The Colorado Avalanche are one of the best teams in the NHL. On Wednesday, they did what they believed they needed to do to improve their chances of winning the Stanley Cup.
They might not be done but they started their quest with a few trades. It started when they sent Ryan Johansen and a first-round pick to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Sean Walker and a 2026 fifth.
The Flyers then put Johansen on waivers so it will be interesting to see what they do with him. The Avalanche freed up some cap space and added a defenseman.
It felt like they were gearing up to do something big. They did just that less than an hour later. Colorado sent defenseman Bowen Byram to Buffalo in exchange for forward Casey Mittelstadt.
The Colorado Avalanche made a big-time trade with the Buffalo Sabres
With Cale Makar, Devon Toews, and Sam Girard in the mix amongst others, Colorado felt that they could deal from a strength to address a weakness. They needed another center.
Now, Mittelstadt is going to be that guy. Nathan MacKinnon is the top guy and Ross Colton is very good too. With some of the winger depth that they have there, they are very deep now with the addition of Mittelstadt.
As for Byram, he is going to another defense-rich team. He will join other high draft picks like Owen Power and Rasmus Dahlin on their blue line. It will be interesting to see how they line them all up.
Now, we wait and see how Colorado is going to perform down the stretch. Will they do more ahead of the trade deadline? That is going to be fun to watch. Another goalie might be nice. In Buffalo, they won’t be going to the playoffs or buying like Colorado but this can help them going forward.