Insider Reveals Why Avalanche Were Willing To Trade Charlie Coyle

With so many teams in the market for a center this summer, and the list of available UFA pivots so thin, it stands to reason that Charlie Coyle should have held great trade value. And the Colorado Avalanche took advantage of that.

According to insider Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast, they leveraged a Coyle trade to help them out in another area:

The thing I heard about Coyle is that, Colorado made it very clear that if you were going to get him, you were probably going to have to take Miles Wood, too. Wood needed a change of scenery, it just didn’t work out in Colorado.

The Avs wanted to get out from under the four years remaining on Wood's contract, at a $2.5 million cap hit annually. And that meant it would have to be a team with an abundance of cap room to make that deal. Enter the Columbus Blue Jackets.

“Columbus could do that. That is one way that Columbus’ cap flexibility won the day for them," said Friedman. "They got Coyle because they were willing to take Wood.”

Wood, 29, had an awful year in Denver, saddled with numerous healthy scratches, including all but one contest of their seven-game playoff tilt with Dallas. He finished the season with just four goals, four assists, and a back problem.

Coyle, 33, has one year left on a $5.25 million cap hit. He dropped off this past season from his career-high 25 goals and 60 points in 2023-24, settling for something closer to his career norm, with 17 goals and 35 points.