You'll have to excuse the mixed metaphor in the title, but given how the Avalanche treat their draft chips like potato chips, talking about cards felt appropriate. Especially as the team's poker face held until the end of the last minute when they decided to add to an already loaded roster by reuniting with Nazem Kadri, sending out a first round pick and other assets to acquire the former Avs Stanley Cup championship winner. Colorado was busy throughout the week, so let's analyze the moves made to reshape this roster.
Loading up the back end
Early in the week it appeared that a reunion with Kadri wasn't going to work out, and the Avalanche instead appeared to have found their 3C in Nicolas Roy. The younger Roy spent most of is career with the Vegas Golden Knights, establishing himself as a solid net-front presence on ice with some scoring touch and has his own Stanley Cup title to his name already.
Coming to Colorado by way of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who acquired him as part of the Mitch Marner trade, Roy was acquired for a 2027 first and 2026 fifth round pick. Roy has 20 points in 60 games so far, with 5 goals and 15 assists, which is down from his past scoring pace. However, given the struggles of the Maple Leafs in general this year, hopefully he's able to return to his regular form with a better Colorado squad.
The first round pick is top 10 protected, and would bounce to 2028 if the Avs somehow fall in that range of the draft lottery at next year's draft. However, slightly complicating that pick is their deal for Kadri.
It didn't look like a Kadri reunion was going to happen after all with the Roy trade on Thursday, but at the last minute the Flames decided to "do right" by him and send him to Colorado. Kadri is having a somewhat down year on a Calgary squad that went into a definitive "sell" mode at the trade deadline, but his 12 goals and 29 assists are still solid numbers that, again, should improve with a better squad around him.
General manager Chris MacFarland sent the Avalanche's 2028 first rounder (also top 10 protected) to Calgary along with a second round pick in the 2027 draft, prospect Max Curran, and Victor Olofsson. In return, Calgary retains 20% of Kadri's salary through the rest of his three year, seven million dollar AAV contract, and sends a fourth round draft pick back to Colorado.
So, if you're keeping track, if the Avs somehow end up with a top 10 pick in next year's draft, Toronto will get the 2028 draft pick, wherever that ends up landing. In that scenario, Calgary, who currently own the 2028 pick, will instead own Colorado's 2029 first round pick and it will be unprotected.
In any event, Colorado has two solid options down the middle of their forward group, though head coach Jared Bednar did make a point to mention Roy's wing flexibility, so it's possible Roy and Kadri end up on a line together. Given Kadri's previous affiliation with the organization, he's likely to get his pick of position.
Sizing up the new blueline
The Avalanche also added two defenseman to the roster earlier in the week, while sending away longtime franchise face Samuel Girard.
Girard was sent to the Pittsburgh Penguins along with the Avs' 2028 second round pick for Brett Kulak, who adds some physical size to the Avs third pairing. Kulak also should help some on the penalty kill, but the cap relief provided by getting the veteran defenseman on an expiring contract with a smaller salary was also what allowed the team to make some of the moves later in the week. Kulak's contract helped free up about 2.25 million in cap space for the Avs, which more than covers the difference that Calgary ended up retaining on the Kadri deal.
Unable to live without a 5'9, right shot defenseman born on May 12, 1998, MacFarland also acquired Nick Blankenburg as a seventh defenseman after shipping Girard out. Blankenburg comes from the Nashville Predators and only cost the Avs' a 2028 fifth round pick, but he should provide solid depth for the group on a cheap contract that expires at the end of the year.
With star defensemen like Cale Makar and Devon Toews manning the top pair and Sam Malinski recently re-signed, there wasn't a ton of room for the Avs to improve on the blueline, but they found ways to make things make sense and got better overall after the trade deadline.