Grading the Big Deadline Deals For The Avalanche
Chris MacFarland felt the stars on his Colorado Avalanche squad deserved to have him push his chips into the middle of the table, so he did exactly that last week, orchestrated four deals to load up his team heading into the playoffs.
They weren’t all small deals, either. The two big ones that took place on Wednesday last week could almost be considered one giant deal, because I don’t think one happens without the other. A few days later, MacFarland brought in a few more depth forwards, which makes a lot more sense
considering the news we got yesterday.
I waited a few days for this, mostly because the craziness of last week wore me out, but let’s dig into the deals and grade them.
Avalanche Trade Their 2025 1st Round Pick and Ryan Johansen to the Philadelphia Flyers for Sean Walker
The Avalanche simply don’t move Bowen Byram unless they have a deal in place for Sean Walker. If you’re going to move a top five defenseman and you intend to make a Stanley Cup run, you need to replace them immediately, so Chris MacFarland was thinking ahead here.
Sean Walker is exactly what the Avalanche need. He’s a right shot, and as the season goes on, I can see him taking PK minutes away from Cale Makar, which isn’t a bad thing. He’s also a fantastic skater, which we saw a few times in his first game. There also happens to be a little bit of physicality to his game, which never hurts. Perfect fit for the system, and I could easily see Colorado try to bring him back after the season. If Colorado wants to, they have five defensemen they can roll out there for 17-22 minutes a night.
As for the return, I think it’s clear the Avalanche paid a premium to get rid of the Ryan Johansen contract. I don’t blame them one bit for doing so, as I called his acquisition a failure about a month ago, but it’s still a tough look in terms of asset management. They got him for nothing, but had to give up a 1st just to get rid of him in the trade.
I had a feeling Colorado was going to be moving a 1st round pick at the deadline, and it being the 2025 pick just shows you what people think of the 2024 NHL Draft. Everything I’ve read makes it seem like there’s a huge drop-off towards the back half of the first, and that’s where Colorado will be picking. No other team gave up a 1st for a defenseman, but there are unique
circumstances involved in this deal. However, those circumstances were created because Johansen was never a player that fit the way Colorado likes to play. This deal probably looks different otherwise.
