What an absolute steal this deal is for the Avs. The Colorado Avalanche have STOLEN Ryan Johansen from the Nashville Predators as they only had to trade Alex Galchenyuk and take on just 50% of the contract of the former Preds superstar center.
Does the Preds management realize it’s not 2013 with this move?
The Colorado Avalanche and the Nashville Predators made the first sizable move of the 2023 NHL offseason yet as the Predators agreed to trade Ryan Johansen to the Colorado Avalanche…for just Alex Galchenyuk. And, if you’re thinking this might be the biggest steal in a trade you’ve ever seen, you’re probably right.
Now, I understand if some people don’t really see this trade as a major thing as even though Ryan Johansen has been one of the better centers in the league these last 10 years or so with his 555 career points, he’s also been one of the most injury-prone players too as he only played in 55 games last season.
And, as for Galchenyuk, he continues to be one of the worst Top-3 draft busts of all-time as he could only manage to suit up for 11 of the Avalanche’s games last season and scored a grand total of 0 points.
So, if you’re looking at this trade in terms of name recognition and this past season’s accomplishments, it’s a pretty small trade. But that’s where you’d be wrong as the genius of Joe Sakic has struck again.
One of the biggest reasons why the Avalanche failed to repeat as Stanley Cup champions this past season and were eliminated in the 1st round by the Seattle Kraken was due to a severe lack of depth scoring. Unlike in the 2021/22 season where Nazem Kadri’s addition to the 2nd line turned the Avs forward core into the league’s most deadly attack, Colorado last season had to rely HEAVILY on Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen to generate offense with the loss of Kadri to free agency and captain Gabriel Landeskog to injury.
And, as we saw against the Kraken, all teams needed to do was shut down the Avs 1st line and they could easily beat the defending Stanley Cup champions. As I said, it’s the main reason why the Avalanche dropped 10 points in the standings (2021/22 Final Standings: 119 PTS; 2022/23: 109 PTS), had 4 fewer wins (2021/22 Win Total: 56; 2022/23: 51), and why they got knocked out in 7 games by the Kraken in the 1st round.
Sure, Johansen has some pretty severe injury history, and he had a down season with just 28 points last year, but the Predators were not helping him out as Nashville missed out on the postseason for the first time in 7 years.
Bringing in Johansen gives the Avalanche their much-needed 2nd line center who can not only drive the offense when MacKinnon and Rantanen are not on the ice, but he can also score consistently as his track record in Nashville has proven. Plus, the Avalanche only had to give up a guy who played 11 games for them in the regular season and they only have to pay 50% of his salary.
One of the main reasons why Johansen was not moved on from the Preds years ago was due to his massive $8M/year cap hit that most teams just simply couldn’t afford, yet the Preds for some reason decided now was the right time to retain salary and move on from their traditional #1 center.
I know Nashville is rebuilding, but I don’t know why new GM Barry Trotz thought it would be a good idea to trade Johansen, arguably his team’s best center, to a direct divisional rival in Colorado. But here we are.
We’ll have to wait and see if this trade does pan out for the Avs, but I have high hopes for Johansen in the Mile High City.
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