The Avalanche acquired the rights to restricted free agent Ross Colton from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for the No. 37 pick in the 2023 draft, the team announced Wednesday morning.
Colorado flipped the early second-round pick after receiving it via trade the previous day from Montreal. The Avalanche essentially traded Alex Newhook, also an RFA, to end up with Colton from Tampa and the No. 31 overall pick (a first-rounder) from Montreal.
The Avs have added two centers this offseason while retaining their No. 27 overall pick and obtaining another first-rounder. With Ryan Johansen and Colton, they have retooled their depth in the middle of the ice behind Nathan MacKinnon.
There’s a domino effect, however. J.T. Compher will go to the open market as an unrestricted free agent July 1 and is unlikely to reach a new contract agreement with the Avalanche, a source told The Post on Wednesday. Compher was Colorado’s second-line center last season and has played all 423 of his NHL games in an Avalanche uniform since joining the team as part of the 2015 Ryan O’Reilly trade.
The Avs had been holding out hope of re-signing Compher, 28, who’s coming off a career year in 2022-23. He amassed a career-high 52 points and finished 13th in voting for the Selke Trophy, awarded to the league’s best defensive forward.
Between his two-way productivity and the weaker-than-usual upcoming free agent class, Compher has a chance to eclipse a $5 million average annual value on his next contract. His expiring deal with Colorado had an AAV of $3.5 million. The NHL made it official Wednesday that the 2023-24 salary cap will increase by $1 million to $83.5 million.
Colton, 26, profiles similarly as a strong two-way center. The Avs know him well; he fought Logan O’Connor during the 2022 Stanley Cup Final, which Colorado won in six games. The year before, Colton scored the Cup-winning goal for the Lightning after a 22-goal regular season.
He has 47 career goals and 36 assists in 190 games, after adding 32 points in 81 games in 2022-23. The left-handed shot kills penalties, can slot in on a team’s second power play unit if necessary and can play the wing as well as center.
Colton had a solid analytical slash line last season in Tampa’s bottom six. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Lightning generated 51% of the expected goals, 54.1% of scoring chances and 55.1% of high-danger scoring chances when Colton was on the ice at 5-on-5.
Often during the Avalanche’s Stanley Cup title defense, the lineup shook out with Compher playing 2C and Newhook at 3C. If Johansen and Colton will fill those holes next season, they provide an upgrade in the faceoff circle, which is a rare weakness of MacKinnon’s. Compher and Newhook combined to win 47% of their 2,168 draws in 2022-23. Johansen (for the Predators) and Colton (for the Lightning) combined to win 58.6% of their 1,037 draws.
As of Wednesday morning, hours before the 2023 NHL draft (5 p.m. MT, ESPN), the Avs have the Nos. 27 and 31 picks then are without a pick until the fifth round.
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