Colorado Avalanche Get Depth and Experience with Colin Wilson

The Colorado Avalanche have improved their forward depth with the acquisition of Colin Wilson from the Nashville Predators.

The Colorado Avalanche have a new forward to help their scoring woes, Colin Wilson. Colorado acquired Wilson from the Nashville Predators for a fourth-round selection in the 2019 NHL Draft.

Thus far, that makes the Avalanche’s moves on during Free Agency Frenzy only two. Colorado also signed goalie Jonathan Bernier to a one-year contract worth $2.75 million, presumably as Semyon Varlamov‘s backup.

Well, we already met Bernier, so find out about Colin Wilson.

About Colin Wilson

Age: 27
Height: 6’1″
Weight:221 lbs.
Shoots: Left
Current Contract: 2 years left, AAV $4 million
Previous Team: Nashville Predators

Forward Colin Wilson is a little bit of a bulldog. He’s got good size and stature for a rough game. He doesn’t play overly physical, but he can barrel over players by virtue of his stature alone.

The Colorado Avalanche are moving to a speed-centric game, and Wilson fits the bill. He’s known for being a strong north-south skater with speed. He can play a decent clutch game and is known for his maturity.

Wilson has 502 NHL games to his name, all with Nashville. He’s earned 95 goals and 142 assists while averaging around 15 minutes of ice time per game.

One area in which Colin Wilson does need some work is consistency.

Here’s Colin Wilson in action, scoring a nice coast-to-coast goal against the Chicago Blackhawks:

Here’s Colin Wilson having trouble holding onto his equipment:

We can’t really fault the guy for that one.

Wilson and the Colorado Avalanche

More from Mile High Sticking

Two years ago the Colorado Avalanche signed Carl Soderberg ostensibly to take Ryan O’Reilly‘s place when they traded him. Soderberg at best is the poor man’s O’Reilly.

If the Colorado Avalanche are thinking of doing that in preparation of trading Matt Duchene, that would be an utter disaster. Wilson isn’t even a pauper’s Matt Duchene.

With that out of the way, Wilson is a good addition to the lineup. He seems to be a pretty versatile forward who could maybe even see some time on the top lines while the Avalanche season their youngsters. He even has playoff experience, so he can serve as something of a veteran on the team while only being 27.

Indeed, GM Joe Sakic said as much, stating Wilson brings experience and depth to the Avs. He also stated that he saw Wilson complementing left wing Gabriel Landeskog.

"He's another powerful forward to complement Landy."

- EVP & GM Joe Sakic pic.twitter.com/g8ZlYvEdHG
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) July 1, 2017

Side note: Colin Wilson wore #33 with the Nashville Predators. Obviously he’s going to have to choose a new number for the Avs.

Team Needs

The Colorado Avalanche do not have a complete team. They have just 11 forwards and three defensemen under contract, with Matthew Nieto and Nikita Zadorov as restricted free agents. In San Antonio, they have just 12 players on the roster.

Colorado probably at least needs to pick up one more NHL-ready forward and defenseman. They need to have a little bit of flexibility with rotating the prospects in and out of the lineup based on their development progress.

The Avalanche also need players to fill up their AHL roster. They have a few draftees who haven’t signed yet, but not nearly enough. Most likely Colorado is going to announce the signing of a handful of AHLers all at once.

Next: Duchene Trade Rumors are Overblown

Until then, the two acquisitions the Colorado Avalanche have made today are good additions to the team.