The uncertainty of Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin's returns make this offseason a difficult numbers game for GM Chris MacFarland and hockey operations president Joe Sakic. The Avalanche have nine unrestricted free agents , one restricted free agent and three crucial players who become UFAs after next season.
UFAs
- Jonathan Drouin
- Yakov Trenin
- Brandon Duhaime
- Joel Kiviranta
- Sean Walker
- Jack Johnson
- Caleb Jones
- Andrew Cogliano
- Zach Parise
RFA
Casey Mittelstadt
2025 UFAs
Mikko Rantanen
Alexandar Georgiev
Logan O'Connor
"The salary cap is a significant challenge for us, and we've got things we're going to have to navigate. No different than years past. Obviously, the Val (Nichushkin) wrench is something that you're not counting on, right? Like injuries happen and every team deals with that. We have another one, and does that impact things that potentially you want to try and do over the next few weeks? Very well may. But that's our job is to try and find workaround solutions or workable solutions. But we still have Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar and Mikko Rantanen, Devon Toews, and that's a pretty good launch point for any season."
Related: 'Massive piece of our on-ice puzzle': How the loss of Valeri Nichushkin impacts the Avalanche
Head coach Jared Bednar plays a part in the makeup of the team, but the budget is on Colorado's front office. The organization is in a more difficult position not knowing if Landeskog will return and come off long term injury reserve, which would add $7 million back to the salary cap. Nichushkin is suspended for at least six months without pay but his $6.125 million salary will remain a piece of the team cap.
"You hate having that uncertainty because it makes harder to plan. For management, for Chris (MacFarland) and Joe (Sakic) like, how do you plan? They'll get clear on those guys’ situations as best they can and then form a plan and go from there. You're hoping for answers and clarity so then you can build your team around that," Bednar said. "But it's obviously a couple of guys that have a significant cap hit. I don't know where all that goes this summer and how quickly they can get it sorted out for July 1 or after that. That's a challenge. It's a big challenge."
While Avs management will be busy trying to keep a Stanley Cup-contending team in tact, MacFarland said he and Sakic do not directly involve his team's leaders with those decisions but consults them on a lot of Avalanche-related issues.
"I've always said that we've got guys that are dialed in. We've got tremendous accountability. It would be crazy for us not to tap into that, whether it's asking about things that they feel we can do better on and off the ice ... ," MacFarland said. "These guys, they're in the battle together. They're there from September on, and for many of them, for years at a time, right? And it would be unfair to them to necessarily put them in that spot. So I think Joe and myself and our staff have to make some tough decisions at times, but in terms of leaning on them or having a chit chat or coffee in the morning, I think it's something we routinely do on a lot of things Avs hockey related."
MacFarland said it is important for the club to gather information in the next few weeks. Advantageous scenarios could present themselves to fill pieces of the team's puzzle.
Avalanche management are attending the 2024 NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo, New York this week to research young talent to improve the team. The NHL Entry Draft is June 28 in Las Vegas and the Avalanche have one first-round pick. They also have one fourth-round and sixth-round picks, and two each for the fifth and seventh rounds.
Other Colorado Avalanche news
Avalanche's Sean Walker linked to 5 teams
Former Avalanche forward could make NHL history
Zach Parise says time with Avalanche was 'amazing'
Local Denver, CO
Most Popular
Comments / 0