The first move of the Colorado Avalanche since free agency officially began is for a forward. The team has signed left wing Jaden Schwartz to a three-year contract worth $3.25 million AAV.
Schwartz has spent the past five seasons with the Seattle Kraken following a 10-year career with the St. Louis Blues. He has 861 games under his belt, recording 223 goals and 320 assists in his career.
A first-round pick in 2010, the 34-year-old Schwartz is brought to Colorado to play top-six minutes. The departure of Valeri Nichushkin will mean that a couple different guys will probably fit in on the second line, including Schwartz. Jared Bednar is known for switching up his lines throughout the year, so we might see that a little bit at some point.
Nazem Kadri has spent some time on the third line, so perhaps Bednar goes that direction, replacing him for Schwartz on the second line with Brock Nelson and Gabriel Landeskog.
Schwartz also has 58 career power play goals on his resumé, so I could see Bednar trying him out on special teams.
With the addition of Schwartz for the next three years, the Avalanche have $2,379,159 in cap space remaining. They also have three roster spots open (20/23), so any other moves would be inexpensive, since, well, they have to be. It makes sense to me if they bring back Joel Kiviranta as he’s done a nice job whenever he gets the opportunity to play.
The Avalanche are once again on a mission to reach and win the Stanley Cup. We’ll have to wait and see what other types of moves they make. Maybe they end up moving somebody else, though I honestly would’ve thought that would happen already along with the moves of Jack Drury and Nichushkin.
Stay tuned, Avs fans.
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