Instead, Colorado focused on locking up its key restricted free agents, including forwards Andre Burakovsky and Valeri Nichushkin, signing each to a two-year contract Oct. 10, and defenseman Ryan Graves, who signed a three-year contract Oct. 12 after leading the NHL with a plus-40 rating last season.
"You just have to be really careful looking into the future," Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic said. "We know the contracts we have coming up (forward Gabriel Landeskog, goalie Philipp Grubauer), we wanted to make sure we were keeping our flexibility. Once we know the numbers there, we can put in the pieces from there. But it is, it's a different situation (because of the flat NHL salary cap of $81.5 million)."
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The Avalanche also acquired forward Brandon Saad and defenseman Dennis Gilbert in a trade from the Chicago Blackhawks for defensemen Nikita Zadorov and Anton Lindholm on Oct. 11. They then added defenseman Devon Toews in a trade from the New York Islanders for a second-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft and in the 2022 NHL Draft the following day.
Saad has scored at least 20 goals in five of the past six seasons, including 21 in 2019-20, but more importantly, he is a two-time Stanley Cup champion who will bring valuable playoff experience to the Avalanche, who fell short of expectations last season when they were eliminated by the Dallas Stars in seven games in the Western Conference Second Round.
To acquire Saad, Colorado gave up its biggest physical presence in Zadorov (6-foot-6, 235 pounds), who ranked seventh in the NHL among defensemen with 175 hits last season. However, with defenseman prospects Bowen Byram and Conor Timmins knocking on the door, it was a move Sakic could afford to make.
"You have to have depth to win. We've addressed that," Sakic said.
"We feel [Graves], he's a big guy (6-5, 220), he's a defender. We feel with him, Erik [Johnson], Ian [Cole], they give us a physical presence. Cale [Makar] can play a physical style too. You don't want him banging out there, but he's a strong kid. He won't shy away. We feel our defense is going to be fine."
Here is what the Avalanche look like today:
