The Colorado Avalanche Still Want To Make Another Trade

The Colorado Avalanche shocked the hockey world on Friday night, making a blockbuster trade with the Carolina Hurricanes, using the Chicago Blackhawks to broker salary retention. Colorado traded Mikko Rantanen to Carolina, receiving Martin Necas and Jack Drury as part of the full package. Read here.

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The Avalanche have been an active team this season. Avalanche General Manager Chris MacFarland revamped his goaltending. He moved out Justus Annunen and Alexandar Georgiev while bringing in Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood. Even with the goaltending upgrades, the Avalanche felt they needed to be a deeper team. Avs GM Chris MacFarland told the media, “It’s clear, we’re not deep enough.” “You’ve got to be deep to go four rounds.”

That was a big reason Mikko Rantanen was traded. Instead of signing and ruining their cap structure in the subsequent years, they moved him out to create cap space to potentially add more players either heading into the Four Nations Faceoff or at the March 7th Trade Deadline.

Avalanche Need a Second-Line Center

Colorado has been looking to fill the second-line center role. Ever since Nazem Kadri left for the Calgary Flames and Gabriel Landeskog was out of the lineup after knee surgery with no set date to return, the Avalanche wanted to fill that position.

Colorado has been happy with Casey Mittelstadt, whom they acquired from the Buffalo Sabres last year for Bowen Byram. But his game has slipped, and the Avalanche are in win-now mode and want to win a Stanley Cup.

So, the big question is what is next for the Colorado Avalanche. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was on NHL Network and stated the Avalanche, as there were reports they were not finished.

“I think for Colorado, they aren’t done yet. They have a little bit of room. They have a little bit of flexibility. And I think they will continue to look at especially forwards and centers that they can add to their roster,” Friedman said. He added:

“They clearly haven’t been happy with the Casey Mittelstadt fit so far. And I think they will continue to look at the market players like Brock Nelson. I think would be on their radar to see if they can acquire him. I don’t expect the Avalanche to be done at all.”

Who Will the Avalanche Target in Trade?

As previously mentioned, the Avalanche are waiting for Gabriel Landeskog. However, it is most likely they will put him on LTIR and use that money to add a player to the roster. The New York Islander and Brock Nelson could be a long shot because of how their GM operates.

The Islanders will never be out of things for Lou Lamoriello, but there are other players out there, too. Could they throw their name into the ring for J.T. Miller? We know it is not Sidney Crosby from the Pittsburgh Penguins, but that does not mean the Avalanche are not looking for a second-line center.

So the expectation is that the Colorado Avalanche is not done making moves, and activity continues to heat up ahead of the Four Nations.

Next: NHL Trade Talk Morning Roundup: Canadiens, Flames & Canucks