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Brock Nelson, Colorado Avalanche (Photo by Ashley Potts/NHLI via Getty Images)

Avalanche Face Slim Market for Centers in 2025 Offseason

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Marko Zlomislic | Last updated May 12, 2025 3:10 PM ET

After a tight, but heart-breaking loss to the Dallas Stars in the first round, the Colorado Avalanche are left to pick up the pieces of another disappointing season. They were one of the best teams since the beginning of December (third by points percentage), but the mid-season trade which saw Mikko Rantanen go to the Carolina Hurricanes eventually bit them after he was re-routed to the Stars at the 2025 Trade Deadline. The winger’s revenge hat-trick in Game 7 has given fresh voice to rising doubts in the front office’s ability to bring the franchise back atop the Stanley Cup mountain, and that task will not become any easier this offseason.

The Avalanche already have nearly $87 million committed to 11 forwards, five defensemen, and two goalies next season, with a projected $8.7 million remaining with Brock Nelson, Jonathan Drouin, Joel Kiviranta, Ryan Lindgren, and Sam Malinksi the notable names left unsigned.

It’s possible that one or more of Charlie Coyle ($5.25 million), Samuel Girard ($5 million), Josh Manson ($4.5 million), Ross Colton ($4 million), and Miles Wood ($2.5 million) are traded for some combination of cap relief and to recoup assets. Such deals would simultaneously open up a whole host of possibilities as it pertains to roster construction and shine the spotlight more intensely on Colorado’s glaring hole at second-line center, a long-standing issue which must be addressed if the team intends to contend for a Stanley Cup in the near future.

Avalanche Facing Revolving Door at Center Since Stanley Cup Run

Since Nazem Kadri’s departure in the 2022 offseason, the Avalanche have tried to fill the hole at second-line center with Casey Mittelstadt, J.T. Compher, Ryan Johansen, Alex Newhook, Nelson, Coyle, and Colton. Only the latter two have contracts with the Avalanche for next season, with the 33-year-old Nelson set to become an unrestricted free agent (UFA) on July 1.

None of those names have made the position their own over the past three seasons, and Nelson’s post-trade output (six goals and 17 points in 26 regular season and playoff games) was particularly underwhelming given the cost of acquiring him at the deadline. They now face the difficult decision of either losing him for nothing or re-signing a declining asset to a contract that will very likely age poorly as the Nathan MacKinnon era moves towards its conclusion. The issue is compounded by the fact that the free-agent market for impactful top-six centers is going to be dry this offseason.

Few Top-Six Centers Available in Free Agency

Of the UFA centers currently unsigned for next season, only Claude Giroux (age 37), John Tavares (34), Matt Duchene (34), and Sam Bennett (28) stand out as impactful options with the first three clearly on the back-nines of their respective careers.

Giroux isn’t a full-time center anymore and last eclipsed 70 points in a season back in 2022-23. Tavares has never been fleet of foot and is likely to re-sign with his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs at a reduced rate. Duchene’s contentious history with the Avalanche organization is well-established at this point and it’s difficult to see him leaving a better situation with the Stars.

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While Bennett could just as easily re-up with the Florida Panthers, they could be cap-strapped with all of he, Brad Marchand, Aaron Ekblad, and Mackie Samoskevich needing new deals for next season. Bennett also plays the type of game which translates well to the playoffs, and is coming off of two straight (and possibly three) runs to the Stanley Cup Final and a good showing at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Few players have seen their stock rise as quickly as Bennett’s but that impressive stretch coupled with the scarcity in the free-agent market could send his price skyrocketing past what is reasonable and financially feasible.

Another option for the Avalanche is to find a cheap stop-gap at center, hope for the best in the 2025-26 season, and turn their gaze towards the summer of 2026 when the cap is scheduled to spike. Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel all slated to become UFAs during that time, and would be long-term solutions to Colorado’s persistent issues at center. They are long-shot targets to be sure — and the fanbase might not be happy to burn another year of MacKinnon and Cale Makar’s primes — but the Avalanche have very few assets at present with which to make big splashes this summer.

Avalanche’s Lack of Picks and Prospects an Issue

The Avalanche’s lack of upcoming draft picks (none in the first three rounds in 2025 or 2026) means that barring a major trade to recoup assets, they will not be active in the offer sheet market for restricted free agents (RFAs). Only a pair of 25-year-old RFA centers in Gabriel Vilardi (61 points in 71 games) and Ryan McLeod (53 points in 79 games) would fit what the Avalanche would need out at this point, but both of their teams should have the cap space to easily re-sign them this summer.

The trades for Kadri, Andrew Cogliano, Artturi Lehkonen, Manson, Andre Burakovsky, Devon Toews, Darcy Kuemper were necessary to put the Avalanche over the top in 2022 (and well worth it, I might add), but they have left the cupboard bare in terms of prospects and draft picks. The recent deals for Nelson, Mittelstadt, Colton, and Mackenzie Blackwood were swings in a similar vein, but have not reaped the desired results and left the Avalanche with little ammunition at the moment.

Mackenzie Blackwood, Colorado Avalanche (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

With the Avalanche trading away their top prospect in Calum Ritchie in the Nelson trade, the team’s prospect pool only boasts three names (Ilya Nabokov, Mikhail Gulyayev, and Sean Behrens) who project to play a meaningful role at the NHL level. Contenders can always find Cup-chasing veterans for the cheap in free agency, but at some point the lack of a pipeline signals the end of a team’s contention window when the supply of players on historically valuable entry-level contracts runs out.

Avalanche Facing Difficult Decisions This Offseason

Trading one or more of the team’s aforementioned depth pieces could help them restock the cupboard, but it will be difficult to balance the desire to contend with the need to keep young, cheap pieces coming as reinforcements. The lack of picks means that the front office will have to subtract from the team’s depth to get younger and stronger in key areas, while the quickly-diminishing prospect pipeline could make them hesitate to make more swings at the deadline as another unfruitful trade could slam the door shut on contending in the back half of the MacKinnon era.

It’s an unenviable situation to be in, and one made much more precarious by the lack of feasible options at center in particular this offseason. It’s up to Joe Sakic and Chris MacFarland to make their next string of moves count.

Data courtesy of the NHL.