Colorado Avalanche lose defenseman to Carolina Hurricanes

The Colorado Avalanche will be without one of their solid defensemen next season, as Sean Walker has signed a five-year, $18 million contract with the Carolina Hurricanes ($3.6 million AAV).

Due to the Avalanche's current cap situation, the expectation was that Walker would leave through free agency. Now, that has officially come to fruition, and the right-shot defenseman will look to make a big impact for the Hurricanes from here.

The Hurricanes adding Walker makes complete sense, as they lost fellow right-shot defenseman Brett Pesce to the New Jersey Devils in free agency. Now, they have added Walker to help replace him in their top four. In addition, Walker should see time on both of their special-team units because of his two-way play.

Walker appeared in 18 regular-season games for the Avalanche this past season, recording four games and seven points. During the playoffs, he was held without a point and sported a minus-5 rating in 11 games.