Tag: Colorado Avalanche

Here’s why the Predators might’ve traded for a player that could be gone in a week

The Predators traded for a player that will be a free agent in a week. Why might it make sense?

The Nashville Predators made a fascinating trade with the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, acquiring a player they may lose in a week.

The Predators announced that longtime center Ryan Johansen had been traded to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for veteran forward Alex Galchenyuk.

At first glance, that just seems like a player-for-player swap between a team trying to get back to playoff contention (Nashville) and a team trying to win another Stanley Cup (Colorado).

However, the deal becomes a bit confusing once you realize that Galchenyuk’s contract expires on July 1, the start of NHL free agency.

What gives? Why would Nashville trade a veteran starter like Johansen for the rights to a player that might not sign with the Predators?

As the old saying goes, follow the money.

The Predators are entering a new era under Barry Trotz, the team’s former coach who is now its general manager.

Trotz’s first big move of his tenure looks like it’s a very peculiar salary dump, one that still sees the Predators taking on half of Johansen’s contract for the next two seasons. It’ll save Nashville $8 million over the next two years while Colorado pays the other $8 million.

Teams rarely just trade a player to a team without any return, as that would just be a gift. From 2013-19, Galchenyuk scored double-digit goals a season before tapering off during the 2019-20 season.

Galchenyuk only played in 11 games for the Avalanche in 2022-23 with no goals or points to show for it. However, he did score 16 goals in 42 regular season games for the AHL’s Colorado Eagles last season.

If the Predators want to re-sign Galchenyuk, they’ll have first dibs as they hold his rights for the next week. However, if they let him walk, this is the rare case where a team traded a player to dump his salary without anything in return but salary cap space. It’d basically just be a very elaborate release.

There has to be some sort of return on an NHL trade, and a player’s rights for one week’s time does technically count.

Could the Predators have at least gotten a prospect? It’s fair to wonder. Could Galchenyuk wind up signing with Nashville and working on his comeback effort? It’s very possible.

At the very least, Galchenyuk walking just means the Preds saved some cap space and got Johansen to a contender with the trade. It could be a show of goodwill for a veteran player like Johansen that could reverberate positively in the locker room for other Nashville players as Trotz gets going in his new role.

For now, this is the most curious of NHL trades, one that nets the Avalanche a reliable offensive veteran and the Preds some salary cap space for possible moves in the future… and a player that might be gone in a week.

Notre Dame Offers Scholarship to Son of Two-Time Pro Bowler

Notre Dame has two o-line commitments in their 2021 recruiting class but offered another Friday, the son of a former NFL Pro Bowl tackle.

Three years ago today was a big day for the 2023 Notre Dame football team and for their best player.  You see, Notre Dame offensive tackle Joe Alt, who some call the best tackle in college football, was offered a scholarship on this day three years ago.

Below is what we originally wrote when that news came to be.  Let me just tell you I’m proud of the growth we’ve had as a team of writers in those three years…

From May 22, 2020:

Notre Dame offensive line coach Jeff Quinn made another scholarship offer on Friday, this one to the son of a two-time NFL Pro Bowl offensive lineman.

Joe Alt, a 6-7, 245 pound offensive tackle from Minneapolis announced the offer on Friday afternoon.  Alt is the son of former Kansas City Chiefs offensive tackle John, who played his college football at Iowa.

Iowa is one of the six other schools to have already offered Alt.  The Hawkeyes, Minnesota, Iowa State, Kansas State, Missouri and Northwestern all offered Alt before Notre Dame jumped on board Friday.

The athleticism in the family didn’t get passed on to just Joe, as his brother Mark played college hockey before getting drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes.  Mark currently plays for the Colorado Avalanche.

Notre Dame currently has two offensive lineman commitments in their 2021 recruiting class:  OT Blake Fisher and OG Pat Coogan.

Kraken upset Avalanche, Seattle sports continues to dominate Denver

The Seattle/Denver rivalry is more than a little one-sided right now

On Sunday night one of the biggest upsets in the NHL happened in the Mile High City of Denver. The Seattle Kraken, in their second year of existence, knocked off the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche on their home ice. As heavy underdogs, the Kraken were widely expected to be dealt with in short order by Colorado. Instead, the Avalanche were pushed to 7 games and lost to Seattle.

This continues a recent trend in sports where the Emerald City continues to absolutely dominate Denver in all sports. Of course, the first and biggest example has to be the Seattle Seahawks’ complete annihilation of Peyton Manning’s record-setting Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII. The greatest single season offense in NFL history was held to eight measly points after three full quarters in a 43-8 embarrassment.

Next up is the entirety of the Russell Wilson trade. Seattle traded their franchise quarterback to Denver and despite early positive buzz for the Broncos, it quickly unraveled into one of the most lopsided trades ever. The Seahawks upset Denver on Monday Night Football in Wilson’s return to Seattle 17-16, and it was all downhill from there. The Broncos had one of the most abysmal seasons in franchise history, while the Seahawks returned to the playoffs.

With the 2023 NFL draft complete, the final details of the Russell Wilson trade are finally wrapped up. When looking at the full list, Seattle got quite a haul.

Not to be outdone by the Seahawks and Kraken, the Mariners got in on the action as well. Earlier this season, the M’s swept the Colorado Rockies in a three game series in Seattle.

I think it’s safe to say the fans in Denver will be happy to have a few months without facing Seattle teams.

Early 2023 NHL playoff betting odds favor Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche

Vegas really likes the Boston Bruins’ odds to win a Stanley Cup.

With the 2023 NHL playoffs right around the corner, Vegas thinks the Boston Bruins have the best odds of any team to hoist the Stanley Cup.

As of Friday, Bet MGM has Boston with +350 odds to win the NHL title this year, with the Colorado Avalanche (+700), Edmonton Oilers (+900) and Toronto Maple Leafs (+900) right behind the Bruins.

Boston sits atop the NHL with 135 points and a 65-12-5 record heading into the playoffs, the team positioned as a buzzsaw on its way to a Stanley Cup.

Vegas likes Boston much more than the team in its backyard, the Las Vegas Golden Knights. Sportsbooks puts the Golden Knights with +1200 odds to win a title.

A Boston/Colorado Stanley Cup series would put a 2022-23 powerhouse against a recent title winner, and Vegas thinks it’d be the Bruins who would take the cake in that heated matchup.

No matter which way you slice it, Boston is veering toward another Stanley Cup. If you’re going to put down odds on an underdog, now’s the time.

A classy Cale Makar amazingly got referees to wave off a penalty called against an Islanders player

What an amazing display of sportsmanship.

I’m with every NHL fan on Twitter. Shut down the race for the Lady Byng Trophy — given to the player who exhibits the most sportsmanship — right now.

And give the award to Colorado Avalanche superstar Cale Makar.

Here’s why: On Monday night, Makar appeared to get tripped up by a New York Islanders player and a referee immediately called a penalty. But Makar started waving his hand at the ref, explaining that he had slipped and wasn’t tripped by Matthew Barzal.

Sure enough, the referee waved it off. WOW. Who does that? Can you imagine any athlete in any sport doing this? I can’t:

Here’s what Makar said about it. He said he doesn’t plan on doing that again … and that he felt bad about it:

So classy. And trust me when I say we’re probably never seeing this kind of sportsmanship again in any sport when it comes to correcting a bad call against your opponent.

[listicle id=1993454]

Avalanche fans serenade Stanley Cup banner ceremony with ‘All the Small Things’ sing-along

“All the Small Things” is back!

“All the Small Things” helped propel the Colorado Avalanche to its first Stanley Cup in over 20 years this past summer, so of course the team was going to bring it back for another season.

On Wednesday, the Avalanche held their Stanley Cup banner ceremony to celebrate their championship with their fans as the 2022-23 season began. After the Avalanche’s “All the Small Things” tradition became mainstream last season, the team fittingly used it as part of a hype video for their Stanley Cup banner ceremony.

Not only that, Blink-182 bassist and co-lead vocalist Mark Hoppus was in attendance as fans belted out the lyrics to the classic 2000s rock song in an epic sing-along.

What an awesome moment for Avalanche fans! I, for one, am extremely excited for another year of one of the best traditions in the NHL.

[mm-video type=video id=01g2abyj80spg5b679sn playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g2abyj80spg5b679sn/01g2abyj80spg5b679sn-60694a09c8e5adab11a66ce757314fe1.jpg]

[listicle id=1972250]

Former Avalanche Jack Johnson took part in Stanley Cup banner ceremony and NHL fans loved it

What a classy move from the Avalanche.

Jack Johnson may no longer be on the Colorado Avalanche, but he still won his first Stanley Cup with the team just a handful of months ago.

On Wednesday, the Avalanche raised the banner on their Stanley Cup winning year in front of their fans to begin the 2022-23 season. And what a moment it was! “All the Small Things” made a triumphant return during a cool sing-along with Blink-182 member Mark Hoppus in attendance as all the stops were pulled out for a once-in-a-lifetime moment.

And to cap it all off was an awesome banner raising ceremony to solidify the Avalanche’s victory for all time. Johnson, a current member of the Chicago Blackhawks, joined his former team on the ice for the banner raising in an incredibly awesome — and classy! — moment.

Talk about an emotional moment for Johnson to cap off his time with the Avalanche. And quite fortuitous too that the former Colorado defenseman was playing against his old team with his new one to open the season!

NHL fans absolutely loved this moment between Johnson and his former Avalanche teammates.

A dominant Avalanche Stanley Cup run spurred three-fold increase in Colorado public betting

The Colorado Division of Gaming reported nearly $100 million in wagers.

One benefit of legal sports betting is the boost it can provide to a local economy, and a great example of that is the money that rolled into Colorado as the Avalanche skated their way to the Stanley Cup.

The Colorado Division of Gaming reported nearly $97 million in wagers on the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year, according to a report by KKTV 11 News in Colorado Springs, more than tripling the amount of hockey bets it received in the same period in 2021.

Colorado bettors wagered about $30 million on the Stanley Cup Final alone, eclipsing the $26 million wagered in all of May and June 2021 combined. The public apparently wasn’t fazed by the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning.

“When you look at where the standard was and then you look at where they are this year, going almost three times as much, you really can tell that Colorado really got excited about the Avalanche going for the Cup and being in the finals,” Division of Gaming director Dan Hartman said

Sports betting was legalized in Colorado in 2019, with the first licensed operators hitting the market in May 2020.

[listicle id=1938896]

[mm-video type=video id=01g8btd9kqa4zq11w6my playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g8btd9kqa4zq11w6my/01g8btd9kqa4zq11w6my-173f04966d9dc6788fb648ad2b003722.jpg]

Alexandar Georgiev trade: Who won the Rangers and Avalanche deal?

The Avalanche have shaken up the NHL goalie market with this trade.

It’s officially NHL Draft day and the trade madness has already begun.

With time winding down until the NHL Draft on Thursday night, the New York Rangers and Colorado Avalanche struck a deal to send a pending free agent out west to the current Stanley Cup champions. The Avalanche acquired goaltender Alexandar Georgiev from the Rangers, a move that will surely shake up the netminder market this summer with its implications.

Georgiev heading to Colorado is likely not the only trade we’ll get as we move through to the evening, so let’s take a look at how both the Avalanche and Rangers grade out here in this draft day deal.

The 10 best photos from the Colorado Avalanche’s jubilant Stanley Cup parade

The Avalanche have only just begun partying with the Stanley Cup.

The Colorado Avalanche have only just begun partying after winning the Stanley Cup.

Thursday was the Avalanche’s Stanley Cup parade, where the team took their newly won Stanley Cup and toted it around the streets of Denver to celebrate with their fans. And what a parade it was! Bowen Byram was mistaken for a fan and got stopped by police. Nazem Kadri trolled the hockey world with a brilliant “too many men” shirt.

What more could you ask for from a Stanley Cup parade, honestly?

To honor the Avalanche’s hard-earned Stanley Cup win and subsequent jubilant celebration, here are the best photos from Colorado’s championship parade.