8 free agents who could be the next Avalanche reclamation success

The Colorado Avalanche are facing a unique challenge with the salary cap uncertainties this summer. With it unclear exactly how much money they can safely spend thanks to the ongoing Gabe Landeskog injury and Valeri Nichushkin’s suspension, the Avs will need to be creative in finding cost-efficient players this summer.

They have certainly had a talent for unearthing these gems for the last several seasons, beginning with Nichushkin himself. Other players whose careers have reached new heights in Denver include Andre Burakovsky, Nazem Kadri, Evan Rodrigues, Ryan Graves, and Jonathan Drouin, among others.

We’ve come to nickname this the “Colorado bump” as all of these guys either had career years, got the largest contracts of their careers, or both after their time with the Avalanche.

With free agency rapidly approaching, I’m trying to identify a list of players who could fit as the next reclamation project in Colorado. These are players who are coming off of down years and could be cheap signings that provide surplus value as guys who outperform their deals if they make it to the open market. They’re in no particular order.

John Klingberg, Defense, Toronto Maple Leafs

Once one of the underrated offensive defensemen in the league, Klingberg has had nothing short of a trainwreck of a two years. He passed up a huge extension with the Dallas Stars, rolled the dice in the market, and it went badly when he landed a one-year deal in Anaheim. From there, he was traded to Minnesota for their playoff push and did the same reclamation thing in Toronto last year.

He played only 14 games for the Leafs, however, as a hip injury required surgery in December and he missed the rest of the season.

At 31 (he’ll be 32 on opening night next season), Klingberg is on the decline already and it could be worsened even more after the hip surgery he is currently recovering from. If Klingberg can come back healthy, however, you can envision where he fits in Colorado as a cheap option on their third pairing.

He’s right-handed and has 412 points in 633 games. He was never a stout defender and it would be silly to expect that part of his game to suddenly come around. The aggressive nature of Colorado’s blueline could be a good fit for him if he’s healthy. The underlying numbers are in steep decline, however, and he would most likely have to be a PTO option just to see if he is even healthy enough to continue playing.

Oliver Kylington, Defense, Calgary Flames

Kylington is one of the most interesting players on this list for a few reasons. At just 27, he is young but also with a recent track record of success. He was limited last season because he took personal time away from the game for his mental health, but he returned and finished the year with the Flames.

Of everyone on this list, Kylington is probably the best fit in terms of position and how the Avs actually play. One of the smoothest-skating defensemen in the world, Kylington flies up and down the ice in the style of the Avs.

He’s not a physical player and only has average size so this wouldn’t address any desire for a great defensive defenseman, but his puck-moving skills and skating would slide right in. I’m not sure why Calgary would let him leave, but he would be a high priority for me if he makes it to free agency.

Denis Gurianov, Forward, Philadelphia Flyers

It’s been a few years since Gurianov was an effective NHL forward, but you couldn’t blame the Avalanche for taking a flier on this guy. He’s been on four teams in the past two seasons as it didn’t work in Dallas, Montreal, Nashville, or Philadelphia.

Three organizations moving on from a player in less than a year is pretty concerning, especially one who is 6’3″ and 200 pounds and can skate like the wind. Something has to be really wrong here for him not to stick, but this is the archetype of player who Colorado has to take a shot on.

Speaking of taking a shot, Gurianov’s ability to wire a puck is one of his greatest attributes. A big body who can skate, shoot, and started in the Dallas organization? The Nichushkin comparisons are inescapable. What separates them is Nichushkin had a reputation as a strong defensive player and Gurianov…well, he’s been seen in the defensive zone before but that’s about it.

Could the Avalanche get him to dedicate himself to that side of the puck, similar to what we just saw from Drouin this past season? If so, Gurianov has the potential to be an excellent fit in somewhere in the bottom of Colorado’s lineup.

Viktor Arvidsson, Forward, Los Angeles Kings

Arvidsson is by far the most effective NHL player on this list, certainly recently. He was good the last two seasons in Los Angeles but battled multiple injuries last season that limited him to 18 games. He scored 15 points in those games, however, and played well in the five-game loss to Edmonton in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

It would require him to be left out of the game of musical chairs on July 1, and if he is, it’s likely about the injuries. Players as small as Arvidsson (5’9″, 180 pounds) tend to break down very quickly in their 30’s and he just turned 31. When it goes, it’s gone.

Still, I struggle to believe that the increase in salary cap space across the league means Arvidsson gets squeezed out of a job, but if he does, he’d be a great fit in Colorado. He remains an excellent play-driving wing and slots in best as a secondary scorer. The easiest area to envision him is alongside Casey Mittelstadt, but the real sticking point here is the money.

If he’s trying to land one more big contract, it might be smarter for him to go somewhere like Chicago and play alongside Connor Bedard with heavy usage to put up points, but Colorado’s high-scoring consistency should be attractive to a player such as Arvidsson.

Matt Dumba, Defense, Tampa Bay Lightning

Dumba has long been more reputation than reality as the Wild consistently kept a high price tag on him in the trade market and his effectiveness continued to dwindle. He signed a one-year deal in Arizona last year and landed in Tampa Bay at the trade deadline.

It’s hard to say he rebuilt any value in either place, but the interest from Colorado makes a bit of sense. He’s a right-handed defender who can bring an element of physicality and goal-scoring from the blueline.

At this point in his career, he’s a bottom-pairing defenseman who likely won’t ever achieve the highs he did in Minnesota. He’s been overplayed some in his recent stops so a team that gives him a more appropriate role might reap the rewards, but this is still a player who might be able to help the Avalanche.

Dumba is exactly the type of player with warts who might have to take a low-money deal because of his downward trajectory over the last few years.

Anthony Beauvillier, Forward, Nashville Predators

Speaking of downward trajectories, what in the world happened with Anthony Beauvillier? He was humming along as a strong secondary contributor for the New York Islanders when they included him in the Bo Horvat trade. He had an excellent 33-game stint for the Canucks upon arrival and it’s been downhill ever since.

The Canucks traded him to Chicago early last season in a cost-cutting move and Beauvillier was not the kind of play-driving talent the Blackhawks needed. He is a guy who is more of a product of his environment and the environment in Chicago last year was terrible. Injuries and a youth movement turned that roster into a wasteland of talent and Beauvillier struggled.

The Predators took a flier on him at the trade deadline and he was okay for them. This isn’t a guy who is going to go anywhere and light it up, but in Colorado he could be a guy who fits anywhere on lines 2-4 as the Avs work through their own lineup uncertainties.

He can score some goals and might bring more offensive juice alongside either Mittelstadt or Ross Colton and is very much the type of player the Avs have previously targeted. He’s a former first-round pick who has shown flashes but couldn’t put it all together and is looking for a chance to re-establish himself as a legit NHL player worthy of a multi-year deal.

Denver wouldn’t be a bad fit for him, especially when you dig deeper into his analytics and see that his micro stats show a player who could thrive when put around more offensively-inclined talent.

Jakub Vrana, Forward, St. Louis Blues

Of all the guys on this list, Vrana has the most boom-or-bust potential. Between several trips to the injured list, one to the Player Assistance Program, and being traded twice, Vrana has seen a ton of things in the last four years.

It seemed as if he might have found a home with the Blues when he scored 10 goals in 20 games two years ago, but that magic did not follow him into last season. He scored just two goals in 21 games and badly scuffled, as did most of the Blues until Craig Berube was removed as head coach.

Vrana’s defining quality has always been his goal-scoring ability, but he has consistently been one of the league’s worst defensive forwards over the last four seasons and that area of his game is a major reason he finished last season in the AHL.

I just don’t know what to make of Vrana. Colorado is a place that demands an awful lot of its players every day and Vrana’s inconsistency doesn’t seem to mesh well with that on paper, but this is the time for the obligatory “You just never know.”

On a PTO, I could see the Avs giving it a whirl. On a real contract? I don’t know. If it works, it’s easy to see him being the kind of goal-scoring talent the Avs have not had since Burakovsky left for Seattle. The chances of that happening don’t seem high, but if you had told me a year ago that Drouin would have emerged as an excellent all-around player for the Avs, I would have given some pause and squinted at you, Philip J. Fry style.

Dominik Kubalik, Forward, Ottawa Senators/Victor Olofsson, Forward, Buffalo Sabres

I cheated and put these guys together because they are, essentially, the same archetype. Both goal-scoring wingers with serious deficiencies in the rest of their games, Kubalik and Olofsson fell from the ranks of 20-goal scorers that would have likely resulted in multi-year deals that could have given them the kind of contract security neither has ever had.

The draw here is obvious. They are goal-scoring wings who don’t do much else. If that makes you think of Andre Burakovsky, then you forget what a solid all-around player he became during his Avalanche tenure. Kubalik is probably the more attractive of the two as the one with the more stable history.

Olofsson has feasted on power play time he isn’t likely to get on any competitive team he plays for. Over 38% of his career goals have come with the man advantage versus just 23% for Kubalik. Both have experienced large fluctuations in shooting percentage in their career and when your only true NHL skill is scoring goals, that makes it a tough sell.

From a Colorado perspective, however, you have two guys who can score goals here. They don’t do much else, which is a significant concern for a Jared Bednar-coached team, but it’s a skill they’re going to need on the cheap next season. Pick one of these guys and maybe they rediscover the magic. I’d personally go with Kubalik, but their profiles are remarkably similar.