Colorado Avalanche lose several players on first day of free agency

The Colorado Avalanche made some key signings leading up to the 2023 free agency period, and it is fair to assume that they had an idea of who of their own players they were likely going to lose to other teams.

In the month of June, they made the following transactions:

• Acquired C Fredrik Olofsson
• Acquired F Ryan Johansson for F Alex Galchenyuk
• Traded Alex Newhook to the Montreal Canadiens for first and second-round picks plus a player who will be announced at a later date
• Acquired Ross Colton from the Tampa Bay Lightning for a second-round pick.

Johansson and Colton are surely going to have an impact on the Avalanche in their first year with the team.

On the first day of July—the first day of NHL Free Agency—the Colorado Avalanche made several other moves. They brought back center Andrew Cogliano, who is near the end of his career in his mid 30’s. Cogliano had 10 goals and nine assists in 79 games for the Avalanche last season.

Colorado agreed to terms on a two-year deal with defenceman Bo Byram. I gave my thoughts on the signing here.

The team also signed former Montreal Canadien Jonathan Drouin. Drouin is a 28-year-old left winger who had spent the last six seasons with the Canadiens after three years with the Tampa Bay Lightning. General manager Chris MacFarland said that Drouin could see time on both the first and second lines to see which is the best fit for him. That decision would be up to head coach Jared Bednar.

Perhaps the biggest loss for the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday was the departure of J.T. Compher. It was one of those situations where the team had to choose between a couple of players and bite the bullet on the loss of a high-priced player. Compher signed a five-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings worth $5.1M per year. That’s a steep deal and was something the Avalanche were never going to do.

Defenceman Erik Johnson departed Colorado for the Buffalo Sabres. Johnson is another player near the end of his career at 35 years old. He played in 63 games for the team last season and while he didn’t have a goal, he had eight assists. He shot the puck 98 times last year. The year before, he had eight goals on 139 shots plus 17 assists in 77 games.

Lars Eller signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins. I thought Eller was a very good player for the Avalanche last season. I’m personally disappointed to see him go.

Another player leaving the Rocky Mountains is Matt Nieto. Nieto signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. He had four goals and five assists in 36 games for the Avalanche and tied his career-best in faceoff percentage at 57.14 percent.

On Saturday, the Avalanche also signed forward Miles Wood, formerly of the New Jersey Devils. In 76 games last season, Wood had 13 goals and 14 assists. One thing that I have seen highlighted for the most part of the Wood signing is his penalty minute count. For his career, he has 427 penalty minutes. That’s something to monitor for sure. The Avalanched signed him to a six-year deal worth $15 million. The length of the contract was glaring at first, but it was to reduce the annual cap hit.

There are more moves to come. Stay tuned.