The hottest topic surrounding the Colorado Avalanche this offseason is the upcoming extension that will make Cale Makar a very happy rich man. But when it comes to other parts of the roster, that aformentioned extension will probably cause some headaches for Joe Sakic.
Even though the salary cap is going up, it seems pretty unlikely that the Avalanche will be able to keep their entire core together long-term. While guys such as Nathan MacKinnon, Devon Toews and Makar will surely be together for the long run, there is one name that I didn’t mention, and that is on purpose.
Artturi Lehkonen is also due for an extension, as his deal is set to expire at the same time Makar’s is. He has made $4.5 million annually over the last five seasons for the Avalanche and is likely going to command more. Why wouldn’t he? Head coach Jared Bednar and Lehkonen’s teammates regularly suggest how good of a player and a fit he is with the team. He was fourth on the team in goals this past season and sixth in points.
With the departure of Valeri Nichushkin this offseason via a trade to the Columbus Blue Jackets, I only see Lehkonen’s placement on the stat sheet rise. It’s possible he sticks around the mid-40s in terms of points as he typically does. It’s also possible that he could see more ice time due to the potentially weaker second line.
The Avalanche have one goal this season, and it is the same goal they also have: Win the Stanley Cup. It would have to be a catastrophic season for them to miss the playoffs. I don’t see that happening. Nobody should.
The team just needs to get over the hump in the playoffs. They haven’t made it back to the Stanley Cup Final since winning it all in 2021-22, and that needs to change.
Perhaps another failure to do so could convince Bednar to shake things up. I don’t necessarily recommend it as Lehkonen is a big piece to the top line, but I also didn’t fully expect them to trade Nichushkin, and they did.
Avalanche could go another route to keep Lehkonen
The alternative, and in my opinion the better solution to free up cap space, is to trade Brock Nelson, who they just signed to an extension. It’s unfortunate because he’s not a bad player. He is just an older guy but he also does not perform well in the playoffs.
Either of those two options are a possibility, and it will be interesting to see what Sakic decides to do. While they don’t have to make an immediate decision, they still have to think about how they are going to go about things later down the road.
It’s the cost of business. Not everybody is going to be able to stay. That’s the salary cap world we live in.
Add us as a preferred source on Google