Avalanche re-sign former first-round pick Tyson Jost

Colorado has taken care of one of its restricted free agents. CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that center Tyson Jost accepted his qualifying offer. That means he receives a one-year, one-way deal from the Avalanche worth $874,125.

The 22-year-old was a first-round pick of the Avalanche back in 2016 (10th overall), and while he made his NHL debut less than a year later, he has yet to become the impact forward they were hoping he’d be. Instead, he has been a relatively consistent depth scorer, notching between 22 and 26 points in each of his first three full seasons. Last year, Jost was in between those amounts, picking up eight goals and 15 assists in 67 games while his ice time dipped below 13 minutes for the first time in his career. Things didn’t go much better in the playoffs either as he had just a single goal in a dozen contests.

Accordingly, it’s not surprising to see Jost settle for a one-year deal, even with it being at a pretty low price tag. Without arbitration rights and the qualifier expiring, there’s a chance that his contract could have checked in lower had Colorado tried to play hardball. Instead, Jost will get another opportunity to try to play himself into a bigger role for his next trip through restricted free agency where he will have eligibility for salary arbitration.

With the signing, Colorado has nearly $6M in cap space at its disposal, per CapFriendly. However, a big chunk of that is likely heading for offseason acquisition Devon Toews. The arbitration hearing for the defenseman is scheduled for Oct. 31.