Keys to the offseason for the Colorado Avalanche
Ryan S. Clark and Kristen Shilton of ESPN: The Colorado Avalanche lacked depth for their first-round matchup with the Seattle Kraken, and dropped the series in seven games.
Projected 2023-24 cap space: $13,225,000
2023 draft picks: 1st, 5th, 6th, 7th
Will pending UFA forward J.T. Compher get a bigger offer on the open market? He had a career-high 52 points as their number-two center.
The Avs will have nine pending UFAs and four pending RFAs.
Will forward Gabriel Landeskog be able to return after missing all of this season with a knee injury and remain healthy? He would definitely bolster their top six.
Pending free agents
2023 UFAs: J.T. Compher, Lars Eller, Evan Rodrigues, Darren Helm, Andrew Cogliano, Matt Nieto, Erik Johnson, Jack Johnson, Keith Kindaid, Alex Galchenyuk, Charles Hudon, Josh Jacobs, Jonas Johansson, Gustav Rydahl, and Sergei Bokov.
2023 RFAs: Ben Meyers, Alex Newhook, Denis Malgin, Bowen Byram, Samp Ranta, Wyatt Aamodt, Justus Annunen, Ryan Merkley, Nathan Clurman, and Mikhail Maltsev.
2024 UFAs: Denis Malgin, Devon Toews, Kurtis MacDermid, Brad Hunt, Pavel Francouz, Spencer Smallman, Cal Burke, and Vladislav Kamenev.
2024 RFAs: Alex Baudcage, and Trent Miner.
Keys to the offseason for the Los Angeles Kings
Ryan S. Clark and Kristen Shilton of ESPN: The Los Angeles Kings had a three goal lead in Game 4 but couldn’t hold on, and then dropped the next two games to the Edmonton Oilers.
Projected 2023-24 cap space: $2,549,583
2023 draft picks: 2nd, 3rd (PIT), 4th, 5th, 6th
Forward Gabriel Vilardi will need a new deal and they’ll have decisions with deadline acquisitions and pending UFAs Vladislav Gavrikov and Joonas Korpisalo. The Kings may need to create some cap room to get Vilardi re-signed and they maybe turn their attention to Gavrikov and Korpisalo.
Goaltender Cal Petersen has two years left at $5 million per and was playing in the AHL.
The Kings haven’t been to the second round since 2014.
Pending free agents
2023 UFAs: Vladislav Gavrikov, Alexander Edler, and Joonas Korpisalo,
2023 RFAs: Zack MacEwen, Rasmus Kupari, Gabriel Vilardi, Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Tyler Madden, Tobias Bjornfot, David Hrenak, Taylor Ward, Jacob Ingham, Akil Thomas, Samuel Fagemo, Matt Villalta, Aidan Dudas, Lias Andersson, Nate Schnarr, and Tobie Paquette-Bisson.
2024 UFAs: Anze Kopitar, Viktor Arvidsson, Zack MacEwen, Matt Roy, Sean Walker, Pheonix Copley, TJ Tynan, Tobie Paquette-Bisson, and Alexander Dergachyov.
2024 RFAs: Blake Lizotte, Carl Grundstrom, Arthur Kaliyev, Quinton Byfield, Sean Durzi, Alex Turcotte, Andre Lee, Erik Portillo, Jordan Spence, and Jacob Moverare.
