The 2024 NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone, and now only the rest of the regular season remains before the Stanley Cup Playoffs arrive. As the team that won the Stanley Cup in 2022 and had a rather disappointing end in the 2023 playoffs, the Colorado Avalanche are hungry to get their hands back on that Cup.
Entering the trade deadline week, many key areas needed to be fixed or adjusted, and it’s fair to say General Manager Chris MacFarland and President of Hockey Operations Joe Sakic did just that and went above and beyond what many like myself would have expected to achieve this trade deadline.
Related: 2024 NHL Trade Deadline Tracker
With Nathan MacKinnon playing at a Hart/Art Ross Trophy-winning level and Cale Makar continuing to do what he does best and compete for a Norris Trophy, there shouldn’t be a second of doubt about whether or not you are going to compete with these players playing at that level of excellence. Here are all the deals the Avalanche have made up to the deadline and a grade for each.
Kurtis MacDermid To The New Jersey Devils
Kurtis MacDermid to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Zakhar Bardakov and a 2024 7th Round Pick
It was a slow start, but in the long run, it was necessary. Kurtis MacDermid was a piece that the Avalanche had that could be used whenever an injury or sickness came up to be plugged in the bottom six and comfortable with him on the ice. He always brought physicality on the ice, but his time came to move him for some cap space for future trades.
The 2024 seventh-round pick belonged to the Nashville Predators and wasn’t moved the rest of the deadline. Zakhar Bardakov is a solid prospect in the system. He is 23 years old and 6-foot-2, and he plays for the SKA St.Petersburg in the KHL. In 51 games, he has six goals and six assists for 12 points; seeing what they do with him will be interesting.
Grade: B+
Sean Walker To The Avalanche
Colorado Avalanche receives Sean Walker and a 2025 fifth-round pick.
Philadelphia Flyers receives Ryan Johansen and a conditional 2025 first-round pick. *Conditions: Top-10 protected*
It is a move many didn’t expect, but a move many Avalanche fans will take. Sean Walker has been linked to many teams looking to solidify their blue line, which the Avalanche didn’t need, not with him at least, maybe a depth player. Cale Makar, Devon Toews, Josh Manson, and Bowen Byram (wait for it) are already elite pairings, but they saw the chance to make it better and took it.
During the season, Walker scored six goals and sixteen assists, scoring 22 points in 63 games played with the Philadelphia Flyers. He can play both left and right defensive positions, help on the penalty kill, and is excellent at leading the rush offensively. Head Coach Jared Bednar can have a field day by pairing Walker with anyone who’s not Makar and Toews. Need more physicality, Manson, want more playmaking and speed, Girard, want to have him as the primary puck handler with some defense, Jack Johnson. It will be exciting to see who fits best with him and if they can come to terms with him on a contract extension this offseason or even before.
The Ryan Johansen experiment is over, and at times, it looked ok, but at others, it was rough. With a cap hit of $4 million this season and next, his production wasn’t good enough and needed to be improved one way or another, and that’s where the first-round pick came in. There were many reports of what Walkers and Nick Seeler’s price would cost to acquire them, and the Avalanche paid but got a bargain, being able to move Johansen with no retention coming back as well. Yes, you lose your first round next year; it’s top ten protected, so unless the roster breaks down next year, you don’t really care, as you’ll be competing for as long as you have this core group of players.
Grade: A
Bowen Byram To The Buffalo Sabres
Colorado Avalanche acquire: Casey Mittelstadt
Buffalo Sabres acquire: Bowen Byram
It was all fun thinking how good the blue line pairs would be and speculating who the Avalanche could acquire to replace Johansen for a better 2C until this bombshell was dropped.
Mittelstadt has been having a tremendous season with the Sabres, who have struggled to stay consistent with their offensive production. With 14 goals and 33 assists for 47 points in 62 games played, he was tied with Rasmus Dahlin for the leading scorer on that team. Mittelstadt saw a massive breakout last season, putting up a career-high 15 goals and 44 assists for 59 points. A significant topic popping up with him was his contract was expiring, and with players like Tage Thompson, Dahlin, and Dylan Cozens all paid for brand new contracts, what would he start his offer at? And whether his performance would continue to grow with him beginning to break out.
Losing Byram in return sucks, but you see the offer at hand and why both teams are willing to swap. Sabres gather another young up-and-coming defense prospect to add to Dahlin, Owen Power, and Mattias Samuelson. At the same time, the Avalanche solidifies their 2C with a younger center breaking out, wanting to be paid. Byram has been showing flashes of what his complete game can be. Still, unfortunately, at only 22, he has run into many roadblocks already in his career, so a change in scenery can clear up his path.
Both teams take a gamble with this trade; the Avalanche offset it with their Walker trade. The Avalanche lost Byram but filled his spot with a more veteran player and desperately filled the 2C with a player they felt could resign for the long term and use him in this Stanley Cup window they are in.
Grade: A
Brandon Duhaime Acquired For A Pick
Colorado Avalanche aquire: Brandon Duhaime
Minnesota Wild acquire: 2026 third-round-pick
Brandon Duhaime is a 26-year-old who can play both left and right-wing and is 6-foot-2, 200lbs, brought in to start bolstering the bottom six. With only four goals and four assists on the season, bringing him in didn’t take much. Still, with a cap of $1.1 million and a UFA this summer, he brings a physical edge to his game and this roster, with the ability to play on the penalty kill, which he has done a ton with the Wild, averaging over two minutes per game while they’re shorthanded.
The Avalanche removed their only third-round pick in 2026, limiting that to the only round they didn’t have a pick in 2026. There is one pick in each round and an extra from the Flyers in round five from the Walker trade. 2026 is a whole season and a half away, and with this team contending every season for a Stanley Cup, a third-round pick doesn’t really matter as of right now
Grade: B+
Avalanche Acquire Yakov Trenin With Prospect Swap Deal
Colorado Avalanche acquire: Yakov Trenin, Graham Sward
Nashville Predators acquire: Jeremy Hanzel, 2025 third-round-pick
Trenin is a tall man, standing at 6-foot-2. If you recall, he was likely Nashville’s most threatening forward during the first round in 2022. This season, he has scored ten goals and earned 14 points in 60 games while spending much of his time in the wing position. With this addition, the Duhaim trade, and the return of Valeri Nichushkin and Logan O’Connor, the bottom six have been fully fleshed out. As a pending UFA this summer, he currently makes $1.7 million, and having to pay with that next year would make resigning in the offseason an excellent bonus.
A couple of guys we add today – big, heavy bodies, play a man’s game, kill penalties, do a lot of dirty work, but they’re big, physical guys that play hard,”. “If you’re looking at some of the teams that you’ve got to go through out West, they have the same attributes, especially in their bottom six
Head Coach Jared Bednar
The prospect swap came with sending Jeremy Hanzel for Graham Sward. The Avalanche drafted Hanzel in the sixth round of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. Playing with the Seattle Thunderbirds in the WHL, he leads the scoring on the team with 14 goals and 38 assists for 52 points in 59 games so far. I was a major fan of his game and, with the initial reaction to the trade, was somewhat disappointed but, after some research, was rather relieved of the prospect in return.
Graham Sward was drafted in the fifth round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft and is having a monster breakout year with his team in the WHL. As assistant captain for the Wenatchee Wild, Sward has 15 goals and 61 assists for 76 points in 59 games, with career highs across the board. Currently is second in scoring on the Wild, behind Kenta Isogai at 85 points, but leads the WHL in scoring by a defenceman. He excels at puck movement but prioritizes making the smart play and looking to feed teammates when gaps open. He can generate speed to lead the rush when necessary.
Grade: A
Avalanche Sell Ben Meyers For A Pick
Ben Meyers is a 25-year-old left wing who appeared in 32 games with the AHL Colorado Eagles last season. He’s split his time between the Avalanche and the Eagles this season, recording one goal in nine games with the NHL club. With his inconsistent time split between the NHL and AHL and the recent deadline additions, his time was fading away; the Avalanche can gain some draft capital back, and it’s a bonus in this year’s draft. It also makes it their second selection in the fifth round of this year’s NHL Entry Draft.
Related: 2024 NHL Draft: Baracchini’s Top 96 March Rankings
The Ducks can gain a player with some experience to resign for cheap while moving away their only fifth-round pick of this year’s draft. It doesn’t necessarily hurt their plans, as they still have nine picks in the upcoming draft with two firsts, two seconds, and three-thirds to start the draft off with.
Avalanche Want The Cup Back
After a tremounds run in 2022 to follow it up with the rather disappointing playoff run in 2023 and losing in the first round, the Avalanche want redemption badly. This 2024 NHL Trade Deadline was almost perfect for them with the addition of a 2C for the foreseeable future, if resigned, great size, strength, and versatility to the bottom six. They may have lost some draft picks later on and lost some great defencemen for the future; it doesn’t matter, as the time is now to win.
Overall Grade Of The 2024 Trade Deadline: A