3 Avalanche Entering Their Final Year With The Team

The Colorado Avalanche made a fair number of offseason changes to give themselves a better shot at being better throughout the season and going deeper in the playoffs. Their Stanley Cup window is very much still wide open and the team will keep making the necessary adjustments to the roster to get the job done again. There may be mid-season moves, but more likely bigger changes next offseason. These are three players who aren't expected back after this coming season.

Brent Burns

Brent Burns signed a one-year deal with the Avalanche after playing a top-4 role with the Carolina Hurricanes for the past number of years. He isn't the same offensive talent he once was, but the veteran can still get the puck on net and has good offensive instincts. He should be one of the third pairing d-men for the Avalanche this season with the potential to move up if Cale Makar or Josh Manson miss games on the right side. I think this stay in Colorado just lasts the year and he either hits free agency or calls it a career at age 41.

Victor Olofsson

Victor Olofsson was a late signing this offseason by the Avalanche and a solid one to bolster a bottom-6 that was looking bare after making some roster moves. Olofsson can score, but hasn't seemed to stick around anywhere very long as he has bounced around the past few seasons. It really depends how he fits in on the Avalanche's bottom-6, but this is a team that has been desperate for depth scoring. If he slumps or can't do what is needed offensively, Colorado has no reason to bring him back. And if they don't win the Stanley Cup, the team will be looking to change up the roster again to find something that does work better.

Scott Wedgewood

Scott Wedgewood did well for Colorado once being acquired to backup Mackenzie Blackwood. He is in the second and final year of his deal and posted a 14-6-2 record last season with a 2.32 GAA and .908 SV%. That will absolutely do for this coming season, but those are tough numbers to keep up, even on a good team. I fully expect the GAA to rise and the SV% to stay around the same at best. It appears as though the Avalanche have found their starter, and a good one, for the next five years, but with Trent Miner in the AHL and with some NHL experience now, he may be in the mix for the backup job next season. In that case, the Avalanche can save some money on a backup/3rd string goalie to compete with Miner rather than use some valuable cap space.