Colorado Avalanche
Deen’s Daily: Avalanche Go All-In; The Condor Returns; Dallas Officially Gets Rantanen — Deadline Recap
The Avs went all-in around the trade deadline. Who were their latest big additions? Also, a former champion returns home. Speaking of former champions, it took six weeks for Mikko Rantanen to sign a contract after getting traded. It’s just not with the team the Avs traded him to.
All that and more on this edition of Deen’s Daily — March 8.
Colorado Hockey Now
After acquiring Brock Nelson on Thursday, the Avs made another big move for more center depth on deadline day. They traded Casey Mittelstadt to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Charlie Coyle. There were other parts of the deal, which locks in another center with the Avs through the 2025-26 season.
Moments later, it was announced that Colorado was bringing one if its champions home. Long-time Avs defenseman and fan favorite Erik Johnson — the one they call The Condor — was acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers.
I’ll have a lot of reactions from the locker room in the coming days. But to get you started on what these deals mean, Colleen Flynn caught up with Devon Toews after Friday’s practice to discuss two of his old friends again becoming teammates. If you recall, Toews and Nelson were teammates on Long Island.
This one is behind the CHN+ paywall, but you can get 25% off an annual subscription by using promo code Deen10.
Rinkside with Aarif Deen Podcast
I’ve got three new episodes to share, one on each of Colorado’s trades in the hours leading up to Friday’s deadline.
No. 2 Center Brock Nelson | March 7, 2025
Charlie Coyle In, Casey Mittelstadt Out | March 7, 2025
Erik Johnson — The Condor Returns Home | March 7, 2025
Around The NHL
Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The Penguins were busy being sellers on Friday. First, trading Anthony Beauvillier to Washington, Then, Kyle Dubas changed his tune and traded Luke Schenn to Winnipeg. The Pens then shipped Cody Glass to New Jersey. Toย cap off the day, they acquired another defenseman from Toronto, who Dubas is familiar with.
Montreal Hockey Now: Habs general manager Kent Hughes discussed his trade deadline strategy, which included zero trades.
Philadelphia Hockey Now: The Flyers didn’t trade Rasmus Ristolainen after all. But they did offload three others. Andre Kuzmenko to Los Angeles, Scott Laughton to Toronto, and of course, EJ to Colorado.
New Jersey Hockey Now: The Devils didn’t get Brayden Schenn or Ryan O’Reilly. They didn’t acquire a big-name center. But they did trade for a depth forward from Seattle and signed Johnathan Kovacevic to a long-term extension. What does that mean for Simon Nemec’s future?
GM Tom Fitzgerald discussed the outcome of the deadline, saying his team kept coming in second with offers.
Detroit Hockey Now: The Red Wings traded depth forward Joe Veleno to bring back a goalie who has played for them in the past.
San Jose Hockey Now: The Sharks dealt Nico Sturm and Jake Walman while in Denver on Thursday. They then traded Luke Kunin to Columbus and, in a surprise move, sent Fabian Zetterlund to Ottawa.
Boston Hockey Now: The Bruins threw in the towel on their season. They sent Coyle to Colorado, before trading Brandon Carlo and Brad Marchand to division rivals.
Florida Hockey Now: It’s truly going to be bizarre to see Marchand with the Panthers.
Ottawa Hockey Now: Get to know Zetterlund, who shores up a top-six that also shook up another core piece.
Chicago Hockey Now: The Blackhawks didn’t trade Ryan Donato after all, but they did set themselves up for a huge summer.
Avalanche Game 69 at Toronto Maple Leafs: Lines, Notes & How To Watch
Deen’s Daily: Latest Manson Update; Eastern Conference Wildcard Race Heats Up
Avs’ Manson Could Miss a Significant Amount of Time
Deen’s Daily: An Upbeat Landeskog Joins Practice; Avs Goalie Depth; Florida Misses Ekblad
Gabriel Landeskog Joins First Practice With Avalanche — Still Not Taking Contact
10 Observations: Mackenzie Blackwood Is a Shootout Dud (+)
Could the Avalanche Have the Best Second Line in the NHL?
Digging Through the Numbers From the Avalancheโs Perfect Homestand
10 Observations: Sign Me Up For Seven Games of Avalanche vs Stars in April (+)
Avalanche Mailbag: Do the Avalanche Regret Trading Rantanen? Will Nelson Re-Sign? Is Bednar Still Underrated?
We gave up a lot, but also unloaded some passengers. I think we missed the chance to get an another marquee D man, but if we stay healthier than most, could find a seam. Some of these vets are one injury away from career over though.
I agree that the one hole the Avs didn’t fill was another d-man. Getting Johnson is fine, for an 8th d-man, but the team really needed to get someone who could be a regular, if someone gets hurt.
I understand bolstering the D wasn’t for a lack of trying. Reportedly they whiffed on a big deal earlier in the week for a package that would have included Frรฉdรฉric and Carlo
I understand that not every deal could be made, but getting just about any regular d-man would have been better than having Middleton be one of your d-men going into the playoffs.
Really? Not that I don’t believe you. I’m just curious as to who reported on that? Because I didn’t know that.
I don’t know his source but AJ Haefele with DNVR reported it. I know those guys can be goofy at times but AJ typically dishes opinions and not insider sourced info. Based on his history of not throwing stuff against the wall I gave it credibility that he had a source
I listen to DNVR & AJ is really the only reason to do so. Rudo never has anything but pretty bland opinions on things. And if I had anything positive to say about Avs PR hype man Eric LaCroix I would…but I don’t.
Even still, AJ despite following & covering the team for years doesn’t seem to have any sources. I recall him talking about the Avs getting Carlo & Frederick in a package. But it definitely came across as more of his hopeful scenario.
He wasn’t pontificating on a podcast he Tweeted itcout like he had something. He’s not known for having sources but I actually do believe he has a connection in Boston. It was picked up by others and never refuted๐คทโโ๏ธ
https://www.bruinsinsider.com/nhl-team/boston-bruins/nhl-insider-publicly-leaks-failed-trade-between-the-boston-bruins-and-colorado-avalanche
That wouldโve been fantastic
D Macdonald is having a heck of a season for Eagles.
He has and surprisingly hasn’t been called up once. Not sure if the Avs see him in their playoff plans.
The result of a first-round elimination against the Stars or any other team will be the firing of Bednar. It’s unusual for a GM to make so many important moves during the season (9 players):
Goalkeeper #1: Blackwood
Goalkeeper #2: Wedgewood
Elite Forward: Necas
2C: Nelson
3C: Coyle
4C: Drury
Depth Forward: Vesey
4th-5th Defenseman: Lindgren
Depth Defenseman: Johnson
A lot of the pressure is on Bednar.
I disagree. Not that there isn’t pressure on Bednar to have a deep playoff run. There essentially is every year with this team. It’s quite clear he’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Regardless of how this season ends. Just look at the presser from earlier in the week where CMac was gushing over Bednar. MacFarland (and it’s not criticism it’s just fact). Is the one went in big time on this year. If the Avs have a deep playoff run & re – sign Nelson things look relatively good going forward. If they get bounced in the first or second… Read more »
By being unable to fire his coach who is not doing the job, MacFarland is putting his own job at risk. The facts will be there with 4 eliminations against coach Peter Deboer (with 3 different teams) in the last 6 playoffs. Next year, the Stars will still have a great team and Peter Deboer will be their coach again.
The change of coach can be an improvement for the team. MacFarland has already traded to acquire 9 new players since last December. The GM cannot change all the players on a team. At some point, a GM has to face the facts and change coaches when things don’t work out. At this point, it’s only natural for MacFarland to show complete confidence in his coach. But if his team is eliminated in the first round, MacFarland will have no choice but to reconsider. Imagine what position that would put MacFarland in if the Avalanche lost to the Stars and… Read more »
I don’t see how Bednar gets all the blame for CMac’s trades/transactions. First of all, the acquisition of Blackwood, Wedgewood and Necas are superb deals, IMHO. Agreed on Nelson & Lindgren as they are UFA’s at the end of the year. Coyle’s contract is good through next year. So – we’ll see how the playoffs go and hopefully sign Nelson & Lindgren while extending Coyle. All dependent on how well they play, too. And yes, the price was expensive. Look – – CMac swung for the fences and he’s going to get criticized no matter what he does. You might… Read more »
Even though he paid a high price, I consider that MacFarland has done the job this year by correcting most of the problems. The Avalanche have arguably their best version of the team since the last Stanley Cup win in 2022. If Bednar fails with a team like this, he must go.
Mikko Rantanen
Casey Mittelstadt
Oliver Kylington
Nikolai Kovalenko
Juuso Parssinen
Calvin de Haan
Alexandar Georgiev
Justus Annunen
Calum Ritchie
William Zellers
Givani Smith
1st round pick in 2026 or 2027
2nd round pick in 2025
2nd round pick in 2026
Conditional 3rd round pick in 2028
4th round pick in 2025
5th round pick in 2025
6th round pick in 2025
I get it, it’s a lot to give up. But it’s not like the Avs were drastically overpaying, everyone was overpaying with it being a seller’s market. 95% of the hypothetical trades the last two weeks wouldn’t have moved the dial with anyone, they were just too light. You want to get better and be better situated than your competitors, you pay more than what they would have. It’s how the trade market works.
We could also add the 1st round pick of 2025 lost by getting rid of Ryan Johansen’s contract.
Yeah.. nobody has been a bigger critic of MacFarland than me. But I like to be objective. They are without question a better hockey team than they were 48 hrs ago. The prism of how this is all viewed as I see it is predicated first & foremost on, how deep the Avs go in the playoffs. Obviously they win a cup nobody cares about the picks or Ritchie. Necas vs Rantanen. If Rantanen goes to Dallas thoroughly outplays Necas in the postseason & even worse the Stars beat the Avs AGAIN. I don’t care how anybody tries to rationalize… Read more »
This season, Necas (1 point/game) has done twice as well as Rantanen (0.5 points/game) in Rob Brind’Amour’s system without Mackinnon/Makar. Your assessment of Rantanen’s performance is biased by the fact that he was playing with Mackinnon and Makar. The counter is now starting from zero for Rantanen. Your prediction is clear: you predict that Rantanen’s production will be maintained in the playoffs over the next few years. My prediction is there will be a significant drop in Rantanen’s production (at least 20%) in the playoffs in the next 3 years combined (for a representative sample). Last year, Necas had… Read more »
Time will tell I suppose. But using Rantanen’s 13 games in Carolina as a barometer for anything is silly. I didn’t say Necas can’t perform well in the postseason. But that he had to do it. You conviently cherry picked his 9 pts in 11 games last year while leaving out his previous postseason performances where he was a ghost. And with Rantanen. The guy had 100 plus pts in 81 career playoff games. So there’s zero reason to doubt that wouldn’t have continued if he were still here. Playing next to Hintz & Robertson I don’t think he’s going… Read more »
When you lay it out like that Moose, Ritchie, and 1st round are all Iโm really missing.
Would you trade a 23-year-old Stanley Cup-winning defenseman (TOI: 23:04, Differential: +3) for a 33-year-old 3C?
Bowen Byram + William Zellers + 2nd round pick 2025
Vs
Charlie Coyle + 5th round pick 2026
The result of the races is that Mittelstadt’s value seemed very low. It’s as if the Avalanche paid Boston to get rid of his salary.
It’s all part of the evaluation of MacFarland’s work.
No but he could’ve just paid Kadri (the equivalent of what they’re going to have to pay Nelson if not more to try & keep him). Without having given up a million assets in the interim trying to replace him. Bo, a 1st, Ritchie & more.
And for all the people that defended him letting Compher go. Because 5 million was too much. He just traded for a guy to fill that same role. Who’s 3 years older & makes half a million more lol.
But yes..all part of his master plan.
And, yes.
However, letting Compher go was fine.
He’s not a 2C, but the Wings paid him like one.
(Ask them how they feel about that signing a few yrs in)
So, Kadri – yes (with better backend contract protections). Compher, no (at the $ he got paid).
And I would much rather have Coyle lining up for us vs. Compher.
(Now waiting for the last remnants of Newhook supporters to tell us what a loss he was ๐
I agree that Coyle is a bit better than Compher. But no matter how you look at it they didn’t think it wise to pay a 3C 5 million a year. And now they gave up assets to get one who makes more than that. It’s a bit illogical. Unless they just think that highly of Coyle. I was always a big JT fan. Yes his last year he was asked to do too much. But he still put up 52 pts. Which is better production than Casey was on pace for lol. And I think he was undervalued by… Read more »
I don’t think Compher was underestimated by the Avalanche. Bednar loved Compher and used him in all kinds of ways. The salary cap hasn’t gone up much in the last few years and that hurts the team a lot. We were desperate to save money. Compher wasn’t considered a 2C and 5M for a 3C was definitely overpaid for a team like the Avalanche. We then turned to RJ at 4M, which saved 1M for a supposed 2C. A big mistake because at that time, RJ was not even of NHL caliber anymore. Duchene was available but we were not… Read more »
Dude after the cup it was between nuke and kadri and nuke is younger.
They didn’t have the cap to sign everyone.
It really wasn’t. They could’ve traded Girard & used his cap space to sign Naz. Yes Girard would’ve been a tough loss.
But as we’ve seen it’s much easier to find a fringe top 4 D. Than it is a bona fide 2C. Who played with an edge. And came up huge in big games. Plus they went into that season with 2 – 3 million in unused cap space. Because that was when they signed E – Rod in like Sept/Oct
That particular 23 YO Dman?
Yes.
Fun fact: four of the top six on opening night have been traded (Rantanen, Mittelstadt, Ritchie, and Kovalenko), as well as both goalies. Obviously the goalie battery we have now has been a huge upgrade over the opening night pair, while Ritchie and Kovy were both filling top six roles due to the absences of Nichushkin and Lehkonen. Still, pretty drastic change. Opening night roster: Drouin – MacKinnon – Rantanen Kovalenko – Mittelstadt – Ritchie Wood – Colton – O’Connor Kiviranta – Kelly – Ivan Toews – Makar Girard – Manson de Haan – Malinski Georgiev Annunen Tonight’s likely roster:… Read more »
The avs should play vesey on 3rd line.
This is probably to avoid having too many new players in the lineup at the same time and to give them more time to assimilate the system of play.
We may have reached the stage of having to change the name of the team. I propose: Chameleons
Can’t – Pierre trademarked that one a few decades back …
Panthers have reached a new level of scary.
Loud stick tap for MacFarland, who addressed weaknesses smartly and aggressively. Now this team is no worse than the co-favorite to get out of the West in the playoffs. If Blackwood is up to snuff, consider it done.