NHL Rumors: Colorado Avalanche, and the Ottawa Senators

The Colorado Avalanche hope to sign a top prospect soon

Ryan Boulding: Colorado Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland said that they hope to sign prospect Calum Ritchie to an entry-level contract “in the near future.”

Evan Rawal: MacFarland said that they aren’t going to rush him, but if it seems like he’s ready, there could be a spot for him. The Avs are going to need to have some contracts with lower cap hits.

The Avalanche won’t be terminating Valeri Nichushkin‘s contract

Evan Rawal: Avalanche GM MacFarland said that terminating Valeri Nichushkin’s contract “at this point is not an option.”

Rebuilding trust with the team is going to be difficult.

Sounds like the Avs want to bring Jonathan Drouin back

Ryan Boulding: GM MacFarland said that he doesn’t think it will be hard to re-sign pending UFA forward Jonathan Drouin: “It won’t be a challenge to get something done there, at this time.”

They are reviewing other free agents like Jack Johnson and Andrew Cogliano.

The Ottawa Senators have lots of work to do this offseason

Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen: Ottawa Senators have scratched hiring a head coach off their offseason to-do list, but there is plenty more to go.

Their amateur scouting meetings were last week. They hold the No. 7 pick. GM Steve Staios and head coach Travis Green are watching the World Championships in Prague.

The Senators need to get better goaltending next season. A Joonas Korpisalo buyout doesn’t make any sense. Sources said the Senators tried to trade Korpisalo at the deadline with no luck. Would the Senators be willing to retain salary and add a sweetener? Would someone be interested in Anton Forsberg and his $2.75 million for one more year? The Senators inquired about Linus Ullmark at the deadline.

It’s very unlikely that defenseman Thomas Chabot is traded. He’s had wrist surgery this offseason and has a 10-team no-trade list that kicks in on July 1st. A Jakob Chychrun trade before the draft makes sense. Some teams may have an interest in Artem Zub, so that could be another option.

The Senators need to upgrade their third and fourth lines. There will be speculation surrounding Mathieu Joseph, who has two years left at $2.95 million. A veteran like Tyler Toffoli would make some sense.

The Sens need to re-sign Shane Pinto. They could be looking at a five or six-year deal with Pinto looking for something around $5 million per season. They could end up doing a two-year bridge deal.

Re-signing pending RFA Parker Kelly shouldn’t be an issue. The Sens will need to decide if they want to qualify defenseman Erik Brannstrom, who is coming off a $2 million deal. The Senators tried to trade Brannstrom at the deadline.

UFA forward Dominik Kubalik won’t be back and they may not bother signing RFA Boris Katchouk.