The Colorado Avalanche made a late morning-early afternoon trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, sending defenseman Ilya Solovyov to Pittsburgh for winger Valtteri Puustinen and a seventh-round draft pick.
Solovyov played in 16 games for the Avalanche this season, but was only able to record one goal and and two assists. He played three games with the Avs’ AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles, and had no points.
Puustinen has both AHL and NHL experience, playing in one game for the Penguins in 2021-22, 52 games in 2023-24 and 13 in 2024-25. He has plenty of NHL experience, too, playing in 66 games for the Penguins and recorded seven goals and 17 assists.
Both players have the same exact cap hit, so this wasn’t some sort of salary cap move.
The Avalanche have dealt with several key injuries this season, so maybe that is a reason for this trade. Puustinen is a forward who can play in both wing spots, and while he might seem like a true AHL prospect, maybe the Avalanche feel confident that he can make some sort of difference at the higher level.
In early-December, Puustinen recorded a pair of goals in one game for the Penguins’ AHL squad, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
The move to trade Solovyov might indicate that Devon Toews is closer than expected, but that is just pure speculation at this point. While Solovyov wasn’t a top-pair defenseman, trading him away would mean that someone has to fill in at his spot, therefore the Avalanche would be shifting pairings around. It seems like good news, but that is to be determined.
Acquiring Puustinen might be an AHL move, but if that is the case, someone else on the Eagles roster could be called up and get an opportunity to play for the Avalanche. Colorado just had Alex Barré-Boulet (C/W) play on Monday. Perhaps someone like Jack Ahcan, Ivan Ivan, or Taylor Makar get another chance with the Avalanche.
With all that being said, good luck to Ilya Solovyov in Pittsburgh.