3 Trade Targets for the Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche will look to go back-to-back this season as the Stanley Cup champs want to pour some more beers in the Cup and celebrate at season's end. This year will be a much tougher task with a new goaltender and without Nazem Kadri. The Avs will be busy trying to gear up for a long playoff run before the March 3 trade deadline and these three players will be targets of general manager Joe Sakic:

Ryan O'Reilly

The St Louis Blues captain will find himself on the trade market should the Blues keep struggling this season. O'Reilly knows the Avs very well and the fit would be seamless for both sides. He'd jump right into the team's number two center position and help balance out the team's top six. Hard to argue with adding a Conn Smythe trophy winner for the Stanley Cup Playoff push.

Jonathan Toews

Sakic is expected to go star hunting this spring and will be adding a significant player to the mix. While Jonathan Toews isn't the player he once was, his resume speaks for itself and he can play a shut-down role better than most around the league. Toews still has plenty of game and if motivated for another Stanley Cup run, his game could easily get taken up to the next level. The Avs would need the Blackhawks to retain 50% of Toews $10.5 million salary, but that's much the same for all teams around the league. Toews has also been linked to the Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets so far this season.

Sean Monahan

Once Montreal Canadiens center Sean Monahan gets healthy, expect to see the trade market heat up. He's enjoying a bounce-back season with the Habs and seems to have once again found his game. Monahan could easily slide in the Avalanche's second line and while he might not have as much of an impact on both sides of the puck as a Toews or O'Reilly, the Avs would be wise to add Monahan should they miss on the other two.