The free-agent market opened Tuesday, and like most of the other top teams in the NHL, the Colorado Avalanche opted out of the frenzy.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. The hit rate on July 1 contracts is historically poor, and thanks to a last-second rush of clubs retaining their own pending free agents, the market was thin.
Colorado does have cap flexibility, but patience was always an option. And it might turn out to be the right one.
The Avs did sign Parker Kelly to a four-year contract extension, but that doesn’t begin until the 2026-27 campaign. Colorado didn’t add anyone Tuesday who is likely to play regularly in the NHL this season, and the Avs did not retain any of their own free agents who hit the market.
Jonathan Drouin and Ryan Lindgren both moved on, signing reasonable contracts with new clubs. Given the space Colorado has available — $8.325 million in cap space with 10 forwards, five defensemen and two goalies signed to one-way contracts — both deals were a little too rich to leave the Avalanche enough room to fill out the rest of the roster with anything more than bargain bin options.
This July 1 was not as crazy as some from the past, but there were still plenty of head-scratching contracts handed out, and most of them by teams that were not Stanley Cup contenders in April. Just take a spin through the top of the NHL. There wasn’t a lot of activity.
Clubs trying to break into contender status did plenty, but many look like they’ve just rearranged some deck chairs or made slight improvements at best.
The Edmonton Oilers spent a lot of money to retain Evan Bouchard and Trent Frederic, while losing Corey Perry, Evander Kane, Connor Brown, Viktor Arvidsson and John Klingberg and adding no one of significance. They still have the same goaltending tandem. Are the Oilers better?
Dallas did some nice business to retain Matt Duchene, Jamie Benn and welcome back Radek Faksa, but the Stars also lost Mason Marchment, Mikael Granlund, Evgenii Dadonov and Cody Ceci. They also need to shed someone else, likely Matt Dumba or Ilya Lyubushkin, to duck under the cap ceiling. Are the Stars better?
Winnipeg is going to win a news conference by adding hometown kid Jonathan Toews, but how much he helps on the ice is uncertain. The Jets also added two guys for $1 million each, while sitting on more than $20 million in cap space. They also appear set to lose Nikolaj Ehlers. Are the Jets better? A better question from their fans might be: Why aren’t they trying to be?
Vegas is the one contender in the West that made a splashy move. The Golden Knights signed Mitch Marner to an eight-year, $96 million contract. Like Mikko Rantanen with the Stars, he took less than he could have. But, Vegas also lost Nicolas Roy, Nicolas Hague and, most importantly, No. 1 defenseman Alex Pietrangelo is out for this season and maybe beyond because of injury. Are the Golden Knights better?
Los Angeles was very active, adding Perry and Joel Armia up front and Ceci, plus Brian Dumoulin on defense. The Kings also lost Vladislav Gavrikov and Jordan Spence from the blue line, which is certainly older but not better today than it was a week ago. Are the Kings better?
What about the teams trying to climb into contender status in the West? Minnesota began the offseason with lots of cap space, and the Wild’s big additions so far are … Vladimir Tarasenko and Nico Sturm. And Marco Rossi’s future with the Wild remains uncertain.
Vancouver added Kane and retained three of its key players, but also looks set to lose Pius Suter. Calgary and St. Louis weren’t very active and look about the same.
Who got better in the West over the past week or so? Utah, probably. Anaheim, maybe. But not so much that either should be expected to leap up into the group of contenders, either.
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But the top of the West looks eerily similar today as it did three months ago. Everyone is chasing Florida in the Eastern Conference. The top 4-5 teams in the West are tightly bunched together, all with some questions to answer around the edges.
It was a pretty quiet day for the hockey team in Denver, but that’s probably OK. It was in Edmonton, Dallas and Winnipeg, too. It wasn’t a quiet day in Los Angeles, which might turn out to be not OK.
It’s very hard to win the Stanley Cup on July 1, but it’s a lot easier to make moves that help lose it.
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