Father time is encroaching on the Avalanche’s roster as an early offseason begins.
Four players at least 35 years old were on expiring contracts this season. Whether Colorado wants to bring back any of those depth veterans will be central to how the organization plans to retool around its young core.
There’s also the matter of whether those players want to keep going.
After a 2-1 Game 7 loss to the Seattle Kraken, an emotional Erik Johnson didn’t know Sunday night if he had just stepped off the ice for the final time in an Avalanche jersey.
“I haven’t really thought about it at all,” Colorado’s longest-tenured player told reporters. “… It’s sad because you put in so much work, and ultimately we did accomplish our goal here (of winning a Stanley Cup). But you don’t want to go out like this. Whether it’s the end of the road or not, I was just proud to play here for as long as I did. And just grateful for everything.”
Johnson, 35, is at the end of his current deal with a $6 million cap hit. He scored the winning goal in Game 6 — his first goal of the season — to send the series back to Denver, where Johnson has called home since a 2011 trade from St. Louis. Johnson has played 772 games for the Avalanche over 13 seasons, including playoffs.
Darren Helm, Andrew Cogliano and Jack Johnson are the other three unknowns as the offseason begins. Jack Johnson signed a one-year deal with Chicago for this season then got traded back to Colorado at the deadline. Cogliano and Helm were both injured and out by the end of the first-round playoff series.
“I haven’t even thought that far, but when you get older guys that play their butts for for you — old, young, doesn’t matter — but even more for the older guys, you don’t know how many opportunities you’re still going to get, (or) if they’re going to be with us or not,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “You get to know these guys and see how much they put into the game and to the team on a daily basis. You want to see them get rewarded for it. Doesn’t always happen. Obviously its very tough to win. But that was the most rewarding thing for us last year.”
Rodrigues wants to be back
On the marginally younger end of the spectrum, top-six forward Evan Rodrigues is also set to be an unrestricted free agent after signing with the Avs on a one-year deal last September.
Rodrigues said after Game 7 he wants to be back if it works out.
“I’ve loved it here,” he said. “Family loved it here. It’s an unbelievable team. It’s a team that’s set up to win Stanley Cups. Elite talent. When we’re healthy, depth. Forwards, D, goalie. It’s an awesome group. Very talented. So I’d love to be here.”
Rodrigues finished with 39 points in 69 games, working around multiple injuries. He had a goal and five points in the series vs. Seattle, but this was the second consecutive year his season has ended in a first-round Game 7. In 2022, the Penguins blew a 3-1 series lead vs. the Rangers. Rodrigues hasn’t made it out of a first round before.
“It’s easy to see why they had so much success last year, and why we had so much success this year,” he said of the Avalanche. “No matter what we were kind of fed, nothing brought us down. We stayed positive. We fought. It’s an impressive group.”
