Rapid Rewind: Colorado Avalanche Offseason Grade
The Colorado Avalanche managed to pull off the round one upset in the postseason but then lost in the second round to the San Jose Sharks. The Avalanche took care of business in the offseason and are a better team. There will be high expectations come the season, and they should be able to live up to them with the current roster.
The Avalanche needed a number two center and got one, which should take some pressure off the top line to produce as much as it had to last season. They needed some depth for the third and fourth lines, and that happened. They did lose one of their better defensemen in Tyson Barrie, but he would have cost a fortune to keep beyond this season. Also, the team has some young, talented defensemen who won’t have a problem eventually filling Barrie’s shoes.
FREE AGENCY
The two major moves in free agency added some depth and extended a young, talented defenseman. The Avalanche signed left-winger Joonas Donskoi to a four-year contract that has a $3.9 million cap hit. They also signed center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare to a two-year contract. The Avalanche are taking a chance on Valeri Nichushkin, who they signed after he was bought out by the Stars in the offseason.
A majority of free agency was spent re-signing key members of the team like defenseman Nikita Zadorov, forward J.T. Compher, and others to cap-friendly deals. The Avalanche also were busy upgrading the minor league system with some younger players and veterans. The biggest re-signing of the offseason has been defenseman Samuel Girard to a new seven-year deal which starts in the 2020-21 season.
TRADES
The team was busy in the trade market this offseason. They acquired left-winger André Burakovsky, who will be looking for a bounce-back season, from the Washington Capitals. The Avalanche acquired defenseman Kevin Connauton from the Arizona Coyotes but lost Carl Soderberg in the trade. Connauton will be the sixth or seventh defenseman on the roster this season.
The biggest offseason trade landed the Avalanche the second-line center that the team needed. They traded defenseman Tyson Barrie, forward Alexander Kerfoot and a draft pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs for center Nazem Kadri and defenseman Calle Rosen. Yes, the Avalanche traded away one of the better defensemen on the team but got back a solid second-line center, that can play a 200-foot game. Kadri is an effective player when he isn’t sitting in the press box because of a suspension.
OVERALL GRADE: B
The Avalanche made moves to improve the current roster and the minor league rosters. The team is taking some chances on players like Kadri, Burakovsky, and Nichushkin. Burakovsky and Nichushkin have the potential to be low risk, high reward players with a change of scenery. Kadri is going to have to learn to stay on the ice when it matters to be a more effective player.
I like what the team did in the offseason and they should be able to get to the Western Conference Finals with this roster. The biggest reason for giving them a B is that a key piece in Mikko Rantanen remains unsigned, as he is a restricted free agent. If the Avalanche can manage to get him signed, and in camp on time, then the final grade would be upgraded to an A-.
