a couple of appearances in the NHL with New Jersey. 2021-22 was Jacobs’ first season outside of the Devils organization, as he played for the Chicago Wolves, an affiliate of the Hurricanes.
Colorado Avalanche Re-Sign Jonas Johansson
The Colorado Avalanche have some question marks in net even after acquiring Alexandar Georgiev, meaning they need some depth at the position. That will come in the form of Jonas Johansson, who has re-signed for one year. He’ll be on a two-way contract that carries an NHL salary of $750K and an AHL salary of $350K.
After losing Johansson on waivers last December, the Avalanche had to watch as he basically became a practice goaltender for the Florida Panthers organization. The 26-year-old played just two games for Florida and one for their AHL affiliate during the five months he was with the team, meaning he will be a bit out of practice by the time he gets back in game action next season.
That is, of course, if they’re able to get him through waivers this time, which isn’t a given after his experience in 2021-22. He certainly won’t be staying with the Avalanche NHL roster though, unless there’s an injury, as Georgiev and Pavel Francouz are locked in as the everyday tandem.
Colorado Avalanche Extend Artturi Lehkonen
The Colorado Avalanche have extended restricted free agent Artturi Lehkonen, signing the winger to a five-year contract that will carry an average annual value of $4.5MM. Since he was just one year away from unrestricted free agency, the lucrative extension buys out four UFA years and keeps Lehkonen in Colorado through the 2026-27 season.
New Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland released the following statement:
Artturi was a great fit to our team last season and obviously played an essential role in our championship run. He is incredibly versatile, can play anywhere up and down the lineup. He has a non-stop motor and never takes a shift off. He’s really smart, highly competitive, knows his role no matter what is asked of him. Getting length and term for a player of his quality was a top offseason priority and we’re thrilled to have him for the next five years.
When MacFarland says Lehkonen played an essential role in the Stanley Cup run, he isn’t kidding. The 27-year-old scored eight goals in 20 games, four of them game-winners, including the Cup-deciding tally in game six of the Final. The Finnish winger is probably not going to reach elite offensive totals over the next five years but he’ll be one of the most important pieces if the Avalanche are to challenge for another championship. His penalty-killing ability, physicality, and hockey sense allow the team to put him in basically any situation without worrying about the defensive end of the ice, freeing up the team’s more offensive players to drive the play.
With Lehkonen, Valeri Nichushkin, Josh Manson, Darren Helm, and Andrew Cogliano all brought back, the Avalanche will once again have a very impressive group to push for the Central Division crown and potentially another Stanley Cup.
Colorado Avalanche Sign Charles Hudon, Andreas Englund
The Colorado Eagles will be happy today, as their NHL affiliate has provided a top forward. Charles Hudon has signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Colorado Avalanche according to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports. The deal carries an NHL salary of $750K, an AHL salary of $400K, and a minor league guarantee of $450K. The team also announced a one-year deal for defenseman Andreas Englund.
Hudon, 28, is an accomplished AHL scorer and is getting a hefty $450K guarantee as proof of that. Hudon had 30 goals and 57 points in 66 games last season for the Syracuse Crunch and 35 points in 46 games in his last AHL season before that. In 2020-21, Hudon proved he could be productive at other levels of hockey outside of North America, scoring 32 points in 33 games for Lausanne in Switzerland. Hudon joins the Avalanche’s AHL affiliate, a team that has lost a few key contributors already today, such as top defenseman Jordan Gross.
One AHL-er who won’t be leaving the Colorado Eagles is Englund. The 26-year-old Stockholm native has re-upped with Colorado on a one-year deal. Englund was a bottom-pairing defenseman for the Eagles playing a very specific style. He’s a big, bruising defenseman who spent 106 minutes in the penalty box last year. The 2014 second-round pick has 33 games of NHL experience and should occupy a similar AHL role in 2022-23 to the one he occupied last season.
Josh Manson Expected To Re-Sign With Avalanche
One of Colorado’s key trade deadline acquisitions is set to stick around. As first reported by Peter Baugh of The Athletic (Twitter link), the Avalanche have agreed to terms on a new contract with defenseman Josh Manson. Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that it’s a four-year, $18MM contract which results in a $4.5MM AAV.
The 30-year-old was brought in from Anaheim just before the trade deadline in exchange for defenseman prospect Drew Helleson and a 2023 second-round pick in an effort to shore up the back of their defense corps. Manson was able to do just that, playing a key role in helping Colorado win the Stanley Cup last month and was ranked 16th in our Top 50 UFA list.
Last season, Manson played in 67 games between Anaheim and Colorado, picking up six goals and ten assists. While he had a 37-point season back in 2017-18, the 16 points he had in 2021-22 is closer to the typical production that he puts up which limited the upside of his market. However, he was still able to land a small raise from the $4.1MM he had on his last contract with another four-year commitment.
The Avalanche will have an impressive back end next season with Manson sticking with an impressive young core that features Cale Makar, Samuel Girard, and Bowen Byram that are all 24 or younger and Devon Toews who has emerged as a high-end defender in his own right since joining Colorado. With Erik Johnson still in the fold, that’s one of the stronger and deeper defense corps in the league which should give plenty of support to new starter Alexandar Georgiev.
With this agreement and the one given to Darren Helm earlier today, Colorado now has a little over $9MM in remaining cap space per CapFriendly with Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky both set to hit the open market in less than an hour. Barring a significant trade, it’s unlikely that either of them will re-sign with the bulk of their remaining camp room likely being earmarked for restricted free agent winger Artturi Lehkonen.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Colorado Avalanche Expected To Re-Sign Darren Helm
The Colorado Avalanche may be losing some of their key free agents but at least one more depth player is sticking around. Darren Dreger of TSN tweets that the team is close to re-signing Darren Helm, and expects the deal to be similar to Andrew Cogliano’s one-year $1.25MM contract extension.
Helm, 35, came to the Avalanche this season after more than 700 games with the Detroit Red Wings and ended up lifting the Stanley Cup for the second time. The veteran forward had won it with the Red Wings in 2008, meaning there was a 14-year gap before he was able to hoist it again. While he was never expected to provide much offense, Avalanche fans will never forget the game-winning goal that Helm scored in game six against the St. Louis Blues. With just five seconds left in the game, he slapped a puck past Ville Husso to send Colorado to the Western Conference Finals.
For that goal alone he deserved an extension but there is still some game left in Helm, who will remain in a bottom-six role for Colorado next season. He and Cogliano make up a defensive duo that can be relied on late in games against the opponent’s best, while also chipping in a goal now and again at brilliant times.
With so much talent likely taking bigger paydays elsewhere, bringing back these reliable veterans will allow Colorado to maintain some of the depth advantage that they had this season.
Offseason Checklist: Colorado Avalanche
With the offseason in full swing, it’s time to examine what each squad will need to accomplish over the coming weeks. Last up is a look at the Avalanche.
Generally speaking, a team that wins the Stanley Cup shouldn’t need to make a whole lot of changes. Evidently, that’s not the case in Colorado as they have a new starting goalie (Alexandar Georgiev) and a new GM (Chris MacFarland with Joe Sakic moving up a rung) in just a couple of weeks after beating Tampa Bay. MacFarland will have a few items to check off in the coming days as well.
Replace Defensive Depth
Sakic added defenseman Josh Manson at the deadline as a rental and while he didn’t have the exact same role he had in Anaheim (his minutes were more limited), he was a key role player in the postseason. He’s likely to become an unrestricted free agent and there’s a decent chance he’ll move on. Ryan Murray and Jack Johnson, who signed with Colorado last summer, are also set to become unrestricted free agents tomorrow and certainly aren’t locks to return.
That leaves Colorado with six blueliners that saw regular action last season and one of those (Kurtis MacDermid) is more of a winger than a defenseman at this point. Another, Bowen Byram, has shown plenty of promise but has dealt with multiple concussions in his young career and had to take a step back to recover last season. While the Avs will certainly be hoping that he’ll be able to stay healthy, expecting that to be the case would carry some risks.
With that in mind, MacFarland will need to add (or re-sign) at least one defenseman if not two to stay on the safe side. These players likely won’t command long-term deals (especially since they’ll want to keep some flexibility for the future) and will be earmarked for the third pairing but that extra depth will be necessary to hedge against in-season injuries. Fortunately for Colorado, while there aren’t many impact defenders available on the open market, there are several depth ones that are in the range that they’re going to want to pay.
MacKinnon Extension Talks
It’s quite possible that the biggest item on Colorado’s list this summer is to do something that won’t even affect their team for next season. Nathan MacKinnon will officially enter the final year of his contract on Wednesday, making him eligible to sign a contract extension. Prior to stepping aside as GM, Sakic recently indicated his intention of trying to get a deal done with his captain and there’s little reason to think that will change with MacFarland at the helm.
It sounds crazy to think now but at the time the 26-year-old signed his current seven-year, $44.1MM deal, there was some risk attached to it. While MacKinnon had shown flashes of offensive dominance, he had also failed to reach 25 goals in a single season. They were paying up with the expectation that he’d continue to improve and provide extra value by the end of the contract. It’s safe to say he has done that and more as only two players in the league have more points than MacKinnon over the last five years. (Both of them play in Edmonton if you’re wondering who they are.)
While the salary cap has flattened out in recent years and still has another couple of years on its current trajectory, MacKinnon is in line for a substantial raise on his next contract. Connor McDavid’s deal represented 16.67% of the Upper Limit when it was signed; that rate applied to the current cap would push MacKinnon just past $13.75MM. Granted, McDavid has been the better scorer but it’s not out of the realm of possibility that MacKinnon checks in around 15% of the cap which would put his next contract around the same $12.5MM AAV that McDavid currently has now. It’s a price tag Colorado shouldn’t be balking at paying either as if he was to somehow hit the open market next summer, several teams would be going after him with that type of money.
At this point, there isn’t a lot to gain from waiting while there’s value in having certainty about costs moving forward as Colorado plans other moves. Accordingly, expect a push to get something done on this front quickly.
Re-Sign Lehkonen
While Manson and some of their other late acquisitions were pending unrestricted free agents, that wasn’t the case for winger Artturi Lehkonen. The extra year of team control was enough for Sakic to justify parting with one of their top prospects in Justin Barron to get him from Montreal at the trade deadline. He certainly made an immediate impact with his new team, logging over 16 minutes a game in their middle six down the stretch and then scored two critical goals in the playoffs with the series-winner against Edmonton and the Cup-winner against the Lightning.
Lehkonen has arbitration rights in his final year of RFA eligibility so expect Colorado to take a run at signing him to a long-term deal that buys out his prime UFA years. Such a move would push his AAV past the $4MM mark even though his highest point total during the regular season is 38 which he put up this year. It’s a high price to pay for a winger that isn’t going to consistently light the lamp but his versatility and penalty killing ability made him an integral part of their team in the playoffs and it’s unlikely they will give him a chance to move on anytime soon.
Replace Outgoing Free Agent Forwards
While Colorado managed to get one prominent free agent off the table on Monday when they signed winger Valeri Nichushkin to an eight-year deal, they’re still set to lose a pair of key free agent forwards in Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky. Knowing the money that they’re going to be paying MacKinnon in 2023-24, they know they’re not going to be able to keep Kadri which creates a big opening down the middle. While Alex Newhook has shown some promise, he’s not really for full-time duty in the top six yet and while J.T. Compher can hold his own when covering for injuries, he’s not the preferred option to take Kadri’s spot either. Adding a proven veteran center on a short-term contract would be huge for the Avalanche.
Then there’s Burakovsky whose 61-point campaign likely priced himself out of what Colorado can afford with Lehkonen effectively taking his spot and role on the roster. But another winger that can at least slot in on the third line with an ability to move up when needed would certainly help lengthen their attack. The Avs have around $14MM to spend this summer with Lehkonen set to take up a sizable chunk of that. Between a new center to replace Kadri and some defensive depth, there might be enough left for that type of winger to help keep one of the top attacks in the NHL three lines deep.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Colorado Avalanche Sign Valeri Nichushkin To Eight-Year Extension
The Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche are retaining winger Valeri Nichushkin with an eight-year extension. Nichushkin was one of the most valuable two-way wingers hitting unrestricted free agency this offseason. The Athletic’s Peter Baugh reports the contract is worth $49MM in total, or $6.125MM per season through 2029-30.
PuckPedia has the details of the massive extension for Nichushkin:
2022-23: $6MM base, full NMC
2023-24: $7.5MM base, full NMC
2024-25: $8MM base, full NMC
2025-26: $7.3MM base, 12-team NTC
2026-27: $4.8MM base, $1MM SB, 12-team NTC
2027-28: $4.8MM base, 12-team NTC
2028-29: $2.8MM base, $2MM SB, 12-team NTC
2029-30: $2.8MM base, $2MM SB, 12-team NTC
Nichushkin, 27, has spent the last three seasons in Colorado growing into one of the game’s most underrated commodities. Bought out by the Dallas Stars after a goalless 2018-19 season, the 2013 10th overall pick saw his defensive game get recognition with the Avalanche before finally exploding offensively in 2021-22. Nichushkin scored 25 goals and 27 assists for 52 points in 62 games this season, with all of those offensive numbers being career highs.
He’s received Selke Trophy votes each of the past three seasons, a true compliment to just how good he’s been on both sides of the puck since joining Colorado. He really just got a top-six role in earnest for the first time this season, though, averaging 19:02 per game. Nichushkin had never averaged above 15 minutes per night in his career. It’s one of the best career turnaround stories in the league, making the eight-year extension one of the feel-good stories of the offseason.
It’s a monster raise for Nichushkin, who was coming off a two-year deal with just a $2.5MM cap hit. If his 15 points in 20 playoff games is a sign that this level of production from him is sustainable over the next few years, he’ll be well worth the money — especially when considering his defensive prowess.
Next, Colorado and brand-new general manager Chris MacFarland will have to navigate what to do with Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky. While Burakovsky is expected to hit the open market on Wednesday, the certainty of Nichushkin’s cap hit now allows Colorado to try and grind out an extension with Kadri. CapFriendly has Colorado with just under $15MM in projected cap space after the Nichushkin extension.