The Colorado Avalanche traded Kurtis MacDermid to the New Jersey Devils this afternoon in exchange for a 2024 seventh-round draft pick and Russian forward prospect Zakhar Bardakov.
MacDermid appeared in 29 games for the Avs this year and scored two goals while only averaging 5:05 of ice time in his transition to a full-time forward. He had spent the last two years in Denver playing both forward and defenseman and bringing his bruising playstyle to be an efficient use of salary cap space as they paid one player to play two roles, but it became clear that he had fallen out of favor and the team had not found a meaningful role for him this year.
The appeal to the Avalanche here is obvious in that MacDermid had become expendable and the Avs parlayed a player on the outs into a draft pick this year, a prospect who may help them someday, a freed-up roster space, and nearly $1M in salary cap space.
With the Avs so tightly pushed up against the cap with the trade deadline approaching next week, every dollar counts and the Avs got a little extra breathing room and a low-end asset to operate with ahead of next Friday’s deadline.
It is the second in-season trade the Avalanche have made this year that has added a draft pick to their coffers along with the deal that sent Tomas Tatar to Seattle for a fifth-round pick. After those trades, they currently have picks in rounds 1, 4, 5, 6, and two in 7. The pick they added in today’s trade is actually Nashville’s selection, which New Jersey acquired on draft day last year.
The removal of MacDermid from the roster puts the Avalanche at 12 forwards, 7 defensemen, and 2 goaltenders and the current alignment at $2,229,257 in available cap space.
Adding Bardakov is a bit of an unknown as he was drafted by the Devils in the seventh round of the 2021 NHL Draft and whose box score numbers are not immediately appealing. He’s listed at 6’2″, 198 pounds and is a left-handed center who registered 12 points (6G, 6A) in 51 games for SKA of the KHL.
From the Avalanche press release, general manager Chris MacFarland had this to say about Bardakov:
“Zakhar is a hard-working, active center who brings speed and physicality to any lineup. He is a team-first player with a strong compete level and a highly committed defensive game.”
Colorado now owns Zakhar’s rights indefinitely as he will be added to their reserve list. If he becomes a player who ever comes to North America, that will be another feather in the cap of this trade.
Following this deal, all eyes turn to the deadline next week as the Avalanche presumably continue trying to find a home for Ryan Johansen’s $4M salary in search of upgrades at the center position, along the blue line and in net.
This feels like a classic “clearing space” kind of move that teams frequently make right before the deadline when they have an idea of what they’ll be doing to shore up their roster, but it’s still on MacFarland to actually seal the deal.
