Avalanche To Make Upgrades This Offseason, Insider Says

The Colorado Avalanche have made some interesting moves this summer. They re-signed Brock Nelson at a high number after giving up a lot to get him at the trade deadline. With Gabriel Landeskog back in the picture, the cap situation also got tight. To help with that, both Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood were packaged out and the Columbus Blue Jackets were happy to pay for them together.

This leaves the Avalanche with just under $5 million to work with to make more upgrades and bolster the roster back to where it needs to be. The goaltending and defense are set, but the projected roster shots TJ Tynan, Ivan Ivan, Nikita Prishchepov, Tye Felhaber, and Matthew Stienburg as the five players who will be battling for fourth lines roles while Logan O'Connor is out. Those five combined for just 72 games last season, so other than Ivan and possibly giving Prishchepov an opportunity, there are about two roster spots that have to be upgraded. With the money Colorado has, this shouldn't be too difficult.

Chris Johnston said that "it feels like there's an incomplete feeling to that Avalanche roster; it feels like...they're going to still be busy this offseason trying to find some upgrades."

Both free agency and trades are options. Some of the top free agents left are Jack Roslovic, Max Pacioretty, Victor Olofsson, and Joel Kiviranta, but there are plenty of depth forwards that could still be on the move such as a couple on the Vancouver Canucks that Elliotte Friedman just made note that they could still be moved.

The Avalanche should look to upgrade two of their roster spots and leave a little bit of cap room left over to call certain players up or to upgrade at the trade deadline. The team looks rather good despite the fourth line right now, but there's little chance that isn't addressed in full in the next two months.