You might have noticed that here at Mile High Sticking we are running best and worst articles this week. Emphasis on worst at the moment. From worst free agent signing, to worst trade, and what could end up being their worst draft in recent times. That's a whole lot of bad vibes buddies.
But the initiative is intentional and going out across the whole family of Fansided sites. Negativity is not normally my thing. Last offseason when we were doing something in a similar vein I wrote about my favorite Avalanche uniforms of all-time. However when tasked with something specific I did want to challenge myself this year.
I thought about it for a few days and kept circling back to a central thought: You know what really dulls my skates? The offseason. Flat-out. The offseason stinks. It's the actual worst. Especially for fans of a perennial contender like the Colorado Avalanche.
Hockey fans tend to love the draft. Even when our favorite club lacks picks. I am no different in that respect. In fact, Colorado's 7th round selection is the one I am most excited for, due to personal reasons.
But as soon as the draft dust settles, the long dark road of another offseason stretches out before me. This is about the time I start to contemplate life as some kind of reverse bear, who hibernates during the summer and only returns in time for fall air and puck drop on a fresh season of Avalanche hockey.
Alas, I cannot do that, so today I'm going to stomp on my soapbox about the three worst parts of the offseason for Colorado Avalanche fans.
Free agency is worse than the trade deadline
This is perhaps the most case-specific gripe I have with the offseason. I submit that my feelings are colored by recency bias. However, I would also argue that based on league-wide trends it doesn't appear as though things are about to shift for some time.
The Colorado Avalanche have a top-tier roster with players that are compensated accordingly. The downside of that is a reality where they so rarely have cap room for anything approaching major free agency signings. This is actually okay if you ask me, because as I said, I like their talent.
Contenders are expected to be in some version of this very situation. Front offices then have to play on the margins and either lure quality players who are eager for a Stanley Cup opportunity and are willing to play for less than their perceived value or find reclamation projects and be right.
That is fine, it is the normal order of business. The Avalanche are doing that again this year. The addition of veteran Brent Burns is a prime example of the first strategy. It may or may not work out as the club hopes.
The second path to improvement is a bit more dicey. Still, Colorado has been adept at making the best of some reclamation project signings in the past. The most profitable example of that since the 2022 Cup win is probably Jonathan Drouin, Yet, after two solid years of bounce-back production he is now gone.
Drouin will now play for the New York Islanders. This will provide an interesting mini storyline to follow for Avalanche fans because Drouin figures to find himself somewhere in the Isles top six, where Colorado just plucked Brock Nelson from at the trade deadline last season.
Nelson also counts as Colorado's top free agency signing this offseason after his three year $7.5 million dollar extension. I'm still not entirely sure how feel about that deal. However I'm anxious to see how it plays out on the ice.
Purely on paper, I still like the fit. I just don't want another Casey Mittelstadt situation. The team essentially needed Nelson precisely because Mittelstadt didn't work out, and they had to part with a top prospect to do it.
This does provide me with a very easy transition though in showing why the trade deadline is better than free agency. Contending clubs like Colorado often get to use the deadline as an opportunity to correct previous mistakes.
This process is also exemplified in recent history by the brief saga of Ryan Johansen on the Avalanche. In the lead up to the 2023-24 season with captain Gabriel Landeskog on LTIR the team had some extra money for once and swung on Johansen. It was a disaster. Hence why I felt justified picking this particular cover image.
Colorado was able to dump the bad contract in Philadelphia by the trade deadline by some wizardry or luck, but they did not retain Sean Walker who they received in that deal when he wound up walking for more money than the Avalanche could afford last summer.
Over and over again playoff bound hockey teams like Colorado use the deadline as the more crucial time to polish their lineup. Even though I've admitted I dislike the deadline in the past, for all the anxiety it causes me as a diehard fan, it is superior by comparison to the free agency frenzy.
Can I also say that the discussion around free agency winners and losers is always funny? I mean, really. Maybe I'm a hater because Colorado often gets low marks in these mock-ups. I know how content creation is a beast that must be fed, but immediate grades are useless. This is a practice akin to handing out Oscar nominations after watching movie trailers.
The unreasonable trade proposals
The second thing that makes the offseason a big ole' bummer is the tendency to see all the awful trade proposals. This is really an issue within fandoms, but is played up by media with little to do but wait and pontificate.
Yes. I know, I'm technically now one of those voices. But self-reflection is also important. The rumor mill runs all season long, but with games happening it is easy to ignore. In July and August even the most zen among us might find themselves sweating over mock trades on social media.
Indeed the impetus for this article was found in such a fashion. When I saw a pitch that made me think, I've found it! The worst thing I will see all offseason. Now I don't want to throw actual stones at a random poster I don't know, so I won't link the tweet.
However the crux of the idea was that the Avalanche would trade Cale Makar for Leon Draisaitl and a first round pick.
I understand that I am emotionally attached to this team, it's why I choose to write about them. But when I saw this proposal on X I laughed. Then, when I saw it doing rounds on Bluesky as well, meaning that it penetrated the bubble on multiple platforms, I saw it mattered to the fanbase. Finally when it was shared in the MHS Slack I had to chime in with my thoughts.
This is an awful idea for the Avalanche and I will explain why in simple terms. For starters the Avalanche would be giving up not just the undisputed best player in the trade, as conceded by the throw-in of the pick, but they would be giving up arguably the best player in hockey.
You never do that unless absolutely forced by the player in question expressing not just a desire to leave, but demanding an exit. If such an nightmare scenario ever does unfold, you still don't do it with a conference rival on the verge of a championship.
Edmonton is knocking on the door with back-to-back Finals failures and so the reason why they would be interested is obvious. But Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland would be signaling his own candidacy for a lobotomy if he pulled that trigger.
Folks took the wrong lesson from Colorado's willingness to make blockbuster deals last year if they see this as viable. In fact the Rantanen / Necas trade is all the reason you need to know the proposal is DOA.
If the Avalanche were not willing to pay Mikko Rantanen the $12 million he eventually got from Dallas why would they suddenly want to take on Draisaitl and his $14 million, and lose Conn Smythe and two-time Norris winner Cale Makar in the process?
Even with salary retention from the Oilers and the first round pick, which would in every likelihood be the final pick in the first round or close to it, this would be robbery. The interpersonal relationship of dealing with the same agent who represented Rantanen would only be icing on the vomit-inducing cake.
Offseason armchair GM is a thankless and non-paying gig for a reason. If the Colorado Avalanche traded Cale Makar right in his prime for anything they would be send this club into meltdown territory. If they traded him this current Oilers team they would be heralded as the biggest suckers in modern hockey history.
The utter absence of hockey
The final point really needs little explanation. However, I'm including it here because it ties everything else together. It is the root of everything annoying about the offseason.
No hockey means the free agency scramble is what it is - a hectic two or three day race followed by trickles of minor news. Free agency signings have always had this school dance energy of clumsily and sometimes desperately throwing yourself at a potential partner and then they either say yes or you mosey away with head down.
By direct comparison the trade deadline is better largely because the waiting is subtracted from the equation. Yes, it has the added stress of saying goodbye to an old friend, but at least you get to see what the club looks like right away. In addition, if you are a team like the Avs, you get to buckle down and prepare for another hopeful playoff run.
The unreasonable trade proposals from paid commentators and random fans might always be a fact of life but unless you are in the doldrums of a puckless summer you probably never even notice them.
The waiting without a doubt my least favorite part of the offseason. Believe me, I've already started counting days (74, I think). It's rough out here. I'm legit looking at schedules for Russian junior leagues today. October can't come soon enough.