The Colorado Avalanche are likely done wheeling and dealing this offseason. That’s the sentiment that Elliotte Friedman floated in last Friday’s edition of the 32 Thoughts Podcast.
After signing Brock Nelson to a significant contract extension, the Avalanche like the way the team looks, Friedman noted.
Friedman pointed out that the Avalanche don’t really have much “business to take care of” beyond re-signing Nelson.
Moreover, Friedman noted that Jonathan Drouin and Ryan Lindgren will go to market on July 1. As such, there’s no telling if the Avalanche will ultimately re-sign them this offseason.
Friedman’s thoughts are highly interesting as we have all been up in arms about the Colorado Avalanche’s precarious cap situation. According to PuckPedia, the Avalanche have $1.2 million in cap space.
That situation has got me reaching for my stresstabs. But if Friedman is to be believed, and he should be, GM Chris MacFarland isn’t losing any sleep over it.
If Lindgren walks, his acquisition would have been a wash. A handful of regular season games and a seven in the postseason would be the balance on Lindgren’s tenure in Colorado.
Drouin would walk away following a relatively uneventful two seasons with the Avalanche. He had a solid season in 2023-24 but fell flat this season due to a number of injuries.
I can see the Avalanche moving on from both Drouin and Lindgren. However, what concerns me is the pieces lost in the Lindgren deal. The trade cost the Avalanche a second-round pick and Juuso Parssinen.
Parssinen re-signed in New York and could slide in as the Rangers’ fourth-line center next season. The other piece, Calvin de Haan, is a free agent. I suppose the Avalanche could recoup something if the team signed de Haan in free agency.
Ultimately, the Lindgren deal could be chalked up as one of those swing-and-miss deals all GMs make during their tenures.
Looking at Colorado Avalanche replacements for Drouin, Lindgren
So, if the Avalanche allow Drouin and Lindgren to leave, the big question would be: Who will replace both players?
I’ve pondered this situation and figured out the following.
Drouin was signed in the summer of 2023, one full year after Gabriel Landeskog went on LTIR. In a sense, Drouin was brought in as a replacement for Landeskog.
But now Landeskog, and his substantial cap hit, are back in the lineup. If the Avalanche resigned Drouin, he’d likely slide down to the third line. The first- and second-line left wings would go to Landeskog and Arturri Lehkonen.
Unless Drouin signed a league-minimum deal, he would be an expensive bottom-six forward.
As for Lindgren, he’s a left-shot defenseman. The Avs have three under contract: Devon Toews, Samuel Girard, and Keaton Middleton. Assuming Middleton is in the running for the seventh or eighth defenseman spot, that would leave a spot open on the third pair.
Would Lindgren, a $5 million-plus blue liner, be the best choice for the bottom pair?
Lindgren could be a replacement for Girard, but that seems doubtful at this point. The likeliest outcome could be a bottom-pairing of Sam Malinski on the right side with someone like Sean Behrens or John Ludvig getting a crack at the job.
It’s worth pointing out that the Avalanche played much of this past season without Drouin and Lindgren. Drouin missed half the year with injuries and Lindgren arrived at the trade deadline. So, fans shouldn’t be overly surprised to see both find new homes next season.
On a final note, I can see the Avalanche bringing back Erik Johnson for one more season, along with Joel Kiviranta and Jimmy Vesey on league-minimum deals. I could even see Vesey getting a PTO this fall unless there’s another team willing to take a chance on him.