Offseason Review: Colorado Avalanche

Now that the dust has settled on a wild NHL offseason, let's take a look at how each team did in regards to drafting and free-agent signings. Today, we'll look at the Colorado Avalanche.

This summer was less about which new players arrived in Colorado, and more about who stuck around. While the core pieces are still present, this is a very different Avs team than last season's President's Trophy. Gone are Philipp Grubauer, Matt Calvert, Joonas Donskoi, Ryan Graves, Brandon Saad, and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. Luckily it was not for nothing, as Colorado managed to hang on to some important pieces of their roster. Let's see how they handled their offseason.

Free Agency:

Two things were essential this summer: The Avs needed to lock up Cale Makar for as long as possible, and they needed to find a way to keep Gabriel Landeskog. The latter was in serious doubt until the night of free agency when GM Joe Sakic and his team captain managed to come to a long-term agreement that would keep Landeskog in Colorado through his prime years. Makar had been signed to a 6-year deal a few days earlier. It didn't come cheap, however, and the money spent on those two players meant Philipp Grubauer, the team's Vezina-finalist goaltender, moved on to Seattle, as did Joonas Donskoi as a casualty of the expansion draft. It also meant that valuable forwards like Brandon Saad left for better pay, but the Avalanche managed to keep the core together, and that was important.

To create some cap room, the Avs traded Ryan Graves to New Jersey for prospect Mikhail Maltsev and a 2nd-round pick. They also picked up Kurtis MacDermid from LA for a 4th-rounder. Then came the opening of the free-agency market. It's possible that Sakic tried to hang on to Grubauer, but lost the bidding war to Seattle as the day wore on. As the goalie market quickly began to dry up, the Avs had no choice but to make a desperation deal to bring in Darcy Kuemper from Arizona. The cost was high-end defensive prospect Connor Timmins, Colorado's 2022 1st-round pick, and a conditional 3rd-round pick in 2024. There were other teams in on Kuemper, but it's unlikely anyone offered up a package that good. The Avs got themselves a starting goalie, so many would argue it was worth it.

Colorado took a few days off, then went about finishing up their roster. Tyson Jost was signed to a bridge deal, and Ryan Murray, Darren Helm, Stefan Matteau, and Dylan Sikura were brought in on one year contracts. 

Grade: C+; The Avs were a bit too casual about this offseason, almost losing their captain in the process, and nearly winding up without a starting goaltender. They managed to recover, but it cost them a lot of assets to do so.

Draft:

The Avalanche were missing a lot of their later-round picks this year, and needed to capitalize on their higher draft picks to make up for it. Their first pick was consistent with that, taking Oscar Olausson at 28th overall. Olausson is a great skater and almost endlessly creative. He loves to rush the puck up ice and has the ability to constantly change his plan of attack. He bounced around between Swedish leagues this year, and his scoring needs some work, but he's a promising player with a lot of upside.

Next Colorado took defenceman Sean Behrens 61st overall, an extremely athletic and positionally gifted player. He wore the "A" for Team USA at the U18 World Juniors last winter, scoring a goal and 4 points in 5 games. At 92nd overall, the Avalanche picked Andrei Buyalsky, a 6'3" centreman hailing from Kazakhstan. A late bloomer and already 20 years old, Buyalsky played in the Kazakhstan league to start last season, then moved overseas to the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the USHL. In his first taste of international hockey, Buyalsky scored 15 goals and 32 points in 36 games. Not bad kid. 

Lastly, and a nice touch, in the 7th round at 220th overall, the Avalanche picked up Taylor Makar, the younger brother of their star defenceman Cale Makar.

Grade: B+; The Avs didn't have a ton to work with at the draft this year, but they still managed to secure some promising talent for the future. The addition of Makar's brother, however much of a development project he may be, was a nice addition to the pipeline.

Overall grade: B; The salary cap is finally starting to catch up with the Avalanche, and some players are falling through the cracks. With a bit more urgency, the Avs could have come away from this offseason looking better than they currently do, but a good draft crop helped calm the waters in Denver.

What do you think about Colorado's offseason this year?

Photo credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports