Colorado Avalanche: 4 Players the Team Must Unload
Besides the players whose contracts are coming off the books in the offseason, the Colorado Avalanche should attempt to move four other players.
It’s time for the Colorado Avalanche to have a firesale. I’m not talking about core players — the more I think about that, the more I’m against it:
Avs Can Rebuild without Trading Core Player
That said, the team does need to trim the fat from some of its current contracts.
Now, the Avalanche are going to have as much as $22 million in freed-up cap space already this post-season. Here’s how it plays out:
Colorado has six players who will be unrestricted free agents after this season:
- Jarome Iginla, 39 ($5.3 million)
- John Mitchell, 31 ($1.8 million)
- Rene Bourque, 35 ($650,000)
- Andreas Martinsen, 26 ($640,000)
- Fedor Tyutin, 33 ($2 million)
- Cody Goloubef, 27 ($650,000)
They also have five players who will be restricted free agents at the end of the season:
- Mikhail Grigorenko, 22 ($1.3 million)
- Matt Nieto, 24 ($735,000)
- Eric Gelinas, 25 ($1.5 million)
- Nikita Zadorov, 21 ($894,000)
- Patrick Wiercioch, 26 ($750,000)
Of the six UFAs, I think only Martinsen has a chance of returning. (I hope, anyway, that Goloubef won’t be re-signed.) Iginla will likely be traded to a contender before deadline out of respect.
Of the five RFAs, I’m pretty sure Zadorov will return. Nieto probably has a chance to impress the Avalanche enough to earn a contract. I’d only want to see Grigorenko return if he takes a deserved pay cut. With Gelinas, I doubt he’ll return. Wiercioch is 50-50.
Even with all those contracts coming off the books this summer, the Colorado Avalanche still need to move four other players.