By Nicholas Mullick Twitter: @NicholasMullick Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-mullick-354076184/
I am a few days late with this, but there were trades that occurred that really intrigued me. One of those trades involved Ryan Johansen. Who is a notable name that has played with the Nashville Predators, but now he will be playing with a new team. Johansen has been traded to the Colorado Avalanche in a deal that is telling for both sides. The details of the trade are listed below.
Trade Details Colorado Avalanche Acquire: C Ryan Johansen Nashville Predators Acquire: RW/C Alex Galchenyuk
Nashville Predators Side
If I were to describe their side of the deal in two words it would be “Salary Dump”. The Predators are going to do what they can to get more money and an obvious one was with Ryan Johansen. Johansen has suffered a ton of regression last season and of course Barry Trotz realized that they had to get out of his contract before the decline gets worse. So, the Predators in making this deal happen are retaining 50% of his cap hit for 2 years (88 Million per year). The Predators are paying him not to play for their team. Making these moves gives them around 19.5 million in cap space, which is important for them to build the team.
Making this move will give more opportunities to younger players and prospects as well. Especially Cody Glass, Juuso Parssinen, and Tommy Novak who impressed last year. I myself am interested in how they will do with the increased minutes they will likely get with Johansen’s departure.
Getting Alex Galchenyuk is a great get, well for the AHL as that is where he played last season. Galchenyuk was actually averaging a point a game and I still think he will bring needed leadership towards the minor leagues. While Galchenyuk has not been the same player, he is still useful and can even be called up if the Predators get derailed with injuries.
Colorado Avalanche Side Yep, I pretty much knew that the Avalanche would make a move like this during the offseason the moment the Avalanche got eliminated in the 1st round of the playoffs. The two reasons why the Avalanche had an early elimination is that they failed to replace Nazem Kadri and Gabriel Landeskog’s injury.
Well it got worse for Colorado as Gabriel Landeskog injury is so severe that he is expected to miss the entire 2023-24 NHL season.
That is a big blow and the Avalanche can’t be silent this time. The organization has to make moves now and even take gambles. Which is what Colorado is kind of doing by acquiring Ryan Johansen.
I know the Avalanche are not giving up as much as Alex Galchenyuk who was mainly an AHL player last season. However, Johansen, like I mentioned earlier, has regressed a ton. In fact he legit might be one of if not the worst players when it comes to rush shots and zone entries. Those are key traits players need to possess in the NHL that is not speed.
The Gamble is in which Ryan Johansen this team will get. Will he be the player he was in his prime, or decline harder. A change of scenery could help him out, but I would not be surprised of he was given the number 2 center spot as while JT Compher was okay, he would fit more on the 3rd or 4th line.
Grades for Ryan Johansen Trade Nashville Predators - B+ Colorado Avalanche - B
This is a tough one to grade as I went back and forth and I even debated giving the same letter grade. However, I have to give the higher grade to Nashville. Mainly because this feels like a salary dump was more important in the long term and the Predators avoided having to buy him out of his contract which is always a great thing. Galchenyuk is a great addition to the Predator’s AHL squad and with his experience, he could be a great call up. The Avalanche don’t completely lose as they did not give up much to get Johansen, but this is definitely a gamble to get a guy who showed signs of regression last season.
Overall great move by both Nashville Predators GM Barry Trotz and Colorado Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland Hopefully this move works for all parties involved including both organizations and players involved.
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