Wheeling and Dealing

This was quite the day for the Colorado Avalanche!

The Avs had two days off following the big 5-1 win in Anaheim, but there was no reast for us during that time. There was no rest for any of the NHL's 32 squads. It was that time of the year again: Trade Deadline. A lot of moving and shaking always takes place during any league's Trade Deadline, but the NHL seems to have the most lasting effects of deadline deals, as some trades made during that day have turned teams into champions.

We had made a pair of deals already; sending Samuel Girard to Pittsburgh for Brett Kulak, and receiving Nick Blankenship from the Predators. But we were not done:

On March 5, the Avalanche received forward Nicolas Roy in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who received a 5th-round pick in the upcoming Draft, and a conditional 1st-round pick in the 2027 Draft. You do remember Nicolas Roy, right? This was the same player who the Leafs traded Mitch Marner for. Now that the Leafs are clearly in no position to make the playoffs, they dealt Roy to the Avs for draft picks. Oh, and regarding the conditions in that 1st-round '27 pick: if the pick ends up in the top 10 (it won't), then the Leafs will also get an unprotected 1st-round pick in 2028 from Colorado. So they'll basically be drafting very late in the first round in '27, after they get some scrub in this year's Draft. Like I said, Leafs fans, I hope trading Marner was worth it.

But we still weren't done! Fellow Avs fans, get your tissues ready:

He's back, baby!! We got Nazem Kadri back!! And it didn't really cost us too much! We all knew Kadri would get dealt, because the Calgary Flames are a shitshow (not the biggest one, to be fair, but still a shitshow). Kadri was rumored for a lot of teams, and the Avs were one of them. But when Calgary stated that they would not pony up any of his remaining salary, I figured we wouldn't get him back; we needed to save some moolah to keep guys like Makar. Yet I read this afternoon, that we, indeed, did get Kadri back! We received Kadri and a 4th-round pick, and it cost us Victor Olofsson, the rights to unsigned draft pick Max Curran, a conditional 2nd-round pick (2027) and a conditional 1st-round pick (2028). Oh, and Calgary will take on 20% of Kadri's remaining salary.

I love Kadri; have since his Toronto days. I hated how people would scapegoat him for Toronto's problems. Once he went to Colorado in 2019, he thrived, and of course, he played a key role in our Cup in 2022.

So we have our roster ready. Now on to business.

The Avalanche's three game road trip concluded with a visit to Dallas against a Stars team who won ten straight games. As if the Central isn't chaotic enough as it is. This was our first meeting since way early in the season, and our first visit to Dallas this year. The Avs and Dallas are one-two in the Central, so yeah, this was a highly important game for both teams. It's a playoff game without the playoff rules.

Mackenzie Blackwood was in net against Jake Oettinger, and already, the first power play of the game went to the Avs. That, alone, is a miracle. And on another miracle, we scored on it! Cale Makar (from Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas) makes it 1-0 for the Avs, but two minutes later, Jack Drury is sent to the box. I'm still triggered from the last time they called a penalty on Drury in Dallas, but at least this one had merit. Dallas ties it up on the PP, and it's Miro Heiskanen from Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston. So each team's top D-man has a PPG. It's going to be one of those games, folks.

That same scoring tandem would cash in again, but this time, Johnston scored and Miro and Robertson assisted. So Dallas took their first lead of the game, and they added on to it later on, as Justin Hryckowian made it 3-1 for Dallas. Seconds after scoring, Hryckowian commits a penalty. That's killed off, but Mavrik Bourque (who assisted on that goal) interferes with Nicolas Roy, who made his Avs debut. And I just want to say, this game has a Roy, a Bourque, and a Drury in it. I'm getting flashbacks to 2001.

Anyway, this Avs PP is a successful one, as with under two seconds left, Nathan MacKinnon gets his 42nd goal of the season. The Avalanche... with two PPGs?! In the same period?! I thought there were rules against that.

Necas and Makar assisted, and after 20 minutes, it was 3-2 Dallas. WOW! In the second period, Jamie Benn made it 4-2 for Dallas, one of those goals that went in and out quick. Speaking of out, Blackwood's night was done, and Scott Wedgewood entered. He held things down, while elsewhere, Necas cut our deficit in half. MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog assisted. Stars led 4-3 after 40 minutes, and we started the third period on a penalty kill that started with 17 seconds left in the 2nd. It was killed off, but Dallas received another PP that turned into 24 seconds of five-on-three. Everything was knocked off, and we received a PP of our own with 5:20 left. That was unsuccessful, and we later pulled Wedgewood for the extra attacker. Dallas ended up with a three-on-one breakaway, and it looked like game over... until Jamie Benn missed the empty net.

Avs were still alive but were running out of time! But with 14.1 seconds legt, we have a tie game, and it's Valeri Nichushkin with the equalizer! Necas and Brock Nelson assisted, and we have overtime! Avs controlled things for the most part, but the great scoring chances were stopped by Oettinger. Overtime solved nothing, but a shootout always does. Two goals in the shootout, both belonging to the Avs (Nichushkin and Necas)!

What a night! The Avs win big in the deadline, and we won bigger on the ice! Trailed by two twice, yet we won it, 5-4, over Dallas, via the shootout! A four-point night for Necas, MacKinnon adds three more to move within three of Connor McDavid, Makar now only trails Evan Bouchard for the points lead for defensemen, and Wedgewood shut the door in relief. This was a huge win inside the division for the Avs, and guess what? These two teams will go at it again on my birthday, this time in Denver.

Nicolas Roy made his Avs debut, but we won't see Kadri until Sunday. That's our next game, and we're at home against the Minnesota Wild on TNT. We will be on TNT again on Tuesday, as we host the Edmonton Oilers.

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