What the trade of Ilya Solovyov to the Penguins means for the Avalanche

If you’ve clicked on this and are asking, “Wait, what happened?”, you’ve come to the right place. This afternoon, the Colorado Avalanche and Pittsburgh Penguins agreed on a minor trade that swapped some guys around. Here are the full details:

COLORADO GETS:

• Forward Valtteri Puustinen
• 2026 7th-round pick

PITTSBURGH GETS:

• Defenseman Ilya Solovyov

What did the Avs get?

Let’s start with what the Avs are getting in Puustinen and the pick. The pick adds to Colorado’s coffers and is the fourth selection they have in the seventh round of the 2026 NHL Draft. They’ve actually made some intriguing selections in that round in recent years (Nikita Prishchepov and Taylor Makar both have played in the NHL), so it isn’t without hope that they do something of interest with those picks. It also continues one of my favorite (and dumbest) bits in hoping the Avs trade for all 32 picks in the seventh round. Four down, 28 to go!

In Puustinen, the Avs are getting another smaller player whose AHL credentials are strong but whose NHL profile is limited. At 5’9″, 183 pounds, Puustinen isn’t a guy who is going to bowl you over with size and physicality. He is fast as heck, though, so of course the Avalanche staff liked him. He’s a hard-working forward who has been respectable in his NHL stints.

Back in 2023-24, Puustinen got 52 games in the NHL and did okay for himself, notching 20 points (5G, 15A) and showing great speed but struggled to put the puck in the net. Here was his player card from back then:

The playmaking was good, the play-driving was intriguing, and his two-way work showed well. He wasn’t a problem in his own zone. He took too many penalties, though, and couldn’t score goals himself. That’s going to be a struggle when you don’t bring any value on special teams. At 26, Puustinen is signed through the end of this season but is scheduled to hit the unrestricted free agent market this summer.

In the immediate, Puustinen is slated to report to the Colorado Eagles of the AHL. With the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL), he recorded 26 points (7G, 19A) in 35 games this year. He has two 20-goal seasons in the AHL on his resume, but they came back in 2021-22 and 2022-23 before he started getting NHL call-ups.

Puustinen is the player archetype who often gets stuck being reliably productive and impactful in an AHL lineup, but cannot seem to break through into an NHL regular because he struggles in a checking role but isn’t skilled enough for a scoring role, especially on a good team like Colorado. I have low expectations for NHL impact from Puustinen, but his style will certainly appeal to Colorado’s staff (obviously, they just traded for him). I do expect him to become an impact player for the Eagles, however.

What does the loss of Solovyov mean for the Avs?

Solovyov was claimed off waivers from the Calgary Flames at the end of the preseason and got into 16 games with the Avs. His underlying numbers were pretty interesting and he had the first goal of his NHL career, but Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar never seemed to fully take to his game and give him trust. He went about two months in between NHL games as the Avalanche defense got healthy before Devon Toews was injured during a January 3 contest against the Winnipeg Jets.

Solovyov had been in Colorado’s lineup since the Toews injury, but the Avs were clearly comfortable moving on from him as Toews nears a return (they are hopeful it is within the next week). The Avs could have kept Solovyov on the roster, but I expect Jack Ahcan’s strong year with the Eagles (and great earlier showing with the Avs) has the staff itching to get him into some games before Toews comes back.

In the end, the Avalanche turned a waiver claim into a depth forward who should be an impact player for the Eagles (at least) and a seventh-round pick. That’s a pretty good piece of business, even if it is on the small side.

I’m not sure moving Solovyov will mean anything deeper than that as the Avalanche aren’t pressed up against the salary cap and the only Eagles defensemen making more than Solovyov’s $775K salary are Alex Gagne ($910K), Sean Behrens ($905,833), and Saige Weinstein ($783,334). The Avs don’t have such a cap concern that it will make a meaningful difference who they call up to replace him in the lineup.

I don’t see this as a precursor to any other kind of move; it was just them capitalizing on a chance to get two assets they liked (picks are always good!) in return for a player they were comfortable continuing without.

This is more likely to end up as a fun trivia question than a trade that makes a real impact someday, but we’ll see where things go from here.