Avalanche signs Joonas Donskoi

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At the opening bell of free agency, the Avalanche signed forward Joonas Donskoi to a four-year, $15.6 million contract. The AAV on the deal comes in at $3.9M per season.

Donskoi, 27, is coming off a career high 37-point (14g, 23a) season in 80 games played. It was the first time he played 80 games in his four NHL seasons. He’s recorded 122 points (45g, 77a) in 283 games played since he was a fourth round pick of the Florida Panthers in 2010.

Donskoi certainly doesn’t scratch the itch of the Colorado fan base for a bonafide top-six wing but as a guy who has spent his career in the bottom six of a loaded San Jose team, Donskoi is a player with intriguing upside.

The 37 points he scored last season would be just behind Alexander Kerfoot and 34 of those came at even strength. In fact, this signing is very similar to that of the trade for Andre Burakovsky where the hope is for a significantly increased role to translate into a cost-efficient option in Colorado’s top nine forwards.

Donskoi is an effective right wing, an area where Colorado has struggled in recent years to put quality players. Given the acquisition of Burakovsky, who can play both wings, and Donskoi in the same week, it looks like the trade of Carl Soderberg just might mean another shot for J.T. Compher at the center spot.

Donskoi’s addition adds another speedy player with intriguing skill that makes the Avalanche tougher to play against. The real question is how much better are they with him and Burakovsky added versus last year’s lineup? It’s a legitimate question but it’s certainly an interesting approach to addressing Colorado’s lineup issues.

This signing is another show the Avalanche are at least incorporating analytics into their thought process because Donskoi certainly comes across as something of an analytics darling. He’s a strong even-strength player who receives no special teams time but has put up strong offensive and defensive metrics, as you can see below.