NHL Rumors: 2 Colorado Avalanche Trade Candidates

The Colorado Avalanche are a powerhouse and should contend for the Stanley Cup this season. They are full of talent and should be one of the final teams standing this season. Unfortunately their captain Gabriel Landeskog recently went down to injury and is expected to miss the rest of the regular season after knee surgery. Look for the Avalanche to be busy trying to acquire some more help up front and these two roster players could be included in the deal:

Bowen Byram, LHD

The young defenseman has suffered a couple of scary head injuries so far in the early parts of his career and hasn't been able to consistently stay in the lineup. The Avalanche love Byram but also know they have a stacked blue line as it is and could use him as a hefty trade chip to get back a talented forward for their top six. Byram is still only 20 years old and has 37 career NHL games under his belt, accumulating 11 points. He's smooth-skating, willing to jump in the rush and underrated physically for someone who is only 6-foot and under 200 pounds. If Claude Giroux ends up in Colorado, expect to see Byram heading as part of the package to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Darcy Kuemper, Goaltender

The team recently signed backup netminder Pavel Francouz to a contract extension and some have questioned Kuemper's future with the franchise. The 31-year-old has been everything as advertised for the Avs since a trade with the Arizona Coyotes and yet all the insiders across the NHL think the Avs are in the market for goaltending. One name mentioned is Marc-Andre Fleury of the Chicago Blackhawks who has shown multiple times he's capable of performing on the game's biggest stage, so this trade buzz certainly hasn't gone away. Imagine having a 27-8-3 record on the season and your team still feels a need to improve at the position? That's apparently what's going in Colorado, so it will be interesting to see what direction general manager Joe Sakic decides to take leading up to the March 21 trade deadline.