Lightning trade Ross Colton to Colorado
Ross Colton appears to be a cap casualty. The RFA will now be shipped from the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for the 37th pick in tonight’s NHL Draft, which they got after trading Alex Newhook to the Canadiens. Elliotte Friedman confirmed the deal between the two 2022 Stanley Cup finalists Wednesday.
Hearing Ross Colton will be traded from TB to Colorado
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 28, 2023
At 26, this is only the beginning for Colton. His physicality played a big role in his jump to the NHL during the 2020-2021 season. However, he also had a scoring touch, putting up 22 goals and 39 points in 2021-2022 in a middle-six role. While a deal must be found with the Avalanche, this appears to be a good pickup for the 2022 champs.
Wheeling and Dealing
The Avalanche have been very busy the forward market so far. Chris MacFarland has not stood pat after their first-round loss to the Kraken in the playoffs. Reinforcements have been needed considering captain Gabe Landeskog will miss all of next season. Along with Colton, the Avs have also picked up Ryan Johansen from the Predators for essentially nothing.
Including Landeskog’s money on LTIR, Colorado has just over $15.5 million in cap space. They will need to use every single penny of it considering they have only six forwards and five defensemen under contract for next season. Don’t be at all surprised if Sakic keeps making moves heading into tonight’s draft.
The Avs are in the unique position of having world-class players in important positions. Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen are as good a 1-2 punch as any in the league. Cale Makar has a shot at being the best defenseman in hockey for the next decade. They have invested wisely in the net with Alex Georgiev. Now is just a matter of finding the right depth pieces for the right price in order to run it back.
Once again, the Avalanche made another sneaky addition. Ross Colton will add some sandpaper and scoring to their lineup. I would also wager that they are far from done, as former center JT Compher will hit the open market as a free agent:
Hearing that J.T. Compher will go to market July 1. The #Avs are almost certainly moving on from the center, who has been with the team since the 2016-17 season.
— Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) June 28, 2023
