Predators Trade Ryan Johansen To Avalanche

Predators Trade Ryan Johansen To Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche found their second line center and didn’t give up anything to go get him. The Nashville Predators have traded Ryan Johansen to the Avs. Nashville is retaining 50% of Johansen’s salary and will receive Alex Galchenyuk in return. Colorado has officially made their splash of the offseason.

Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff was the first to report the news:

#preds have traded Ryan Johansen to #Avs and retained 50 percent of his salary in exchange for rights to Alex Galchenyuk.

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) June 24, 2023

New general manager Barry Trotz also released a statement on the news of the trade:

“On behalf of the Predators organization, we want to thank Ryan for his contributions to our team and community over the last seven-plus years,” Trotz said. “He played a large role in our franchise’s accomplishments since arriving in January 2016, helping lead us to the 2017 Stanley Cup Final, the 2018 Presidents’ Trophy, back-to-back Central Division titles in 2018 and 2019 and several postseason appearances. Ryan also dedicated a considerable amount of time to the Predators Foundation and helped us grow the game in Middle Tennessee, including his work with youth hockey in our community. We wish Ryan all the best in Colorado.”

What makes this trade so funny is the fact that Nashville literally got nothing in return. Galchenyuk, 29, will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. For the Preds, this move was all about clearing salary. Johansen carries an AAV of $8 million. That number is essentially being cut in half and Nashville will carry $4 million in dead cap for the next two years.

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For Colorado, this gives them the second line center they needed. Nazem Kadri was never properly replaced a year ago. The hope is that Johansen can be that guy on a very manageable cap hit. The Avs also gave up nothing to get him so there isn’t a ton of risk here. Colorado, of course, has extra money to play with given the status of Gabriel Landeskog.