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Colorado Avalanche Extend Andrew Cogliano

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One of the veteran players that finally got a chance to lift the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche this season is coming back for more. The team has signed Andrew Cogliano to a one-year contract for 2022-23, keeping him from the open market. The deal will be worth $1.25MM, according to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff.

Cogliano, 35, played more than 1,100 regular season games and 100 playoff games before arriving in Denver this season, acquired at the deadline for a 2024 fifth-round pick. He had never won before, despite coming close as recently as 2020 with the Dallas Stars, and it appeared as though he might miss the playoffs entirely after starting the year with the San Jose Sharks.

Instead, he’s now a Stanley Cup champion, and when asked last week explained how it made him want to come back again next season. Speaking with Peter Baugh of The Athletic:

I really think it was a privilege to play for this team, and I still think that hopefully that can be an option moving forward, to be honest. It just felt right, and it was just enjoyable to play the game…When you win, you really get a feeling of some strong confidence, and you start thinking about doing it again and wanting to do it again and doing it with the guys on the team you feel strongly about.

He’ll now get that chance, returning to the defending champs on a reasonably priced one-year deal. The Avalanche are trying to sign some bigger names as well but getting Cogliano back gives them an experienced, versatile, bottom-six option that can be trusted in the most important situations of a game. The veteran forward has long been deployed in a checking role but also managed to add three goals and six points in 16 postseason games this year, including two game-winners.

Not only that but he underwent a hand surgery after the Western Conference Finals against the Edmonton Oilers and still managed to make it back in time to play in five games of the championship series. That kind of commitment is exactly what Cogliano has shown throughout his entire career, playing the first ten seasons without missing a single game and only seeing his iron man streak break due to a suspension in 2018.

The Avalanche will be able to rely on him as they try to complete a title defense, though the roster may not look the same. Even after his deal, the team still has nine roster players scheduled for unrestricted free agency.

Avalanche Working On Deals For Kuemper, Nichushkin

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  • The Colorado Avalanche might not be looking for a new goaltender after all. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet believes that the Avalanche are working on extensions for Darcy Kuemper and Valeri Nichushkin, noting that there is a “decent chance” the netminder sticks around. If Kuemper does sign with Colorado, it would thin out a very shallow free agent goaltending pool even further, and potentially put even more pressure on the teams without legitimate starting options.

Nazem Kadri Interested In Re-Signing With Colorado Avalanche

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Earlier today, Stanley Cup champion and pending UFA Nazem Kadri joined hosts Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne on the “Real Kyper and Bourne” podcast on Sportsnet, where he was asked about his upcoming free agency and his desire to stay with the Colorado Avalanche. When asked if Colorado was his number one choice, Kadri responded, “How could it not be? The Kroenke’s have been great supporters of mine and made it clear to me that they’d like me to stay also, but we understand that there’s a business aspect involved. We’re going to try to work together.” As Adrian Dater of Colorado Hockey Now points out, having the Kroenke’s, Avalanche ownership, express the desire to have Kadri stay is a good sign that it could happen, but that doesn’t mean it will be cheap.

Cale Makar Was Unanimous Winner Of Conn Smythe

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Not only did Cale Makar take home the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman and win a Stanley Cup after just his third season in the league, but he was awarded the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP. It wasn’t a close race. All 18 voters selected the young Colorado Avalanche defenseman as the winner, utterly demolishing his only real competition in Nathan MacKinnon, who appeared on all but one ballot (15 second place votes, two third place).

Andre Burakovsky Could Return On Sunday

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Colorado could get some help for Sunday’s sixth game against the Lightning.  Speaking with reporters today including NHL.com’s Tracey Myers, head coach Jared Bednar indicated that winger Andre Burakovsky will accompany the Avalanche to Tampa Bay and is a possibility to play in that contest.  The 27-year-old suffered what is believed to be a hand injury in the second game of the series, taking away one of their key secondary scorers.  After recording 61 points in the regular season, Burakovsky has eight in a dozen playoff contests so far.  Officially, he remains listed as day-to-day.

Nazem Kadri Expected To Return For Game 4

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After a disheartening 6-2 loss in Game 3, the Colorado Avalanche could get a huge momentum swing back in their favor tonight in the Stanley Cup Final. The Athletic’s Peter Baugh reports that, as of practice this morning, the team plans for center Nazem Kadri to return to the lineup for Game 4. Colorado Hockey Now’s Adrian Dater adds separately that Kadri is “definitely” playing tonight.

Per Baugh, Kadri skated with the regulars at practice this morning while right wing Nicolas Aube-Kubel skated with the healthy scratches. Barring any setbacks for Kadri during warmups, Aube-Kubel will likely draw out for Kadri to return.

Kadri hasn’t played since suffering a hand injury just 37 seconds into his first shift of Game 3 of the Western Conference Final. The hit by Edmonton Oilers winger Evander Kane, which forced Kadri’s hand awkwardly into the endboards, sidelined the Avalanche forward for two and a half weeks. Kane earned a one-game suspension on the play as the Avalanche completed their four-game sweep of the Oilers without either Kane or Kadri on the ice.

Despite the injury and the time missed, Kadri remains tied for fifth in playoff scoring on the Avalanche with six goals, eight assists, and 14 points in 13 games. It’s a repeat of his previous playoff success in an Avalanche uniform, as he tallied 18 points in 15 games during the team’s time in the 2020 playoff bubble.

Not only does Kadri’s return provide a gigantic boost to the Colorado offense on its own, it also causes a positive cascading effect on the team’s depth. J.T. Compher, who’s been an excellent energy forward for the team in recent games, will likely return to a bottom-six role, bolstering their ability to counterstrike against Tampa’s stellar veteran depth.

Anaheim Ducks Interested In Josh Manson Reunion

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One of the most speculated-about scenarios at every trade deadline is one where a team, out of the playoff race, trades away an important pending free agent only to re-sign him a few months later. After all, why not lease the player for a nice deadline return of future assets, that make the team even stronger upon his return.

In practice, this rarely happens. Those deadline additions are either extended by their new team or reach free agency and suddenly find themselves surrounded by new suitors.

This year, it appears the Anaheim Ducks will be trying to pull off the unlikely scenario of bringing back a sold-off veteran. Pierre LeBrun reports on TSN’s Insider Trading that Anaheim has an interest in a reunion with Josh Manson, once his run to the Stanley Cup Final is finished with the Colorado Avalanche.

Manson, 30, has been a nice addition for the Avalanche, giving their defense corps some additional snarl while adding some nice (and likely unexpected) offense at key moments. As LeBrun notes though, it will be very difficult for Colorado to retain him, given how many other free agents they have on the roster–some of which they’re hoping to sign after the playoffs come to an end.

Meanwhile, Manson had seen his reputation around the league take a bit of a hit in recent years, as his minutes and effectiveness waned in Anaheim. That doesn’t mean the Ducks are done with him though, as he is extremely well-liked in that dressing room and could still be a nice veteran piece to help the team transition into the next phase of their build.

Currently carrying a $4.1MM cap hit, it will be interesting to see what Manson can command on the open market. His playoff performance has only driven his value back up but defensemen who don’t offer much offensively rarely get big paydays–at least in relative terms–in free agency.

Award Notes: Jim Gregory Award Finalists, All-Rookie Team, All-Star Teams

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While there were five awards handed out on Tuesday, there is still one more to be announced.  That one is the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award.  It’s voted on by all 32 NHL GMs as well as some NHL executives at the end of the second round.  Not surprisingly, all three of the finalists, who were named during the NHL Awards show, were among the four to help lead their teams to the conference finals including Julien BriseBois of the Lightning, Chris Drury of the Rangers, and Joe Sakic of the Avalanche.  Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello won the award a year ago.  The winner for this won’t be announced until partway through the first round of the draft next month in Montreal.

More news from awards night:

Cale Makar Wins The 2022 Norris Trophy

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On Tuesday, the final five NHL awards are being handed out.  The second-last award of the night was the James Norris Memorial Trophy, handed out to the NHL’s best defenseman.  This year’s winner is Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar.  The other finalists were Predators blueliner Roman Josi and Lightning rearguard Victor Hedman.

Makar led all defensemen in goals this season with 28, becoming just the fifth blueliner in the last 30 years to get that many goals.  He also finished second in points (86) to Josi, who had 96.  While thought of as an offense-first defender, Makar took a regular turn on Colorado’s penalty kill this season as well which helped him average 25:40 per contest.  While this voting doesn’t cover his playoff performance, the 23-year-old has been dominant in the postseason as well, picking up 26 points in 17 games while his ATOI has jumped up to a little under 27 minutes a night.

Interestingly enough, Makar actually finished second to Josi in first-place votes, 98-92.  However, Makar had 22 more second-place selections (98-72) which helped him garner 25 more voting points to secure the victory.  He was also the only player to appear on all 195 ballots with Josi not being put on one of them.  It’s the closest vote for this award since the 2011-12 campaign when Erik Karlsson edged Shea Weber for the award.  Only one other blueliner, Boston’s Charlie McAvoy, received a first-place vote.

The full results of the voting can be found here.

Final Notes: Kucherov, Toews, Point

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The Tampa Bay Lightning were able to respond with a strong effort in game three last night to pull closer in their series against the Colorado Avalanche, but it wasn’t without a cost. Nikita Kucherov and several others left the game at various points with injuries, though it seems they may have escaped without too much issue. Today, head coach Jon Cooper explained to reporters including Joe Smith of The Athletic that though it is not yet certain, he expects Kucherov to play in game four.

Here are a couple of other notes from the Stanley Cup Final:

  • Devon Toews, whose cross-check was the reason Kucherov left the game in the first place, is not expected to receive any supplementary discipline from the league. Smith notes that the league felt the play was properly penalized by the on-ice officials, who gave Toews a two-minute minor. It was not the only borderline play in the game but since the Department of Player Safety has not yet issued any hearings, it’s safe to say that there aren’t any suspensions expected from last night.
  • Brayden Point, who missed game three and was replaced by Riley Nash, is doubtful for game four. The 26-year-old forward played in both of the first two games of the series but is still dealing with the injury that took him out of round one against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Point recorded just one shot through those first two games and was a shadow of the dominant player he can be at full strength.

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