Before the dust had even settled on the Avalanche’s 2016 draft class, the team made a move, sending defenseman Nick Holden to the New York Rangers in exchange for a 2017 4th round pick.
Holden was first acquired via free agency in the summer of 2013 and after sitting as the team’s 7th defenseman for the first third of the season, established himself as a permanent fixture on the Avalanche blueline. The trade ends a three year tenure for Nick Holden, during which he was a staple on Patrick Roy’s roster and earned regular time in the team’s Top 4 defensive rotation. Holden registered a career high 10 goals and 25 points in his first shortened, 54 game season with the Avalanche, but never approached that number again, topping out last season with just 6 goals and 22 points in a full 82 games.
The Avalanche have long been lambasted in the national media for the poor possession numbers and porous defense, so it’s not surprising that the team is moving on from some of it’s regulars, but Nick Holden wasn’t a bad player in his own right so much as he was over extended in the role he was given. As a third pairing defenseman, Holden can be an effective if unspectacular player and boasts respectable analytics.
The trade was likely necessitated by the continued development of the Avalanche’s top defensive prospects, Nikita Zadorov and Chris Bigras. Both young players are left handed shots, as are veteran Francois Beauchemin and Eric Gelinas. With 5 left handed defensemen and only three defensive pairings, someone was sure to be squeezed out and Nick Holden at this stage in his career was simply the most expendable of the group.
In return for Nick Holden’s services the Avalanche receive a 4th round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft from the New York Rangers. The return seems a little low but the NHL market has been very stagnant and unforgiving so far this summer. The 4th round pick acquired will help to offset the loss of the Avalanche’s 2017 3rd round pick, used to acquire Nick Holden’s likely replacement Eric Gelinas.
While Joe Sakic has been explicit about his reluctance to go chasing big free agents on July first, it is worth noting that this is the second time in the last three days that the Avalanche have moved to shed salary. On Thursday the Avalanche moved on from Reto Berra and his $1.5M cap hit and now they’ve shed an additional $1.65M for each of the next two years. This combined with reports that the Avalanche have John Mitchell’s name in play should lead to some healthy suspicion on the UFA front. The Avalanche don’t have real immediate cap problems unless they go out and sign an additional large AAV contract after extending Nathan MacKinnon and Tyson Barrie. Things have been very quiet on the Alexander Radulov front for the last week, but if the Avalanche continue clearing cap space it’s something to monitor.
Nick Holden was a well beloved personality in the Avalanche locker room and will certainly be missed by his teammates, but when you don’t win, tough business decisions have to happen. The Avs must improve their defense, and with a logjam of prospects on the left side, Nick Holden just didn’t fit anymore.
