Restricted Free Agent Decisions Upcoming

5 months ago  /  Mile High Hockey

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Colorado has some choices to make with these players. As the calendar flips to June, the Colorado Avalanche will have to make decisions on which Restricted Free Agents to retain with qualifying offers and which players to release their rights. That deadline is usually the Monday after the NHL Draft but with that being July 1 this year and another very critical date on the calendar, the NHL will likely move it up as they did to June 30th in 2023.
Teams, and the Avalanche are no exception, will try to get ahead of this deadline by signing RFAs to contracts early and avoid the whole qualifying offer process and more importantly arbitration if the player holds those rights. Colorado has so far inked goaltenders Trent Miner and Justus Annunen out of their RFA pool as they are presently under contract for the 2024-25 season. Depth forward Chris Wagner already signed as well but he was an upcoming Unrestricted Free Agent.
Quite a few decisions remain and it is possible there might be some more early contract extensions announced in the coming weeks but as it stands now here are the remaining RFAs and their likelihood of returning.
No Question
Casey Mittelstadt is in a category of his own as he will certainly receive a qualifying offer and sign a contract with the Avalanche for the upcoming season. With only one year of restricted free agency left the 25-year old center holds a lot of leverage as he can take a one-year arbitration award to unrestricted free agency if he doesn’t like what the Avalanche are offering. It behooves both parties to make something work, though, as a long-term marriage is the best case scenario for all and Colorado was already committed when the trade went through.
The question isn’t if but instead when and how tough the process will be to eventually arrive on the signature on the dotted line. A long-term deal takes time to achieve and it may not get done by July 1st as much as the Avalanche would love the clarity on how Mittelstadt’s deal impacts their available spending cash. He’s earned the right to sign a big deal and set up his future after only making $7.5M over three years on his last contract. It just depends how hard a bargain the new center will drive and hold his leverage against the team.
Tough Decisions
The category of RFAs with arbitration rights are the toughest to bring back because the leverage starts tipping in the players’ favor and often buys significant raises in minor league pay or term beyond a one year return. Defenseman Wyatt Aamodt has been an Eagles regular playing 112 games over two seasons after signing as an undrafted free agent out of Minnesota State but also never received a call from the Avalanche and sat out some games down the stretch. It might be best for him to find a new opportunity now.
Another undrafted free agent signee Jason Polin also is granted arbitration rights after only one pro season where he played 42 games and scored 10 points in the AHL. The soon to be 25-year old forward also got a seven-game look in the NHL and scored a goal. This is one case where if the organization is interested Polin he should be signing an extension before the qualifying offer and arbitration game begins or else the Avalanche probably will decide it’s not worth it and move on. Both of these cases could go either way.

Not Returning
The duo of forward Alex Beaucage and defenseman Gianni Fairbrother are not expected to receive qualifying offers even though they don’t have arbitration rights. Beaucage was a fairly solid Eagles regular under former head coach Greg Cronin but in the last year of his Entry Level Contract was sent to the Utah Grizzlies in the ECHL to finish out the year. Fairbrother might have been a reclamation project for the organization but lasted only one game in the AHL before getting injured and he, too, was sent to Utah when healthy.

Group VI
There is a large cohort of Colorado RFAs who are heading to unrestricted free agency by way of the Group VI technicality which allows for 26-year old players who have not met a NHL games played threshold to have their rights released a year early. Forward project Riley Tufte is the biggest name among this group which also includes defenseman Nate Clurman and goaltenders Arvid Holm and Ivan Prosvetov. Group VI doesn’t mean Colorado can’t bring them back but it’s an indicator of a lack of interest and time to move on to another organization. The goalies have been liked to teams in Europe while Tufte and Clurman will likely see what’s out there for them on July 1st.
Who would you bring back next season? Share in the comments below....

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