How the 2021-2022 Avalanche Were Built
Among players to appear in at least one playoff game for the 2022 Avalanche, six of them were drafted by the club: Landeskog, MacKinnon, Makar, Rantanen, Bowen Byram (No. 4 overall in 2019), and Alex Newhook (No. 16 overall in 2019). But while those were the only players who were drafted on that roster, the Avalanche used the Draft in other ways to build a champion.
Feb. 19, 2011: The Avalanche traded Kevin Shattenkirk, whom they selected 14th overall in the 2007 Draft, Chris Stewart, whom they selected 18th overall in the 2006 Draft, and a 2011 second-round pick to the St. Louis Blues for a package that included Erik Johnson. Johnson was a key leader on the team, wearing an ‘A’ on his sweater as an alternate captain for six seasons, including 2021-22.
June 26, 2015: The Avalanche traded Ryan O’Reilly, whom they drafted 33rd overall in 2009, and Jamie McGinn to the Buffalo Sabres for a package that included J.T. Compher, who scored three goals and eight points in 20 playoff games in 2022.
Nov. 5, 2017: The Avalanche traded Matt Duchene, whom they drafted third overall in 2009, to the Ottawa Senators as part of a three-team deal with the Nashville Predators that saw the Avalanche acquire a package from the Predators that included Samuel Girard and a package from the Senators that included a 2019 first-round pick. The Avalanche used that pick to select Byram, who posted nine assists and played 19:22 a game during the playoffs while Girard posted three points (1g/2a) in seven games before suffering an injury. With the Avalanche, Girard has posted 196 points (30g/166a) in 470 regular-season contests along with 25 points (2g/23a) in 60 playoff games.
June 28, 2019: The Avalanche traded a package including their second-round pick in 2020 to the Washington Capitals for Andre Burakovsky, who scored the overtime-winning goal in Game One of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final.
July 1, 2019: The Avalanche traded a package including Tyson Barrie, whom they drafted 64th overall in 2009, to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a package including Nazem Kadri. Kadri was instrumental for the Avalanche, posting 15 points (7g/8a) in 16 playoff games and scoring the overtime-winning goal in Game Four of the Stanley Cup Final.
Oct. 12, 2020: The Avalanche traded their second-round picks in 2021 and 2022 to the New York Islanders for defenseman Devon Toews, who was an instrumental piece of the 2022 Stanley Cup team and has formed one of the league’s top defensive pairings with Makar. During his time with the Avalanche, Toews has scored 188 points (41g/147a) in 281 regular-season games in addition to 36 points (8g/28a) in 47 playoff games.
July 28, 2021: The Avalanche traded Conor Timmins, whom they selected 32nd overall in 2017, a first-round pick in 2022, and a third-round pick in 2024 for Darcy Kuemper. In 16 playoff games, Kuemper went 10-4-0 with a .902 save percentage and a 2.57 goals-against average.
March 14, 2022: The Avalanche traded Drew Helleson, whom they drafted 47th overall in 2019, and a second-round pick in 2023 to the Anaheim Ducks for Josh Manson, who posted eight points (3g/5a) and logged 17:11 of time on ice per game in the playoffs. Since the start of the 2022-23 season, Manson has played in 103 regular-season games and 16 playoff games.
March 15, 2022: The Avalanche traded Tyson Jost, whom they selected 10th overall in 2016, for Nico Sturm, who posted two assists in 13 playoff games.
March 21, 2022: The Avalanche traded Justin Barron, whom they drafted 25th overall in 2020, and a second-round pick in 2024 to the Montreal Canadiens for Artturi Lehkonen, who scored 14 points (8g/6a) in the 2022 playoffs. Over the last two seasons, Lehkonen has scored 85 points (37g/48a) in 109 regular-season games for Colorado in addition to 17 points (9g/8a) in 18 playoff games.
March 21, 2022: The Avalanche traded a fifth-round pick in 2024 to the San Jose Sharks for Andrew Cogliano, who scored six points (3g/3a) in 16 playoff games.
Looking Ahead To 2024-25
On their quest for their next Stanley Cup, the Avalanche used the Draft to make several trades for players who are still on the roster.
July 7, 2022: The Avalanche traded a third-round pick in 2022, a fifth-round pick in 2022, and a third-round pick in 2023 to the New York Rangers for Alexandar Georgiev, who has led the NHL in wins each of the last two seasons.
June 27, 2023: The Avalanche traded Newhook, the 16th pick in the 2019 Draft, to the Montreal Canadiens for the 31st and 37th overall picks in the 2023 Draft along with Gianni Fairbrother.
June 28, 2023: The Avalanche traded the 37th overall pick that they received from Montreal to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Ross Colton, who scored 40 points (17g/23a) in 80 regular-season games in addition to four points (1g/3a) in 11 playoff games in his first season in Colorado.
March 6, 2024: The Avalanche traded Byram, the fourth overall pick in the 2019 Draft, to the Buffalo Sabres for Casey Mittelstadt, who scored 10 points (4g/6a) in 18 regular-season games and nine points (3g/6a) in 11 playoff games with Colorado. On June 25, 2024, Mittelstadt signed a three-year contract extension with the Avalanche.
With the 2024 NHL Draft on Friday and Saturday, the Avalanche will look to use this Draft, like the others in the past, to help them on their quest for the Stanley Cup.
