Over the last 4-5 years, Joe Sakic has become a bit of a wizard with trades. While some of those trades have paid off in bigger, and more impressive ways than others, they’ve all worked out well. So to absolutely, no one’s surprise Sakic did it again today. Albeit this time, much more subtly.
The Avs traded Ian Cole to the Minnesota Wild in return for Defenceman Greg Pateryn. I’ll be honest when I first saw this move I didn’t totally understand it. On the surface, it’s a one for one trade with both players being in their early 30s. They’re both stay at home D-men with little offensive upside, and both are Unrestricted Free Agents next season. Then I dug just a little deeper, and the reason became glaringly obvious. Ian Cole makes $4.25 million this season, while Greg Pateryn, on the other hand, is only set to earn $2.25 million. While $2 million might not seem like that much, it could be what allows the Avs to afford whatever help Sakic thinks they need at the trade deadline.
Like I said earlier, I didn’t get the trade when I saw it, but the more I think, the more it makes sense. With both Conor Timmins and Bowen Byrum looking like they could crack the roster at some point this season Ian Cole was looking at getting pushed into the seventh or eighth Defenceman role. Cole is a better player than that, and it would be ridiculous to pay a guy in that role $4.25 million. Even though Greg Pateryn’s defensive game isn’t that far off Cole’s, he has played in that role plenty during his NHL career.
It will be interesting to see how much Pateryn plays this year. My guess would be not much unless the Avs catch the injury bug again. Should he get called in, his game is perfectly serviceable, and he should be able to produce in the same way Cole did. With that said thank you Ian Cole, but it’s time to usher in the new era of Avalanche blue liners.
P.S.
New Snow Report coming next week need a little time to see what this teams really got.
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