Colorado makes two more moves on Trade Deadline day
Photo by Christopher Mast/NHLI via Getty Images
As the NHL Trade Deadline day comes to a close, let’s take a look at all the moves that Colorado made. On NHL Trade Deadline day, the Colorado Avalanche were anything but quiet, as they picked up where they left off after acquiring Brock Nelson from the New York Islanders last night during their game against the San Jose Sharks.
Today, the Avs made two more trades before the deadline, acquiring Charlie Coyle from the Boston Bruins and Erik Johnson from the Philadelphia Flyers.
First, as previously mentioned, the Avs acquired Charlie Coyle and a 2026 5th-round pick from the Boston Bruins in exchange for Casey Mittlestadt, Will Zellers, and a 2025 2nd-round pick. This signals the end of the Mittelstadt era which began with promise but ultimately the Avalanche had to fix yet another mistake at 2C.
That BOS/COL dealTo COL: Charlie Coyle, 5th 2026 To BOS: Casey Mittelstadt, Will Zellers, 2nd 2025— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) March 7, 2025
Coyle is certainly different than Mittlestadt, as he’s more of a shoot-first center rather than a pass-first one. He has a decent amount of size and physicality as well, and should being some valuable skills to the lineup. He has one more year left on his contract at $5.25M, giving some roster certainty while Nelson is just a rental at this time.
Charlie Coyle, acquired by COL, is a middle-six shoot-first centre. Goes to the net and makes himself available for passes to the slot, has slick hands too. Decent size and physicality, and while he's deployed as a shut-down centre he hasn't had a great D impact. #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/dSKuGwXWK4— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) March 7, 2025
After that, Colorado also brought back someone that everyone should be very well acquainted with at this point: Erik Johnson. His return for Givani Smith who couldn’t crack the Colorado Eagles lineup going the other way very much feels like both organizations doing Johnson a favor. Johnson returning also gives us a hit on the familiar faces bingo card!
Trade details:To #GoAvsGo:D Erik JohnsonTo #LetsGoFlyers:Givani Smith— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) March 7, 2025
At this point in his career, Johnson is a veteran depth defenseman. He won’t bring a lot of flashy offense to the lineup for you, but you don’t need him to, and you know what you’re getting from him at this point in his career. Plus, he’s someone who’s beloved by the organization and fans alike as well. The concern is Johnson has played just eight games since his 1000th game ceremony in early November.
Erik Johnson, acquired by COL, is a veteran depth defenceman. #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/M6zrJbJTes— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) March 7, 2025
Colorado’s no doubt had a lot of turnover throughout this entire season up till this point and is on track to dress at least 48 players. It’ll be really interesting to see how this lineup gels and performs throughout the remainder of the regular season, especially with a lot of teams, especially the Dallas Stars, also stocking up today at the deadline. There won’t be many moves in the future with zero top 100 draft picks left in the next two drafts so betting big on this group is what the Avalanche have done. ...
Want the trending hockey news in your inbox daily?.
Just add your email, and we'll start sending you the most important hockey news of the day.
