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Colorado Avalanche could lose important players in 2022

By Graham Tiedtke

ST LOUIS, MO - OCTOBER 28: Jordan Binnington #50 of the St. Louis Blues makes a save against Nazem Kadri #91 of the Colorado Avalanche in the first period at Enterprise Center on October 28, 2021 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
ST LOUIS, MO - OCTOBER 28: Jordan Binnington #50 of the St. Louis Blues makes a save against Nazem Kadri #91 of the Colorado Avalanche in the first period at Enterprise Center on October 28, 2021 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /
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The Colorado Avalanche have some tough decisions to make in free agency, and rumours are circulating about these three pending unrestricted free agents.

The Colorado Avalanche are still celebrating their Stanley Cup victory over the Lightning from under a week ago. The team has some pending unrestricted free agents they will look at re-signing when the time is right.

Darcy Kuemper, Andre Burakovsky and Josh Manson were all name-dropped in an article over at ESPN as players who will receive significant contracts from various other teams across the league.

The Avalanche are projected to have $24.76 million in cap space for the 2022-2023 season. Center Nathan Mackinnon is currently scheduled to hit free agency following the upcoming season, so the team will have to base some of the decision they have to make now on future in-house free agents.

Of the pending free agent goalies across the league, Kuemper is tied for being the second-most expensive goaltender from this previous year at $4.5 million.

He is sixth among the unrestricted free agents in terms of save percentage at .921 (Charlie Lindgren of the St. Louis Blues is first with a .958 save percentage.

Kuemper has not been a bad goalie, despite recording the lowest save percentage of any Stanley Cup-winning goaltender since 1988. Unless the team sees a better fit at goaltender for the future, re-signing Kuemper has to be up there in terms of big offseason moves. With the team that is around him, I can see him having a more successful season in 2022-2023.

Perhaps one of the most impressive things about the Stanley Cup result for Colorado is the fact that Kuemper was playing with one good eye, after being poked in the other eye in Game 3 of the series against the Nashville Predators.

Burakovsky, 27, had 22 goals and 39 assists in 80 games this season. He was a huge part of the team’s success as he finished the season with five game-winning goals in the regular season and one in the postseason.

Manson played 22 games this past season, recording two goals and five assists. He did step up in the postseason, playing 20 games and recording three goals and five assists while finishing with a +/- of six.

Is this the end of Nazem Kadri with the Colorado Avalanche?

As for center Nazem Kadri, it certainly is possible that he chooses to leave the Colorado Avalanche as he is going to want to cash in on what could be his last contract of his NHL playing career. Kadri has been through a lot as of late and maybe it would be a smart idea on his end to start fresh.

Kadri underwent surgery on a broken thumb and missed four games. However, he returned to the lineup in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals. He helped the Avalanche write a great ending to the season.

I think that it is important for both parties to try and work out a deal to keep Kadri in Colorado. This team loves him. They’re going to stick by his side. The city of Denver loves him.

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