The Colorado Avalanche made a trade on Friday, hours before the 2025 NHL Draft kicks off. They sent Miles Wood and Charlie Coyle to the Columbus Blue Jackets for forward Gavin Brindley, a third-round pick in 2025, and a conditional second-round pick in 2027. Researching Brindley, one thing instantly stood out to me.
Brindley is just 5-foot-9, 168 pounds. That size isn’t at all common for an NHL player. It could be a concern if he wants to eventually enter the Avalanche’s lineup instead of the Colorado Eagles. However, we can’t automatically dismiss his potential just because of his size.
With the addition of Brindley, the Avalanche now have a new shortest player, if he ends up cracking the Avalanche’s lineup instead of the Eagles. If he ends up with the Eagles, then he’d fit right in with several other smaller-frame players.
However, a player’s lack of size is not always the end game for them. There are several small players in the NHL, most notably, off of memory, is Brad Marchand of the Florida Panthers. Marchand has managed to stick around the NHL for 16 seasons, putting up 420 goals and 556 assists. If anything Marchand’s success should be a motivator for Brindley, who, despite his size, was selected with the 34th overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft by Columbus.
Per scouting reports that I read, Brindley does some good things, like puck battles and physical play (in the words of The Hockey Writers’ scouting report). That’s something that could translate well at some point during his tenure with the Avalanche.
It remains to be seen if or when the Avalanche might want to call him up to the NHL, but my guess is that, at least for now, he won’t see NHL time unless injuries start to happen like they did throughout the 2024-25 season. Let’s hope that’s not the case, but it would be cool to see Brindley play for Colorado.
Brindley carries a $950k cap hit this season and then becomes a restricted free agent at the end of the year.