It is the start of trade deadline season and discourse always centers around which players an organization can hope to buy but never about what they can give up. With the Colorado Avalanche looking for finishing pieces on their upcoming Stanley Cup run, they’ll certainly be adding players over the next month, but what can they realistically afford to part with?
The organization got the party started on January 20th by moving out one of our targeted trade chips in depth defenseman Ilya Solovyov. Can the Avalanche sneak one more transaction in before the February 4th trade freeze? If so, one of the following five assets may be involved.
Five Trade Chips
Ross Colton
Upgrading the third line center position is something even Jared Bednar admitted is on his wish list. This isn’t going to be an easy task to accomplish with Colorado holding limited assets and cap space plus most of the NHL would love to add another center. That’s where Ross Colton comes into play as he is the likeliest candidate to move out if General Manager Chris MacFarland can find a dance partner. His $4 million Average Annual Value contract ends after the 2026-27 season with a 12 team no trade list, but those limitations should not be too prohibitive.
Colton is an experienced and versatile player with 20 points on the year but he just never found a great fit or consistency in the Avalanche lineup. Bednar does not like to keep him at center for any length of time and when he’s down the lineup Colton has a tough time producing. The 29-year-old went 11 games in December without a point and hasn’t scored a goal since November. Lately he was on the second line in Gabe Landeskog’s absence, before suffering a minor injury, which hints at a trade showcase. The Avalanche won’t just dump Colton without an impact return but adding anyone with significant salary or term beyond this year likely means he has to go the other way.
Ivan Ivan
Every organization has a plethora of prospects languishing in the AHL unable to graduate, however other GMs also find value in the validation that someone else’s prospect has seen a notable amount of time in the NHL. If the Avalanche have anyone that fits this description it’s Ivan Ivan with his 47 games of big league experience. The 23-year-old’s handful of random recalls in January isn’t a coincidence only supports the idea that he was called up for a trade showcase especially as he played for the Avalanche at center. The versatile forward is also a Restricted Free Agent this summer with arbitration rights and the circumstances are lining up to move Ivan before he’s due a raise.
Zakhar Bardakov
Similar to the Ivan Ivan situation, depth forward Zakhar Bardakov is also set to become a Restricted Free Agent with arbitration rights this summer. The 24-year-old has spent the vast majority of the season in the NHL with only one day and game spent in the AHL. Bardakov has been a useful depth piece for the Avalanche at fourth line center and wing but we’ve seen this movie before. Nikolai Kovalenko was moved to acquire Mackenzie Blackwood last season and without a likely commitment coming this summer, Bardakov is an easy player to move out for an upgrade even if the return isn’t substantial.
2027 Draft Picks
Surely the Avalanche see a real path toward the Stanley Cup this season and won’t be shy about utilizing the buy-now-pay-later plan. It depends on how far out into the future the Avalanche want to mortgage their assets and there’s little to offer from the 2026 draft other than a handful of 4th, 5th and 7th round picks. That’s where the 2027 draft comes into play for any impact move as the Avalanche still have their first round pick to go along with an extra 2nd and 5th rounder. If Chris MacFarland has to dip into the 2028 there’s the time value of money factor to keep in mind coiffure then the return on those picks will be deeply discounted, which is also why the 2027 picks are most likely in play.
Sam Malinski
This one is admittedly complicated. Malinski has taken a step forward as a valuable depth piece on the back end that has contributed meaningful production with three goals and 24 points from a third pair role. The issue is he is an Unrestricted Free Agent at the end of the season and the Avalanche missed the window to sign him to a reasonable extension instead choosing to execute just a one-year pact over the summer. The 27-year-old right handed defenseman wouldn’t get moved for a minimal futures in return, it would have to be a true upgrade and hopefully for someone with term beyond this season. It’s an unlikely deal to make happen, but it’s also not impossible.
Four Non-Trade Chips
Never say never because there’s few untouchables in the league let alone on a single team but the following players don’t make much sense to move out without a substantial upgrade in return.
Samuel Girard
The internet traded him five years ago but yet Samuel Girard is still in Colorado as one of the longest tenured Avalanche at this point. Another Stanley Cup run doesn’t feel right without him but the true issue with his potential availability is that Colorado needs all the defensive depth it can muster. Right now they are one injury away from replacement level defense and Girard can play in any pairing down the stretch. The questions about the 27-year-old’s future are fair since the left shot defenseman’s affordable $5 million AAV contract ends after the 2026-27 season but moving on from him without a significant upgrade in return doesn’t make sense. Girard has enjoyed a fairly productive season since an early season injury return with 11 points in 35 games.
Ilya Nabokov
A popular idea is to leverage Nabokov for win-now assets as the situation in net is set with both Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood under contract to Colorado through at least the 2026-27 season. That’s probably not what Nabokov had in mind when he signed his Entry Level Contract last year and it’s unclear what really the Avalanche plan to do with their young netminder who isn’t going to leave Russia to hang out in Loveland for long. The premise of moving Nabokov for help now isn’t faulty but the value just isn’t there on a goalie with zero North American experience, let alone any in the NHL. At this point Nabokov is worth more in the Avalanche system so they can figure out what he can provide before selling him to another organization who surely already has one or more of their own goalies in a similar situation.
Gavin Brindley
Championship teams need contributions from young cost-effective players and with Gavin Brindley’s recently signed dirt cheap two-year extension, Colorado would be wise to hold on to him. It remains to be seen what role awaits him after the Avalanche make their deadline trade acquisitions, therefore the 21-year-old’s value might become more evident long-term, but he’s also shown he can play higher in the lineup if needed. Hopefully MacFarland resists temptation to cash in on a bit of early success Brindley has enjoyed especially because any potential return isn’t moving the needle anyway.
AHL Players
Just like Ivan Ivan, every organization has their own replacement level players and without notable NHL experience there just isn’t value in a trade that could entice another organization to give up NHL level assets. The laundry list of such Colorado Eagles players includes Jason Polin, Chase Bradley, Tye Felhaber, Tristen Nielsen, Matt Stienburg, Nikita Prishchepov, and even the likes of Sean Behrens and Trent Miner. Colorado would be looking more for an AHL for AHL swap in their cases and therefore should not be Avalanche trade deadline candidates.