Colorado Avalanche: Ranking How Likely Players are to be Traded

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DENVER, CO – NOVEMBER 28: Team members celebrate a second period goal by Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson (6) during a regular season game between the Colorado Avalanche and the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins on November 28, 2018 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, CO. (Photo by Russell Lansford/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Though the Colorado Avalanche aren’t sellers for this year’s Trade Deadline, they may make a deal. Ranking players who could be traded.

At the time of writing, in the middle of the bye-week, the Colorado Avalanche were still in a playoff spot. Though it’s a tenuous foothold on that spot, general wisdom holds that a team won’t start wholesale trading while still in a playoff position.

However, with the fragility of their hold on the spot, and with many issues still needing to be addressed to get the team back into good positioning, GM Joe Sakic may decide to start trading players.

The NHL Trade Deadline is February 25, only one month away. So, if Sakic is going to make a big or even small trade, it will have to be done in the next four weeks.

I probably should use some complicated rubric driven by analytics to help determine who the Colorado Avalanche might trade. However, I don’t think that’s how Sakic operates. I think he’s still old-school enough to be driven by his gut and pragmatic enough to evaluate almost any offer made to him.

So, let’s do a ranking of players within the system who might be up for trade by the deadline.

PHILADELPHIA, PA – OCTOBER 22: Colin Wilson #22 and Sven Andrighetto #10 of the Colorado Avalanche skate with teammates against the Philadelphia Flyers on October 22, 2018 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images) /

No Problem Trading

I’d say a large majority of Colorado Avalanche players fall into this category. The future of these players with the team depends largely on how the Avs do in the next couple weeks or so.

If the Avs freefall out of the playoffs, they may decide to build up some even stronger draft stock. Therefore, any of these players should expect to get traded for a mid-round or even late-round draft pick.

Colin Wilson, Matt Nieto, Sven Andrighetto, and Mark Barberio would be some of the first players on the list. Honestly, I think if Joe could get any kind of draft pick for these players, he would make the trade. Players such as Gabriel Bourque and Patrick Nemeth would probably have to be packaged in with more desirable trade package.

Joe Sakic loves to make AHL-level trades. I think he just doesn’t want to be left out of the excitement. He makes trades just to make them, but they’re not particularly impactful. So, essentially the entire regular roster of the Colorado Eagles would be on this list as well.

Any of the players who don’t make it later on this list should consider themselves trade bait.

TORONTO, ON – JANUARY 14: Colorado Avalanche Center Carl Soderberg (34) celebrates after scoring a hat trick into the empty net with Colorado Avalanche Defenceman Ian Cole (28) during the third period of the NHL regular season game between the Colorado Avalanche and the Toronto Maple Leafs on January 14, 2019, at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, ON, Canada. (Photo by Julian Avram/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Will Want Decent Return

Looking at that previous slide, it’s depressing to see how little of value the Colorado Avalanche have to offer. However, they do have a few nice pieces that Sakic would be willing to part with if he had to re-tool the team somewhat.

Colorado’s two summer acquisitions, Ian Cole and Matt Calvert, fall into this category. So, too, does recent wunderkind Carl Soderberg. I don’t want to throw shade onto any of these players. It’s just that they’re not central to the makeup of the Avs.

I think Sakic would be delighted to get a decent return for Semyon Varlamov. If the net minder could get his bionic groin to mind, he’d be a huge asset to a team looking to make a deep Cup run.

If Joe Sakic could get a late-round pick and a prospect, or a mid-round pick for any of those guys, he’d probably account the trade a good one.

I’d think Sheldon Dries, Logan O’Connor, Mark Alt, and Ryan Graves would be candidates for an AHL-level trade. They’re all good players, so Sakic might try hard-balling for a GM to include a late prospect in addition to a career AHLer.

DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 18: Alexander Kerfoot #13, Anton Lindholm #54, J.T. Compher #37 and Tyson Barrie #4 of the Colorado Avalanche celebrate a goal against the Edmonton Oilers at the Pepsi Center on February 18, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Will Want a Solid Return

Some players are even a little more valuable to the Avalanche. What’s more, their youth and apparent talent would make them more valuable to an interested team. These are players Sakic wouldn’t necessarily want to part with. However, if the price were right, he’d probably make the deal.

These are players Joe Sakic would want a pick and a prospect for. Throw in a journeyman NHLer or career AHLer, and all the better. Ultimately, it wouldn’t be Joe initiating the trade but rather a team looking at a deep playoff run that needed to bolster its depth.

Two of our sophomores, J.T. Compher and Alexander Kerfoot fall into this category. They’re integral to the team, but not foundational. Plus, each of their contracts expire after this season, making them RFAs.

It’s hard to say where to put Philipp Grubauer since Colorado traded for him and signed him to a team-friendly contract. I’d say they’d be willing to ride out said contract unless they got a solid return for him.

DENVER, CO – JANUARY 19: Erik Johnson #6 of the Colorado Avalanche skates prior to the game against the Los Angeles Kings at the Pepsi Center on January 19, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Kings 7-1. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Hard to Pry Away

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There are certain players who are core to who the Colorado Avalanche are. However, if the return is really solid, Sakic would likely consider trading them. Such a solid return would probably be the usual pick, prospect, NHL player model.

Number-one on that list is Erik Johnson. I know a lot of Avs fans have looked askance at his play this season. However, he’s one of those integral character players — get rid of Johnson, and you may severely damage the fabric of the team. Plus, he’s the only two-way player we’ve got.

Though Eliotte Friedman recently tried to start rumors about him, Nikita Zadorov is at this level. He’s young and big and has a lot of talent. Zadorov is the next closest thing Colorado has to a two-way player. Indeed, he’s the heir-apparent to Johnson.

I’m going to put Tyson Jost in this section. I know many Avs fans consider Jost a bust and want to trade him away for a bag of pucks. Well, you’re wrong. He’s 20 years old and has a high ceiling. What’s more, he was all but untouchable last year — no way he’s on the trade line for little return.

Plus, he has a year left on his contract after this season. Colorado has time with him.

Last year’s first rounder, Martin Kaut, will also be at this level. The Colorado Avalanche will want to keep him around for the future.

DENVER, CO – APRIL 9: Tyson Barrie #4 and Gabriel Landeskog #92 of the Colorado Avalanche are introduced prior to the game against the Anaheim Ducks at the Pepsi Center on April 9, 2016 in Denver, Colorado. The Ducks defeated the Avalanche 5-3. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images)”n /

Offer Sakic the World

General managers must be very stingy with who they put on an untouchable list. General wisdom is that almost any player is up for grabs — at the right price.

I’d say Sakic set the bar pretty high for himself. The “right price” is a Matt Duchene-level return:

3 prospects, at least 1 NHL-ready
1 borderline player
3 draft picks, 1 a first-rounder

The bare-minimum ask for the players on this list would be an NHL-caliber player, highly-touted prospect, first-rounder.

Gabriel Landeskog is on this list. Remember, before the Colorado Avalanche traded Matt Duchene, Landeskog was a name oft-mentioned. You offer Sakic the world, I think he’d cough up our 26-year-old captain.

I’d say Tyson Barrie is on this list, too. In fact, I’d say Joe Sakic is actively shopping Barrie for just such a return. Our turnover king has turned his own self into a semi-elite offensive defenseman. He’s got one year left after this season, and he may want a big payout.

Colorado has Sam Girard and the likes of Conor Timmins and Cale Makar coming up the system. They only need so many smallish, puck-moving defensemen.

Oh, yeah, add Girard to this list. Colorado wants to base their blueline at least partially on his style of play. But if a team really want him, Sakic would probably trade him for a king’s ransom.

By the way, since Timmins is injured, I’m not going to rank him.

TAMPA, FL – DECEMBER 08: Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) celebrates with Colorado Avalanche right wing Mikko Rantanen (96) after scoring a goal in the first period of the NHL game between the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning on December 08, 2018 at Amalie Arena in Tampa,FL. (Photo by Mark LoMoglio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Step Away from MacKinnon

There is no way Sakic is trading Nathan MacKinnon. You’d have to pry our star center out of Sakic’s cold, dead hands. Joe would probably trade one of his own kids before he’d trade Nate.

The future of the Colorado Avalanche rests on the 23-year-old’s shoulders. He is our franchise player. Sakic and company are doing everything to build their team around Nate.

I’d say there’s one other player who’s earned the title of untouchable — Mikko Rantanen. Boy, I don’t think any of us really anticipated how great a player Rantanen would turn out to be.

The 22-year-old All Star — that’s right, All Star — recorded 84 points (29 goals, 55 assists) last season. 50 games into this season, he’s just 10 points shy of that mark. What? At the 50-game mark, Rantanen has 74 points (23 goals, 51 assists.) That puts him on pace for 121 points.

Whaaaaaaaat?!

Yeah, realistically, I imagine Rantanen will top out at 100 points. However, that still makes him an extremely valuable player, especially since the big Finn is only 22. No way Sakic trades him even for a huge return.

Note: Though he’s not in the Avalanche system yet, I daresay Cale Makar is in this league, too. He’s the future future of Colorado.

Next. Avs Need a SMART Approach to Development. dark

So, hopefully making a big trade isn’t in the Colorado Avalanche’s future because that would probably signal an admittance by Joe Sakic that we’re not making the playoffs and need to retool again. The caveat to that is Tyson Barrie — I really do think Sakic might shop him for a king’s ransom.

A little AHL-level trade? Yeah, I bet Joe pulls the trigger on one of those last minute.

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