Evan’s NHL Daily: Former Avalanche Player Traded, Manson Beats Down O’Brien

It took a trade demand to make it happen, but we finally have our first trade of the NHL season, and it involves a former Colorado Avalanche defenseman. Looking at the return, you can see just how valuable taking on a full cap hit is in a trade.

With the Colorado Avalanche, they fell in Arizona, but Josh Manson was the big winner in a fight in the third period, taking down former Avalanche forward Liam O’Brien.

All that and more in this Friday edition of Evan’s Daily.

Colorado Hockey Now

The team wasn’t so sure about Miles Wood‘s ability to kill penalties to start the year, but he’s earned that ice-time, and isn’t about to lose it. (+)

How important is versatility among the Colorado forward group? Huge.

The Avalanche fought to come back in the third period after going down early, but those pesky Coyotes kept coming, and were clearly the better team in overtime after a pretty even 60 minutes.

Josh Manson had to fight after a very clean hit halfway through the third period. Should he be forced to do that? I asked him after the game.

You can get a subscription to CHN+ for $29.99 a year with the code “evan10” and get access to the + content (like the Miles Wood piece) on every site in the network. In addition to the + content, everything will be ad-free.

Down Goes O’Brien

Fights in the NHL are pretty rare, and although I don’t think Josh Manson should have been forced to fight in this scenario, it worked out in Colorado’s favor. I also think he was pretty clearly the winner in this tilt. I think his last fight was against Jamie Benn last season, and we all know how that one went. Maybe don’t try to fight this guy?

Josh Manson vs. Liam O'Brien 🥊#GoAvsGo @TheRinkColorado pic.twitter.com/mRdIO0xC5g

— Ryan Sikes (@ryan_sikes10) December 1, 2023

NHL Trade News

We all knew Nikita Zadorov was getting traded eventually, and on Thursday, it finally happened. The surprising part? The return was…not a whole lot.

The Calgary Flames dealt Zadorov to the Vancouver Canucks for a 2024 fifth round pick and a 2026 third rounder. Yes, that’s it. The key part of the deal is that they didn’t have to retain anything against the NHL salary cap. For Vancouver, they get a solid defenseman to add to their lineup and didn’t have to give up much of anything to get him.

For Calgary, they get…very little. I don’t get why they wouldn’t offer to retain a little bit to maybe get a slightly better return. Those two draft picks are unlikely to become NHL players, and the highest pick isn’t until 2026. Even if they do make it to the NHL, it won’t be until 2030 at the earliest. What’s the point of that? Not very impressed with Craig Conroy’s first deal.

Zadorov will wear #91 in Vancouver, which is a fun number for a defenseman.

National Hockey Now

GOALIE GOAL ALERT. Tristan Jarry tried to score against the Avalanche a few times last year in a game, and on Thursday night, he finally got one, firing a laster into the empty net. It’s the first goalie goal in Pittsburgh Penguins history.

🚨 FIRST GOALIE GOAL IN @penguins HISTORY!

TRISTAN JARRY! pic.twitter.com/qNTHGBEGT2

— 105.9 The X (@1059thex) December 1, 2023

Tomas Hertl played just a few days after kidney stone surgery. Yeeesh.

John Tortorella benched another one on Thursday. This time, it was Joel Farabee.

The Montreal Canadiens lost, and in the process, appear to have lost Alex Newhook to injury.

The Nashville Predators have spoken with Nikolai Kovalenko’s teammate, who just so happens to be one of the more fun players in the KHL (+)