This year’s trade deadline will be focused more on next season than this year for the Colorado Avalanche. Sure, the Avalanche are looking to contend for the Stanley Cup. That’s why the club added a solid goaltending tandem and traded a potential hot potato for more future certainty.
When I say “hot potato,” I’m referring to Mikko Rantanen’s impending free agency while adding Martin Necas provided the Avs with more certainty moving forward.
That is why whatever the Colorado Avalanche do from now till the March 7 trade deadline will be about next season and beyond. I’m not saying the Avalanche have given up on this season. But what I am saying is that the Avs are perfectly willing to punt on this season and go all-in next year.
The top offseason priority will be to lock up Necas to a long-term deal. Getting Necas signed provides the club with long-term cost certainty as it stares down Cale Makar’s next deal and adding other key pieces such as center depth and additional blue line help.
As we’ve seen this season, depth is an extremely valuable commodity as injuries can wreck any team’s ability to contend. The Avalanche are a good example of that. What should have been a strong start to the season became a nightmarish one due to the unusually high number of casualties.
Sure, the club weathered the storm because of its depth. But more will be needed to ensure the Avs are not decimated if injuries befall them during the postseason. In a worst-case scenario, the Avs will have enough bodies to support the team’s all-world core.
While anything can happen, it’s a safer bet to assume the Avs will avoid making any big splashes at this year’s deadline. If anything, any major moves will likely wait till the offseason.