What’s Going On?
Chris MacFarland had ideas with the Colorado Avalanche coming into the 2024-2025 season and they were put into motion early. From trading away both goaltenders, shoring up their offence and landing huge trades at the deadline, including bringing back Eric Johnson, the Colorado Avalanche had one thing in mind: Bring a cup back to the Mile High City.
But before all of the trades which landed them in a place where they could make a legitimate cup run, they were not even close to the best. They had a losing record at home, big pieces like Valeri Nichushkin and Ross Colten were constantly out of the lineup, Nichushkin more than a lot of the others, and it cost them dearly. Their goaltenders could not find any light in net and the losing continued. So Chris MacFarland went out all season long to build one of the hottest teams in the league.
“Four”giev and “Useless” Annunen (November 30th, 2024 and December 9th, 2024)
The goalie tandem for the Avs starting the year was Alexander Georgiev and Justus Annunen. This is where the majority of the issues came from. The two were highly inconsistent and cost the Avs more games than they should have. The fans had even given Georgiev the name “four”giev to mock the struggling goaltender. Georgie, his real nickname, started 17 games and went 8-7-0. He allowed 3.38 GAA for a .874 S%. He was also the starting goaltender for the Avs, but sat many of the games, allowing Annunen to take his place.
In the 2023-2024 season, Georgie went 38-18-5 and even led the team through three playoff rounds. The goaltender was everything they wanted and more. His past seasons were not the greatest, but he could keep the team winning and was solid when the lights shined the brightest. So when the 2024-2025 season came around he could not even get close to replicating the previous season, all hope in the goaltender was lost.
Annunen was a backup and is technically in his rookie season playing in the NHL full time. For the past five seasons he had been with the Avs and their AHL affiliate team, the Colorado Eagles. This season he was set to be a full time backup goaltender. Whether it was nerves or the fact he did not have a reliable starter to show him the ropes, Annunen did not perform to the required expectations.
He went 6-4-0 in 9 games started and held a .872 S% and allowed 3.23 goals per game. Not horrible stats, but it wasn’t enough to fill in for Georgies mistakes. “Useless” Annunen was his crude nickname and unfortunately it stuck.
The Avs made a smart move and quickly traded Annunen and a ‘25 6th round pick to the Nashville Predators for Scott Wedgewood. Still though, this did not fix goaltending for the Avs. He did much better than Annunen however and started more games than Georgie. His save percentage jumped from an .878 to a .919 and he’s allowed only 2 GAA instead of his previous 3.69! This led the Avs to make another trade to shore up the goalie tandem.
Traded for a pick and a player, the Avs shipped off Georgie to San Jose for Makenzie Blackwood. This was a fleece from Colorado as they won this trade by a long shot. Blackwood quickly made a name for himself between the pipes and solidified himself as the starter. Blackwoods S% increased as well from a .911 to a .919 and now allows 2.14 GAA to his 3 GAA!
The Three Way Deal (January 24th, 2025)
Facilitated by the Chicago Blackhawks, the Colorado Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes traded stars for stars. Mikko Rantanen, at the time was the Avs leading goal scorer, was traded to the Hurricanes (and some other players and picks) for Jack Drury and Martin Necas. This trade came out of nowhere and surprised everyone. It wasn’t until the dust settled that things were explained to angry fans.
Mikko Rantanen and the Avs could not come to an agreement on a possible extension. Numbers ranging from 8-9 million a year were thrown up but Mikko would not take anything. Seeing no end to anything, MacFarland decided to let Carolina deal with Mikko and traded him for Necas and Drury.
Both of the newly acquired players are doing very well, Marty has 11 goals for 26 points in his 27 games played with the Avs and Drury has 4 goals for 7 points in 29 games. Drury is a bottom six player and contributes more physically for his team than on the score sheet.
Mikko has had quite the road since his departure from the Mile High City. He actually does not even play for the Hurricanes anymore. He played 13 games with the Canes and had only 2 goals for 6 points with the club. He now plays for the Dallas Stars where he is fitting in much more comfortably. He has 4 goals for 14 points in 15 games. He also signed an 8 year contract that will pay him about the same as the Avs were offering, and no, no one knows why this is the case.
And if you’re wondering what Chicago got out of everything, they lost Taylor Hall and have to pay 25% of Mikko’s contract. They did not get any players.
The Trade Deadline (March 7th, 2025)
This was Colorado’s finale, not because it had to be, but because this was their last chance to get players worthy enough to make the cup run with them.
On March 6th, the day before the deadline, Colorado wanted to shore up their center positions so they made a trade to the Islanders for Brock Nelson. It was a surprise for the Isle’s to give up one of their star players especially during the final push of the season when they were trying to secure a playoff spot in a very competitive Eastern Conference.
For Brock Nelson, the Avs gave up Kylington, Ritchie and 2 picks. The Avs also acquired William Dufour, but he is not in the lineup currently. Kylington and Ritchie were call up players, meaning they spent most of their time with the Eagles. Colorado saw no use for them and made a trade for Nelson, hoping to get an experienced second line center.
Nelson has 4 goals for 11 points in 15 games with the Avs so far and has a 51.7 FO%. He has even secured a spot on the PP line and the PK line. Nelson has done everything the Avs have expected of the veteran and more. As the Avs near the playoffs, Nelson will have to speak for himself.
March 7th. The trade deadline day was not very busy for the Avs as they made only 2 moves. They traded Center Casey Middlestadt to the Boston Bruins for Charlie Coyle. Coyle is on a bit of a down year as he had 22 points in 64 games with the Bruins and now has 6 points in 15 games with the Avs.
Coyle plays on the third line as a center for his new team and has played well despite the score sheet suggesting otherwise. Same as Nelson, Coyle will have to speak for himself as the playoffs are just weeks away. The Center should have nothing to worry about though as he is very skilled and has potential to help Colorado go all the way.
Middlestadt had a down year with the Avs, 34 points in 64 games and could not turn things around fast enough. Boston is having issues of their own, massive issues and everyone hopes Casey can be someone to rely on.
The Condor, Erik Johnson returns to the Colorado Avalanche. He tested the free agent market in the 2023-2024 season, was picked up by Buffalo then made his way to Philadelphia in a deadline day trade. He’s spent the last year plus some in Philly only to be picked back up by Colorado.
EJ had 3 points in 22 games in Philly and now has 1 point in 10 games with Colorado. He does not care, the veteran is happy to finally be back in the place he’d called home for nearly a decade. The fans are happy to have him as well as the organization.
Off To The Playoffs
Starting on November 30th of 2024 and lasting until March 7th, the Colorado Avalanche set out to craft one of the best teams in the league. Players came and went, but the message remains the same. They are a winning team and they are going to win.
The Colorado Avalanche currently sit third in their division and comfortably in a playoff spot. They’ve made moves all year to better their team, on offence, defense and even created one of the best goalie tandems in the league right now. As the teams enter the playoffs everything is on the line. These players were gotten for a reason, they had something the others didn’t. They have a chance to now prove that and bring a cup back to the Mile High City!
(All of the information regarding the trades, the players involved an the dates they occurred can be found here: https://www.cbssports.com/nhl/teams/COL/colorado-avalanche/transactions/ )