The hottest topic surrounding the Colorado Avalanche right now is the status of right wing Valeri Nichushkin. The question is always the same: Will they or won’t they trade him?
Now, I see both sides of the coin in this one. On one hand, why would you trade away a top-six forward for a salary dump? What are you planning on doing with that money? Those two questions are critical in the assessment. Unfortunately, the Avalanche won’t get a lot in return because of his $6.125 million cap hit.
But, they still have to add to their roster even without trading him. It would make sense that if Nichushkin is still an Avalanche, the team would look at re-signing their own free agents—most notably Jack Drury, who is a restricted free agent. They can do that even with Nichushkin in the picture.
They say that continuity is important in sports. However, in this case, it might be shockingly bad. Putting aside the return of Gabriel Landeskog, the Avalanche have almost rolled a lot of the same roster pieces since the Stanley Cup win in 2022. Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar are not going anywhere no matter what any clickbaity outlet says. Artturi Lehkonen is a key piece to the team both offensively and defensively.
Brock Nelson and Martin Necas have shown sparks, with Necas recording the first 100-point season in his career. The issue with those two players in particular is that they disappear during the playoffs, as several Avalanche players have, including Nichushkin. That’s a reason why the Avalanche cannot just sit with their hands behind their back. They need to make some moves to not have a repeat of the past few years.
Moving Nichushkin would free up a ton of cap space for the team to explore different avenues. They could go after a player or two that they wouldn’t currently be able to given the cap restraints.
Head coach Jared Bednar will say that he believes in his team and the players would and have said that they believe in their head coach. But, what if belief isn’t enough? Actions speak louder than words. Right now, the Avalanche are radio silent, and it could come back to haunt them.
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