{"id":494713,"date":"2026-02-28T01:34:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T01:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/494713\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T01:34:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T01:34:07","slug":"trade-deadline-targets-for-the-avalanche-to-avoid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/494713\/","title":{"rendered":"Trade deadline targets for the Avalanche to avoid"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the Colorado Avalanche<\/a> already hard at work on their trade deadline<\/a> roster adjustments, we here at DNVR are also working away to cover as many of the trade bases as we can. We started with a breakdown of the Sam Girard-Brett Kulak swap<\/a> and added the \u201cBest Fits\u201d piece yesterday<\/a>, so today we\u2019re going the other direction and talking about the players<\/a> the Avs should be avoiding.<\/p>\n

Why a team should avoid a specific player doesn\u2019t always come down to just if the player is good or not, but it\u2019s really building off of the \u201cfit\u201d piece. When building out this list, I asked myself a few key questions:<\/p>\n

Is the player any good?<\/p>\n

Does the player add something the Avalanche don\u2019t have?<\/p>\n

Does the player play \u201cAvalanche style\u201d hockey<\/a>?<\/p>\n

What is the player\u2019s contract<\/a> situation?<\/p>\n

All of those factors go into the valuation process and how I go about identifying the guys who have potential to blow up in the face of the Avalanche if they acquire them. This isn\u2019t to say they are guaranteed to flop, but they carry enough risk before even getting to Denver<\/a> that they should probably not even be on the list<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s get into some guys who scare me ahead of the deadline.<\/p>\n

The \u201cSo many red flags, this shouldn\u2019t even be a conversation for the Avs\u201d tier<\/p>\n

Evander Kane, F, Vancouver Canucks<\/p>\n

Where to even begin? Let\u2019s acknowledge off the top that there are a lot of very real character questions that dog him to this day and that people around the league aren\u2019t a fan of him for a reason. It isn\u2019t just the off-ice headlines<\/a> with betting<\/a>, COVID passports, and his explosive relationship with ex-wife Anna Kane. Those are all things the league easily overlooks if the player shows up to work, puts his head down, and does things the right way. It\u2019s gross that that\u2019s the truth, but it is.<\/p>\n

No, the character concerns come from within the locker room. He\u2019s selfish, and that is not something that plays well when you\u2019re a role player at this point in your career. That brings us to the hockey player.<\/p>\n

Whoever acquires Kane (and it still could be Colorado<\/a>) will espouse his physicality and hard-nosed playstyle as a major selling point, as well as his hands around the net and ability to pot some goals. That combination has made him a unique player for years, but both of those traits have been hard to come by in Vancouver this season. He has just 10 goals in 57 games, but also 96 hits (1.6 per game). For comparison, he had 250 hits in 77 games (3.2 per game) last season.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s an enormous drop-off, and while hits are certainly not a perfect measurement of physicality, it\u2019s a significant red flag. The drop in goal<\/a> production is also a concern, though his shooting percentage right now would be the lowest in his entire career and by far the lowest since 2015-16. Is it an anomaly, or is Kane slipping at the two things that teams care most about?<\/p>\n

Add in the extreme penalty problems that have plagued him his entire career, and it\u2019s fair to wonder why a team would even bother. I don\u2019t even care much about the acquisition cost. A fourth-round pick would be cheap and the Avs have plenty of them lying around, but the salary ($5.125M), even retained, would mean the Avs don\u2019t make a move elsewhere and that\u2019s a significant cost in itself.<\/p>\n

Kane has been a decent postseason performer for the Edmonton Oilers<\/a> the past few years, but again, is the juice worth the squeeze given all of the problems that follow? He plays the way the Avs want, but he doesn\u2019t walk the line well enough for this to make sense to me.<\/p>\n

The \u201cThis player just isn\u2019t very good\u201d tier<\/p>\n

Logan Stanley, D, Winnipeg Jets<\/p>\n

Stanley has made waves this year because he\u2019s having a huge offensive season (for him). He had five career goals coming into this year but has scored nine, so, you know, that\u2019s different. Despite having elite size at 6\u20197\u2033, 231 pounds, Stanley has struggled to be a lineup regular for the Jets<\/a> over the years because he is extremely mistake-prone.<\/p>\n

The Jets would be very wise to sell high on him now as he approaches free agency<\/a> this summer, but the Jets do a lot of dumb stuff, so who knows? Anyway, Stanley is still a penalty machine (fourth-most minor penalties<\/a> this season) who has no real offensive upside (unless you are buying stock in whatever this season is) and with the addition of Brett Kulak<\/a>, why would the Avalanche pay high on a player who ideally wouldn\u2019t play a game for them in the postseason?<\/p>\n

I think the only thing I can buy that makes any sense is that he\u2019s left-handed, so that\u2019s nice.<\/p>\n

Luke Schenn, D, Winnipeg Jets<\/p>\n

Remember a few years ago when I was pounding the table for the Avs to land Schenn at the deadline because he was a reliable bottom-pairing defenseman who was on a very cheap contract? Well, a few things have changed since then. Well, basically, all of it has changed.<\/p>\n

Schenn has been an anchor on the Jets blueline this season. He\u2019s been primarily partnered with Stanley and their 5v5 expected goals for is 43.52%. Okay, two players with nearly zero puck skill have trouble keeping the puck out of their own end? Not a shock, right? But Schenn pulls down every single player he gets paired with. Even Dylan Samberg, one of the league\u2019s most underrated defensive defensemen, has a 42% expected goals for alongside Schenn and Samberg has a positive impact on every other pairing he\u2019s been part of.<\/p>\n

Schenn is also right-handed, which is the last thing the Avalanche need at this point. Schenn\u2019s contract expires this year, but at $2.75M he\u2019s far more expensive than he should be given the catastrophic impact he has on the Jets defense. In my eyes, the time has passed for the Avs and Schenn to make it work.<\/p>\n

Simon Benoit, D, Toronto Maple Leafs<\/p>\n

See, I love that Benoit has made a career for himself. He went undrafted, forced himself onto the Anaheim Ducks<\/a> roster when he was 23, and has hung around on the fringes of the NHL<\/a> ever since. He\u2019s gotten steady minutes and he plays the game the right way, approaches the job like a professional and draws the admiration of the two organizations he\u2019s been in.<\/p>\n

Benoit is a classic heart-and-soul type of player who blocks shots, throws his body around, and actually has some upside on denying zone entries. There\u2019s so much to like about Benoit the person and his acceptance of who he is as a player. He doesn\u2019t take a ton of penalties and plays within himself.<\/p>\n

The problem is that he just isn\u2019t very good. If the Avalanche wanted to try to do the Ryan Lindgren<\/a> trade again, Benoit is the right target. He\u2019s signed for another year at $1.35M and he\u2019s left-handed, so at least you could make an argument about him as a seventh defender, but he\u2019s just too limited a player to work for the Avs. He\u2019d be a perfect Dallas Star, though, since they don\u2019t believe in acquiring right-handed defensemen.<\/p>\n

The \u201cDoesn\u2019t really make sense but it\u2019s out there for some reason\u201d tier<\/p>\n

Tyler Myers, D, Vancouver Canucks<\/p>\n

If the Stars<\/a> did want a right-handed defender who makes sense for them, Myers would be a good place to start. He\u2019s not as much a fit in Colorado because they already have a top six that is ready to roll and there\u2019s no way he\u2019s waiving his trade protection to be Colorado\u2019s seventh defenseman, especially with other playoff-bound teams sniffing around him.<\/p>\n

Myers, at 6\u20198\u2033 and 229 pounds, is nicknamed \u201cChaos Giraffe\u201d for a reason and those reasons aren\u2019t historically good. He brings a lot of uncertainty to the blueline and while he used to be a capable player with the puck, that part of his game has eroded along with his skating. To me, it looks like he\u2019s hit the wall pretty hard and he\u2019s signed for $3M next season, too, so any team acquiring him is making a commitment beyond just this spring.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t really understand this unless the Avalanche are convinced that Brent Burns<\/a> isn\u2019t their guy anymore, which seems like it wouldn\u2019t be a thing they would do to such a well-respected veteran. I\u2019m only including this because his name continues to be prominent trade fodder and the Avs have been linked to him and I wanted to say they should be a hard pass here.<\/p>\n

The \u201cThis contract makes me very nervous\u201d tier<\/p>\n

Brayden Schenn, C, St. Louis Blues<\/a><\/p>\n

Schenn is a complicated player on this list and by far the player I would have the least objection to if the Avs acquired him. Let\u2019s do this in bullet points because I think it\u2019s the only way I can keep this succinct.<\/p>\n

Schenn is overpaid at $6.5M with two more years left on his deal<\/p>\n

He\u2019s playing too many hard minutes for the Blues and his results show he shouldn\u2019t be a top-six forward anymore<\/p>\n

He\u2019s still a decent goal scorer and excels as a playmaker<\/p>\n

His intangibles are elite. Players around the league love him because he will go to war every night<\/p>\n

His physicality would be an excellent fit in a checking role, especially with his strong faceoff results<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no getting around Schenn\u2019s problematic contract. The Blues would have to eat some of that money to make this palatable, but I struggle to see them retaining the maximum allowable 50%. If they could get it down under $5M, it would be an acceptable cap charge. Schenn has slowed in all facets, but he\u2019s still a player who can help a team.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a common refrain that coming to Colorado would help lighten his workload because he\u2019d only be a third-line center, but he\u2019s only averaging 16:51 of ice time per game. Colorado\u2019s current 3C, Jack Drury<\/a>, is averaging 14:52, so we aren\u2019t talking about a huge drop-off in ice time for Schenn. He is averaging the third-most even-strength time on ice for the Blues, so he would still be looking at a drastic role reduction.<\/p>\n

Schenn is also already 34, so the two years remaining on the deal after this are a significant concern. If he was on an expiring deal, I\u2019d be a lot more gung-ho about this, but as is, this contract makes me very nervous if he is the \u201cbig\u201d addition the Avs make this year. <\/p>\n

Who knows about the veracity of the reports that the Schenn brothers are only interested in being moved if they go to the same team, but if that is the case, that would have to be a hard \u201cno\u201d from me. Brayden has his upsides, but Luke\u2019s time appears finished.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the Colorado Avalanche already hard at work on their trade deadline roster adjustments, we here at DNVR…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":494714,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-494713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=494713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/494714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=494713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=494713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=494713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}