The Colorado Avalanche were active this week as far as their roster is concerned, when they traded defenseman Sam Girard and a draft pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins for defenseman Brett Kulak. Both players played for their new team on Wednesday.
With that being said, the Avalanche now have a little over $9 million in cap space they can use. Hot names linked to the Avs are Ryan O’Reilly and Nazem Kadri, but another name just recently got linked to Colorado.
According to Rick Dhaliwal of on CHEKTV in Vancouver, the Avalanche are a team who is linked to Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers.
Myers is an alternate captain for the Canucks. He unfortunately does not offer a lot of offense, which is something the Avs really like their defensemen to contribute to, but he has 65 hits and 91 blocked shots this season, which are two huge strengths that teams look for in a defenseman—especially a defenseman on a third-pairing.
His frame of 6’8” and 229 pounds would make him the biggest player in the lineup. He is three inches taller and one pound heavier than Brent Burns.
Why adding Tyler Myers would be smart for the Colorado Avalanche
Myers is a solid penalty killer, which would be beneficial to the Avalanche, who are already a top penalty kill team in the league this season. Perhaps the addition of Myers would allow the Avs to remove somebody of importance from the unit, lessening their time on ice for a late-season switch as we head closer to the postseason.
The addition of Myers would give the Avalanche some depth on the blue line. They are set with most of their depth on the blue line, but Myers could be a good fill-in if somebody goes down and a shift needs to take place. Adding Myers would also give the team the option of sitting somebody for a game or two if needed, for rest purposes—such as Burns.
Depth is such an important thing to have in the NHL, especially when playoff time comes. The Avs are in a tremendous position right now in terms of their roster and salary cap space, and adding Myers could be a move they make to maintain fresh bodies going forward.