Colorado Avalanche Trade Deadline Strategy

Have you ever seen one of those TV shows where they take a run-down house, throw a little cash and elbow grease at the thing, and flip it into a beautiful home?

I saw one such show the other day, called Fixer Upper. This is what the Colorado Avalanche are – they are a roster constructed with good bones, but with a bit of cleaning up to do around the edges. Some fresh paint, new appliances, re-modeled kitchen, and landscaping are needed before this team is presentable to the rigor of the Stanley Cup grind.

As such, I don’t consider the Avalanche to be a “pure seller” or “pure buyer” at the deadline. The approach should be a hybrid of the two.

The Avs have several older pieces, such as Jan Hejda, Daniel Briere, Max Talbot, and Brad Stuart who all could potentially provide value to a contending team. Veteran leadership is almost always overpaid for at the deadline, and the Avalanche can use this to their advantage.

Priority one for the Avalanche at this trade deadline is acquiring future assets. Assets give you depth, and allow you to make moves in the future.

The expiring contracts of Hejda and Briere make them even easier to move.

The Avalanche also have some gritty players, such as Cody McLeod and John Mitchell in their forward unit. Neither seems likely to be shopped by the Avalanche, but if a team came with a tempting enough offer the Avalanche should listen.

There is also the curious case of Ryan O’Reilly. His name is certainly to be in play at the deadline, although the Avalanche still hold all the chips with O’Reilly. They can always hang on to the bearded forward until this summer and try their luck at a contract extension being reached.

There will also be many more teams willing to make a “blockbuster” type hockey trade to acquire O’Reilly over the summer, especially at the draft. Right now, the market is limited, because playoff teams aren’t going to want to give up the type of package that the Avalanche would likely want and deserve for O’Reilly.

This limits trade partners to teams such as Arizona and Toronto. A trade may go down for O’Reilly for a guy like Keith Yandle from the desert, but like I said above, the Avs still hold the chips. They don’t have to go all in just yet, so they can be picky with the offers they get.

The Avs have internet whipping boys Marc-Andre Cliche, Nate Guenin, and Reto Berra on the roster. In all likelihood, no team would have much interest in any of these guys. For the sake of the Avalanche, if someone offers any decent price, I think the Avalanche should take it.

Cliche and Guenin’s contracts are relatively cheap and end after next season. Moving them gives the Avalanche the opportunity to try out some young guys, and clear out space for better alternatives next year.

Berra has a gnarly contract that comes with a $1.45M cap hit. This pays him in the top-ten of all backup goalies in the NHL, and is on the books for two more years after this season. With the emergence of Calvin Pickard, that contract is the equivalent of a food explosion in the microwave. Gross.