When the Colorado Avalanche signed free agent forward Jaden Schwartz this offseason, two things stood out to me when analyzing his stats. First of all, he has been a decent scorer throughout his career. He has seven 20-plus goal seasons in his career. I initially figured that he could be an alright replacement for Valeri Nichushkin.
While in the grand scheme of it all 20 goals isn’t necessarily a ton, it is a good indication that the Avalanche locked up a consistent threat for the next three seasons. The thing, for me, is that two of those seasons came in the last four years. In a time when a player is in their mid-30’s, it’s not easy to score 20 goals in a season.
The Avalanche are betting high on Schwartz to fill into a hole left from the loss of Nichushkin, who was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets. While Schwartz isn’t filling into Nichushkin’s former spot, at least right now, somebody had to, so the spot that Schwartz eventually filled was open.
Colorado Avalanche took a risk on Jaden Schwartz
So, why was the signing of Schwartz such a risk for Colorado? It was a surprising move because they signed him to a three-year contract and are committing to him and believing in his ability to stay healthy throughout that timeframe.
He has played in 70 or more games in just six NHL seasons. Of a possible 1,230 games, Schwartz has played in 861 (70%). During the 2024-25 season with the Kraken, he played in 81 games.
The NHL is adapting to an 84-game schedule starting this upcoming season. It will be interesting to see if Schwartz can remain healthy, and whether or not head coach Jared Bednar decides to limit Schwartz’s minutes here and there to keep him fresh for as long as possible.
I believe that Schwartz can be a 20-goal scorer for the Avalanche if he can remain healthy and available. Bednar might not ask Schwartz to be what I am suggesting, but if he shows enough offensive power early on, I could see that changing. Bednar likes to change up his lines once in a while, and if Schwartz ends up moving up or down, we could see an increase in production.
At $3.25 million AAV over the next three seasons, Schwartz is not breaking the Avalanche’s bank. But in the NHL, even with an increased salary cap, every million counts. If Schwartz impresses and earns the trust of Bednar early on, this signing could be viewed as a steal, especially with a contract $2.875 million cheaper than the player (Nichushkin) who is no longer around.
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