Avalanche News
Report: Avalanche Used Charlie Coyle to Solve Their Miles Wood Problem
The Avalanche weren’t going to trade Charlie Coyle unless they were absolutely blown away by an offer.
That was the message from the start of the offseason, as soon as teams started to call for Colorado’s veteran third-line center. Given the lack of options on the market, any team needing depth at the position was going to need to overpay for what would usually be the cost for someone of Coyle’s caliber.
Read More: Avalanche UFA Board: Bottom Six Depth Options Remain on The Market
But there was more to it.
NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman recently said on Sportsnet’s 32 Thoughts podcast that the Avalanche were leveraging Coyle to clear another contract off the books.
“The thing I heard about Coyle is that, Colorado made it very clear that if you were going to get him, you were probably going to have to take Miles Wood, too,” Friedman said. “Wood needed a change of scenery, it just didn’t work out in Colorado.
“Columbus could do that. That is one way that Columbus’ cap flexibility won the day for them. They got Coyle because they were willing to take Wood.”
Ultimately, in the span of three months, the Avalanche used Coyle’s value to rid themselves of two contracts that weren’t working out for them. Colorado got Coyle and a fifth-round draft pick from the Boston Bruins in a deal for Will Zellers, a second-round draft pick, and Casey Mittelstadt, who was on the first of a three-year deal paying him $5.75 million per season. Mittelstadt is already slotted in as the third-best center on Boston’s depth chart, behind Elias Lindholm and Pavel Zacha. There’s no saying if he’ll fit in on that team.
Was it an overpay? Sure, if you consider who Colorado gave up to get Mittelstadt in the first place. But selling off a mid-level prospect and a second-round draft pick was great to get off a player that wasn’t working for them, and eating a large portion of their cap.
Wood was in a similar situation. His first year with the Avs was fine, but last season was a mess. He’s now dealing with back issues and might never be the same player, at least not in Colorado. With four years remaining at $2.5 million per season, getting off of his deal without having to pay to do so, was something Chris MacFarland needed to do.
When you consider that Columbus gave up a prospect better than Zellers in Gavin Brindley, in addition to a second-round draft pick and a third-round draft pick, it’s a great deal for Coyle, who was slotted in as a third-line center. And it also meant moving on from Wood.
If you combine all the trades, the Avs basically swapped Zellers for Brindley, swapped second-round draft picks, and gained a third and fifth round pick to get off of Mittelstadt and Wood’s combined $8.25 million in cap space, and in the process they got Coyle for a playoff run that admittedly should’ve gone better than it did this past season.
It’s a tidy bit of business that finally gives Colorado cap flexibility for the first time since they won the Stanley Cup in 2022.
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Report: Avalanche Used Charlie Coyle to Solve Their Miles Wood Problem
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Another brilliant move by CMac, right Jeremy? Wait a minute. Wasn’t it CMac who offered such a long term contract to Miles Wood in the first place?
Now that Colton’s best buddy has been traded, maybe you fans (including Aarif) who have been wanting to trade Ross for a long, long time will get their wish.
Lmao
As soon as I read the title of the article, I also thought of Jeremy. On the topic of Colton, very few players in the NHL make $4M while not playing center, not being on the top two lines, and not being used on the penalty kill or the power play. I don’t consider the last 30 seconds of power play time to be meaningful enough to evaluate any player used in that situation, even if it gets counted in the stats. I like Colton, but not how he’s being used. Under the circumstances, Colton is too expensive and the… Read more »
For the record I think Colton is a really good 3rd line wing. But when you’re always up against the cap. A slightly overpaid 3rd line wing who doesn’t play special teams is an obvious trade candidate as you referenced. The issue is CMac being who he is. Thought he’d be slick & acquire him pay him 4 to play center. Even though he’s not a natural center. Dude should’ve just locked up Compher at 5. All these moves & traded assets to save a million towards the cap. So dumb. Mind you he did this when he still had… Read more »
MacDermid made 988K on his Avs deal following the Cup. Not nearly as high as you think.
But I get the point of what you’re saying but I also get what they were doing. Cmac and Joe had a lot of success with unlocking gems like Burakovsky, Toews, Lehkonen, Val, etc. They thought Ross Colton, who was stuck behind a loaded Tampa roster, could eventually have a higher ceiling than J.T. and it just never happened for him. It was a worthy gamble. It wasn’t simply about saving $1M on their 3C
Fair enough. But my point stands the guy was making essentially a million dollars to sit in the press box for 75 out of 82 games a year. And that experiment lasted roughly 3 years. I’ll never argue that their moves up until 22 were tremendous. But it can’t be a coincidence (as you’ve noted previously) that since Macfarland took over as GM there’s been a very noticeable decline in the roster decisions. I know Sakic is still involved, but to what degree? As for the Colton move. I honestly don’t know what the calculus was other than to squeeze… Read more »
Welp the ironic thing is he’s put himself in a position where he can’t trade Colton. Their bottom 6 is a mess. LOC might be back by Christmas. But the guy has had two hip procedures in the last 18 months. So how effective is he going to be whenever he comes back? I like Parker Kelly & Drury well enough. But they are hard 4th liners. With the depth chart as presently constructed, they are going to be playing on the 3rd line. Ivan Ivan isn’t an NHL regular in my opinion. And you have nothing in Loveland in… Read more »
I’m really glad the Avalanche acquired Burns. Even at 40 years old, he proved last season that he’s still a better defenseman than Manson. Burns never misses games and was logging over 20 minutes per game, both in the regular season and playoffs. He’ll no doubt be a great partner for Girard. After 10 games played, Burns will earn a $3M bonus, bringing his AAV to $4M. If he plays 70 games at 23 minutes per game, he’ll earn another $1M bonus, which would bring his AAV to $5M. Realistically, though, his cap hit will likely sit at $4M. I… Read more »
I would disagree that Burns is a better defenseman than Manson. More reliable absolutely. But defensively absolutely not. And they play completely different styles. Burns played an entire season averaging over 20 mins a night & recorded 11 hits! I don’t even know how that’s possible. They also didn’t need another right shot D. And if the idea is to play him in the top 4 & deal Manson at some point this summer…that’s an awful idea.
Manson can no longer handle top-4 minutes night after night. The number of games he’s missed in recent seasons is proof enough. He needs to be moved to the third pair to protect him. Expecting a fully physical, high-impact Manson to deliver big hits in a top-4 role over 82 games is wishful thinking, nothing more.
I’m not arguing that Manson is reliable enough to be counted on in the top 4. I think most of us thought they would make a fairly major move to get another top 4 level defender. Which in fairness they technically still could.
But the idea that Burns at 40 is reliable enough to be a top 4 guy night in & night out instead is pretty flimsy.
Burns will cost $4M, and there’s no way this acquisition was made with the intention of using him on the third pairing. He’s averaged well over 20 minutes per game in recent seasons with ease. A defenseman’s effectiveness isn’t measured by the number of hits he throws. And don’t you think Manson will need to constantly adjust his game by dialing back the number of hits he delivers? Burns has done it, and it would be in Manson’s best interest to do the same if he wants to extend his career. His injury history speaks for itself. If he doesn’t… Read more »
Burns, career wise, has been a point producer. 54 in 2022, 61 in 2023, 43 in 2024 and a drop off to 29 in 2025. Even in his worst year, that would be #3 in point production for the Avs “D.” He plays smart and uses his size more to gain control of the puck. A grizzled, old veteran, I know. As far as Manson goes – – keep him, play him sparingly and on ice (pun intended) until the playoffs.
I’d feel a lot better about this if I didn’t think seeing as how Bednar has a religious devotion to playing lefties on the left & righties on the right. That they are going to trade Manson to make room for Burns. Because otherwise if they’re healthy & start the year with a 3rd pair of Malinski & Burns & they shelter him a bit in terms of TOI. Then this could work ok. But Manson always gets hurt. So then it’s going to be EJ in 22 – 23 all over again. His last full year in Denver. Manson… Read more »
Im not sure this deal was a win for the Avs, unless you weren’t happy with Coyle’s AAV. Why not keep him or trade him for a D3/4? It seems to me they could have sent Wood and a late pick to some bottom feeder with a shit ton of cap space like Chicago or San Jose for future considerations. Those teams are looking for roster players. Unless Wood wouldn’t pass a physical? Another possibly better option would have been to buy him out with the rapidly increasing cap over the next few yrs.
Bingo. Thank you. Grier has already said they’re willing to take on bad contracts. So nobody is going to convince me they couldn’t package a pick. Or even a guy like Ivan with Wood to rid themselves of his contract.
Brent Burns, as a top-4 defenseman, brings more value than a 3C. The list of players who can play center for the Avalanche is fairly long: MacKinnon, Necas, Nelson, Drury, Bardakov, Kelly, and if the team is truly depleted… Colton. On the other hand, the list of defensemen who have proven they can reliably play in a top-4 role is much shorter: Toews, Makar, Girard, Burns and Manson could fill in if needed.
What does one have to do with the other? They traded Coyle for picks & a prospect. Burns was signed with the logic of it only costing them 1 million against the cap this year. They could’ve signed him & kept Coyle. Plus at 40 Burns isn’t a legitimate top 4 D on an aspiring cup contender. As for them having plenty of guys who can play center. Are you for real with some of those options? Kelly & Colton we’ve already seen are wings. And that’s where they play their best hockey. Drury is a 4C, he should stay… Read more »
Burns will cost $4M, not just $1M. He only needs 10 games to trigger $3M in bonuses. So acquiring Burns meant they had to clear cap space, case closed. Kelly has shown he can handle the 4C role. Drury is only 25 years old, and at that age, his production isn’t far off from Compher’s at the same stage. Drury has never had a negative plus-minus season in the NHL. It’s premature to claim he can’t fill the 3C role. As for Necas, a winger doesn’t play the same way as a center. Wingers can afford to cheat a little… Read more »
I’m not arguing with you about Necas anymore. I know how you feel about him, As you do I.
Burns has a cap hit of 1 million. The rest is deferred. Which (anybody can correct me if I’m mistaken) only counts against the cap this year if he triggers the bonuses & they have the free cap space. Which i think we all can agree if they have 3 – 4 million of unused cap post deadline. Something has gone very wrong.
The $3M bonus Burns will receive after 10 games can be deferred and counted against the 2026–2027 season instead of 2025–2026. But do you really think MacFarland would want to handicap his 2026–2027 cap by $3M just because he went over the cap in 2025–2026? Would you actually do that if you were GM? If a GM pulls that move and the team doesn’t make the Stanley Cup Final, that alone is grounds for dismissal, especially when you have a core with MacKinnon and Makar in their prime.
Hey Jeremy – – I have a new name for CMac. “BRUCE” – as in “One step forward, Two steps back.”
I still say there was something going on between Mac and Coyle. There was that one nasty, on ice exchange that I never heard any explanation for. But you basic premise is correct. You would think that the Avs could have dumped Wood to some other team and perhaps even take back some salary that would have made sense, cap wise. But again – – I think there were other factors involved which we’ll never know. I like Coyle’s game. Always have.
Ken pointed this out too. And there most definitely might be something to it. But if he asked to be moved why not just come out after the fact & mention that the other day if you’re Macfarland? It would put to bed all of this. Because right now he just looks like he made them worse with no concrete plan.
Another tidbit from the 32 Thoughts podcast: the Burns contract actually has $4m in performance bonuses, not $3m as originally reported. Elliotte clarified that the $3m are based on games played and the remaining $1m is most likely based on his average TOI per game.
Since Burns hasn’t missed a game in a decade, its safe to assume he’ll hit the $3m pretty easily.
Another master class in handing out free agent contracts by CMac! For a guy who is seemingly always looking to accrue & save cap space (Mikko, Coyle). He has no qualms about over paying guys (Colton, Wood & now Burns). Why are you doling out 4 million for a 40 year old?
The numbers show that at $4M per season, Burns is by no means overpaid. He’s consistently played top-4 minutes and is never injured. On the other hand, Manson is making $4.5M while playing only half the games that’s the equivalent of $9M over an 82-game season. If we’re talking about overpaid defensemen, it’s clearly Manson. Burns could be 60 years old and I wouldn’t care as long as he gets the job done on the ice. Burns has shown virtually no signs of slowing down despite being 40 years old.
To say he’s shown no signs of slowing down isn’t true. And at the end of the day he’s not bionic. The guy has played a TON of hockey & he’s 40. The fall is going to come soon.
Burns averaged around 21 minutes per game in the regular season and nearly 23 minutes per game in the playoffs over the last two seasons. On top of that, he played all 82 games each time. What more could you ask for? Meanwhile, Manson’s decline started quite some time ago.
Quote the Jeremy, “Nevermore.”
Anyone know what it would take to offer sheet Mctavish in anahiem, evans in seattle or mcbain in utah.
The Avs don’t have the picks so the most they can offer is $1.54 million. No go.
Evans is a future #1 defenseman and the Kraken are fully aware of it. I would trade Toews for him but again, Seattle knows his value. I would love him in Denver, but now your just making Sasha suggestions!
Thank you for the shout out
To be honest, Will Zellers have most potential than you think and in the future we will regret that we missed it in such a ridiculous deal
Couldn’t they just have told Miles that the rear tire on the team bus was low and to go have a look?
Lol…I mean technically that would’ve been one way to get his money off the books.
Just gonna point this out though. We gave up BYRAM for mittelstadt so you should include that in the loss of net assets/players to get to where we are now. So we essentially had Byram, Mittelstadt, Coyle, wood, prospect and picks go out to get back. A prospect and picks. Not exactly a “tidy bit of business.”
Good points. Outside of acquiring the other “Woods” (Black/Wedge) there doesn’t seem to be any coherent strategy to CMac’s moves. It’s kinda like, “O.K. – who is on the team now?” And then you try to figure out how these pieces are supposed to fit.
The Byram trade has to be, without a doubt, the best trade Buffalo has made in the last 15–20 years.
Might as well include the whole trade tree of Duchene to get the whole scope
No that was done under Sakic. All the trades and moves I listed were done directly by Cmac. He’s not making good decisions at all