Earlier today, I joked that the Colorado Avalanche could easily sign Ross Colton today, as it was unlikely the two sides would go through the arbitration process.
Well, that’s exactly what happened.
At 3:30 PM local time, the Avalanche announced they had signed Colton to a 4-year contract, locking up the 26 year old until 2027 and avoiding arbitration. It is confirmed to be a $16 million deal, with a yearly cap hit of $4 million. Our friends over at PuckPedia have also verified that the contract includes a no-trade clause in year two, and a modified no-trade clause in years 3 and 4.
Colton scored 16 goals and registered 32 points in a depth role on Tampa Bay last season, but up 22 goals and 39 points just one year earlier. He was acquired for the 37th pick in the 2023 NHL Draft last month.
“Ross is a hard-working, two-way center with a championship pedigree,” said Avalanche General Manager Chris MacFarland at the time of the trade. “He has physicality to his game, is ultra competitive and his versatility will make him a valuable addition to our lineup in a lot of ways.”
Colorado clearly sees Colton as a center, as evidenced by the first sentence from MacFarland there. He hasn’t played center full-time in the NHL just yet, but that’s obviously where Colorado plans on putting him. All of the metrics indicate that Colton could be in for a big bump in production with a bigger role, and we’ll dig into the contract a little more tomorrow. It’s slightly higher than I anticipated…
The other day, Colton spoke on the radio about the trade and his move to Colorado. You can read about that here.
We’ll have more on this contract and where that leaves Colorado with the salary cap in the coming days.
Stay tuned to CHN as more news continues to come in.
For immediate updates, follow me on Twitter (@evanrawal) and the new Threads (Evan.rawal)
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