Insider Says There's Trade Chatter Surrounding Avalanche Defenseman

The Colorado Avalanche have even more work to do past recently signing Brock Nelson to an extension. The team has to free up some more cap space and that likely means there will be at least someone heading out of town. According to Frank Seravalli, there has been some trade chatter about the availability of defenseman Sam Girard.

This chatter could realistically just be teams showing interest in Girard because Colorado is looking to make some changes and come back stronger next season. This doesn't mean the Avalanche are entertaining any interest unless it absolutely blows them away. A deal like that is very unlikely.

The cap is going up and defensemen who play a similar role to Girard are getting paid quite a bit more. The Avalanche have something good in Girard and have for many years. They need to take advantage and stick with their number three defenseman who averages slightly under 21 minutes per game, can put up points, and is under contract for two more years at just $5 million AAV.

Even if the Avalanche were desperate enough to look to free up the cap from Girard, they wouldn't be looking to lose in a deal and there wouldn't be any replacements even close to as good for less money. That is where it makes little sense. The defense should stay fairly similar with an addition of a third pairing d-man to play with Sam Malinski. The forward group is where the Avalanche need to cut some fat from. Miles Wood is a name that should be at the forefront of that list.

It will be interesting to see what the Avalanche can still do to get better or just not get worse this offseason. Having Gabriel Landeskog back changes a bit and Colorado is still a competitive team that will want to be a legitimate Stanley Cup contender again.