should the Colorado Avalanche utilize it?

From today, the first window of the NHL buy-out is open. From today until June 30, teams can use redemption for any unwanted contracts that they may have to drop from books. In the case of Colorado Avalanche, this is probably irrelevant, because in the near future they are not threatened by the necessity of a flexible wage limit. Although there are several contracts that you may want to get rid of.

Over the next few years, Avalanche with a lot of capital space can afford several unappetizing short-term contracts. Still, it may be a good idea for Joe Sakic to consider buying one of his veterans to create a place for one of the young people.

Sakic was not afraid to use the buyout option in the past. A year ago, Avalanche bought the last year of the Francois Beauchemin contract to free up space on the list.


Thanks to several stellar moves in the last 12 months, Avs is now full of attackers who look like regular NHL players. There are many young talents that should be regularly in the next season. Alexander Kerfoot, Tyson Jost and J.T. Compher established themselves as ordinary NHLerzy, and Vladislav Kamenev, Dominic Toninato and A.J. Greer looks like they're ready. Add to this group Sven Andrighetto, Carl Soderberg, Matt Nieto, Colin Wilson, Gabriel Bourque, and you have more strikers than it is necessary to fill the bottom 9 positions forward in the squad.

This is before bringing any outside assistance including offseason.

Do the Avowie consider buying one of the veterans to help ease the logjam in lower-6?

When looking at the list, there are two options; Carl Soderberg and Colin Wilson.

As for Soderberg, this is a terrifying contract. You never want to pay almost $ 5 million for a player who has 51 points in the last two seasons. Nevertheless, Soderberg has a role in this team. He kills punishments, plays difficult defensive minutes, and the training staff obviously trusts him to play a role of closure against the best opposition players. It is still a very bad contract.

The buy-out would spread the limit for four consecutive seasons, but it would save the team $ 3 million. If Avs needed a place for a hat, this move could be much more likely, but considering that Soderberg is still a useful player, the team can afford to transfer the overdue contract for the next two seasons. It seems like it was a long break, but something that the band would consider.

The second option is much more reliable. Colin Wilson was brought back last summer by trading with Nashville Predators. In what was likely a salary for his old team, Wilson was considered a veteran to stop fighting to fill the role while some children developed. The injuries limited Wilson to 56 matches, causing him to finish the season with only six goals and 18 points - his lowest score in total from 15 points in 35 games as a recruit in the 2009-10 season.

Wilson owes $ 4 million for the next season - a figure that is far from the value he brings to the team. Wilson's purchase would look like this:

Buying Colin Wilson makes a lot of sense. He earns a lot of money, redemption would not be too high, and he is a player who does little more than clogging the depth map. Is a player that you can resell for a late round, but with the number of hits is unlikely.

Wilson's presence next season will take a chance from someone like A.J. Greer. Because of the way the plan is currently being created, there's only room for one of Colin Wilson or Gabriel Bourque every night. Again signing Bourque last month, Avs showed that they clearly want to have it. The return of the veteran makes Wilson redundant, making redemption a viable option.