Mile High Sticking
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2 players linked to Colorado Avalanche after Tomas Tatar trade

By Graham Tiedtke

Dec 4, 2023; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens forward Sean Monahan (91) celebrates with teammates including forward Cole Caufield (22) and forward Nick Suzuki (14) after scoring a goal against Seattle Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer (31) during the second period at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 4, 2023; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens forward Sean Monahan (91) celebrates with teammates including forward Cole Caufield (22) and forward Nick Suzuki (14) after scoring a goal against Seattle Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer (31) during the second period at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Colorado Avalanche traded Tomas Tatar to the Seattle Kraken on Saturday for a fifth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft following an underwhelming start of the season for him. He signed a one-year deal with the Avalanche and recorded one goal and eight assists in 27 games for Colorado while the team tried to figure out their line combos early on.

With the departure of Tatar, the Avalanche opened up an additional $1.5 million, putting their available cap space number at $4,825,000.

That being said, two names were recently brought up: Sean Monahan and Morgan Frost. As FullPressHockey points out, Monahan carries a $1.985 million cap hit while Frost carries a $2.1 million cap hit.

I like the idea of the Avalanche sticking with their current crop of forwards, but it certainly would be a wise idea to go after some more talent, especially since they can afford it.

Frost has three goals and five assists this season for the Philadelphia Flyers. He is averaging a Time on Ice of 15:18 in 20 games this season. He broke out during the 2022-23 season, scoring 19 goals and 27 assists in 81 games. He has a career faceoff percentage of 46.7 percent.

Monahan has nine goals and 10 assists in 30 games this season. He’s able to perform at high levels, specifically on the power play and penalty kill. The Avalanche started the season hot on the penalty kill and adding Monahan to a PK with Logan O’Connor being red hot on that unit.

We could use more goal-scorers on the Colorado Avalanche. I would love to see the team add some defensive help, perhaps more players who are successful not only on defense but also getting pucks to the opposing team’s net often. I feel like these two players would be low-risk, high-reward possibilities.

The Colorado Avalanche currently sit atop the division with 40 points and 19 wins in 31 games.

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