The Avalanche could stick with Ross Colton<\/a> in that role. Bednar recently praised Colton\u2019s efforts in his first game in that role. They could stick with him if the cost of finding other options proves expensive.<\/p>\n Nashville Predators center Ryan O\u2019Reilly (NHL Images).<\/p>\n Masisak suggested former Colorado centers such as Ryan O\u2019Reilly<\/a> of the Nashville Predators<\/a> and Nazem Kadri<\/a> of the Calgary Flames<\/a> as possibilities. However, the cost for both makes them unlikely trade targets for the Avalanche.<\/p>\n Other options include Alexander Wennberg<\/a> of the San Jose Sharks<\/a>, Jason Dickinson<\/a> of the Chicago Blackhawks<\/a>, and former Av Charlie Coyle of the Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a>.<\/p>\n SPECTOR\u2019S NOTE: O\u2019Reilly reportedly isn\u2019t considering a trade at this time. Kadri\u2019s contract and the Flames\u2019 asking price are too expensive. The Sharks won\u2019t part with Wennberg if they remain in playoff contention.<\/p>\n Dickinson and Coyle could be more affordable if the Blackhawks and Blue Jackets go into sell mode. However, the Avs could be forced to overpay if other clubs get into the bidding, and they\u2019ve already sacrificed future assets in recent years.<\/p>\n NEW YORK POST:<\/a> Ethan Sears believes the Islanders have a steady, left-shot defenseman and a top-six winger near the top of their Christmas wish list to replace sidelined blueliner Alexander Romanov<\/a> and winger Kyle Palmieri<\/a>.<\/p>\n If the Islanders become buyers, they could get salary-cap relief by placing Romanov and Palmieri on long-term injury reserve. San Jose Jose Sharks defensemen Mario Ferraro<\/a> and former Islander Nick Leddy could be blueline targets, while Kiefer Sherwood<\/a> of the Vancouver Canucks or Matias Maccelli of the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> might make sense as a replacement for Palmieri.<\/p>\n Sears doesn\u2019t see general manager Mathieu Darche parting with a first-round pick to get any of those players.<\/p>\n For now, it\u2019s too early to tell which path Darche might choose. Sears noted that a couple of bad weeks could knock them out of playoff contention in the tightly packed Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n If Darche buys early, he could be parting with future assets that he\u2019ll need to recoup if things go sideways. If he waits too long, he\u2019ll end up in sell mode with UFA-eligible forwards Jean-Gabriel Pageau<\/a> and Anders Lee<\/a>.<\/p>\n SPECTOR\u2019S NOTE: Darche will remain patient for now, especially given how few sellers there are in the trade market. The Isles\u2019 performance in January will likely determine which path he takes, especially if more teams become sellers.<\/p>\n The Sharks aren\u2019t likely to part with Ferraro and Leddy if they remain in playoff contention. Sherwood is available, but the Canucks\u2019 asking price could be too high for Darche. Maccelli should be an affordable addition, but his struggles this season don\u2019t make him an enticing trade target.<\/p>\n THE ATHLETIC<\/a>: Eric Stephens believes the Los Angeles Kings<\/a> have more work to do after trading center Phillip Danault<\/a> to the Montreal Canadiens on Friday. He noted they didn\u2019t get a roster player back in the deal, and the club continues to struggle offensively.<\/p>\n Stephens pointed out that the draft pick they got in the Danault deal would look good if the Kings were rebuilding. However, the club is built to win right now, and they still believe they can reach the playoffs and make some noise.<\/p>\n That second-round pick will only be valuable if it can be turned into a player (like Ryan O\u2019Reilly<\/a> of the Nashville Predators or Brayden Schenn of the St. Louis Blues<\/a>) who makes the Kings better.<\/p>\n SPECTOR\u2019S NOTE: Kings GM Ken Holland probably isn\u2019t done making moves. Stephens pointed out that they shed Danault\u2019s $5.5 million cap hit for this season and next, giving the Kings $9.2 million in current cap space, and a projected deadline cap space of $26 million.<\/p>\n As mentioned earlier, O\u2019Reilly isn\u2019t prepared to consider a trade right now. Meanwhile, the Blues intend to seek full value for any player they trade, meaning they\u2019ll want a young NHL player for Schenn instead of draft picks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Check out the latest speculation on the Avalanche, Islanders, and Kings in today\u2019s NHL Rumor Mill. THE DENVER…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":363769,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-363768","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/363769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/OReilly-221x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\n