TRADE: 2C? Avalanche Acquire Ryan Johansen From Predators

As they typically do, the Colorado Avalanche eventually got their guy, acquiring a player they’ve always liked that nobody had on their radar.

And they got him for essentially nothing.

On Saturday morning, the team announced they had acquired center Ryan Johansen from the Nashville Predators in exchange for forward Alex Galchenyuk. After the trade was announced, it was confirmed that the Predators will retain 50% of Johansen’s contract, which brings his cap hit down to $4 million a year.

Predators are retaining 50 per cent of Johansen’s remaining two years https://t.co/8guGKrluY0

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 24, 2023

Galchenyuk was a pending unrestricted free agent, so when you look at it, the Avalanche acquired Johansen for essentially nothing.

Johansen will be coming off surgery from a skate blade cut on his leg. He suffered it in February and missed the rest of the regular season for Nashville, but recovery was expected after 12 weeks.

The 30 year old center is coming off a sub-par season in which he put up just 28 points in 55 games, but just one year prior, registered 63 points in 79 games.

Ryan Johansen, one year older, a stronger player in nearly every respect, especially defensively at 5v5 and as a finisher. pic.twitter.com/RVfM4I8mwD

— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) June 24, 2023

Is this their answer at second line center? The off-season is still young, so that remains to be seen, but it’s smart business by Chris MacFarland and company. As they typically do, they went out and acquired a player they like when their value is at its lowest. In doing so, they didn’t give up a single valuable asset. Tough to complain about anything, really.

We’ll dig into the trade a little bit more soon here at CHN with some deeper analysis, but the off-season fun has officially begun for the Avalanche.