In the rare case of the rumor mill getting one right, the Avalanche announced tonight they had traded Ryan Graves to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for a 2021 second-round pick and forward Mikhail Maltsev.

The trade of Graves two days before the Avalanche must submit their protection list for next week’s expansion draft is an important move for a team that is looking to shed salary cap obligations in the face of three key players due significant raises.

Graves, still just 26, heads to the Devils after a productive stint in Colorado with the Avalanche organization where he successfully made the leap from AHL player to legitimate role player on an Avalanche defense that was among the league’s best last season.

Acquired from the New York Rangers at the trade deadline in 2018 in an exchange of failed prospects as the Avs gave up on Chris Bigras, Graves slowly ascended Colorado’s depth chart and eventually turned himself into a lineup regular.

The defense partner of Cale Makar two seasons ago, Graves finished last year next to Sam Girard as the fourth guy on the depth chart but youth and a disappointing playoff performance against Vegas helped make Graves expendable.

While it was expected Graves would be a primary target of the Seattle Kraken in expansion due to his combination of size, age, and salary obligations ($3.16M AAV the next two years), the expectation for him now is that he will be protected by the Devils in favor of them exposing both P.K. Subban and Will Butcher instead.

While Graves gets a fresh start, Colorado frees up the money that was owed to him as they seek new contracts for Cale Makar, Gabe Landeskog and Philipp Grubauer. All three are vital pieces to Colorado’s success and all three are going to cost significant financial investments.

The flexibility gained by this deal is especially notable because the Avs still have to lose a player to the Kraken next week. While Graves was the obvious candidate, the focus likely now shifts to the forward position as the Avalanche are very likely going to protect seven forwards, three defensemen, and one goaltender.

Due to age and salary considerations, it is expected the two most attractive forwards to Seattle will be Joonas Donskoi ($3.9M AAV for two years) and J.T. Compher ($3.5M AAV for two years). They both offer something different but have their selling points as players.

In the event one (or both) gets protected, the next likeliest players to be in Seattle’s crosshairs would be Val Nichushkin and/or Tyson Jost, who right now look like the candidates for the sixth and seventh protection slots at forward.

For the price of giving up Graves, who was valued by several teams around the league, the Avs get the 61st selection in next week’s entry draft. The pick was originally owned by the New York Islanders, who are picking 60th with Colorado’s pick that was acquired last year in the Devon Toews trade.

With Colorado’s reserve list (see: unsigned prospects) down to just 10 players, the Avs badly need to begin restocking a farm system that has seen and will continue to see NHL graduations, and the acquisition of the 61st pick will help that as Colorado was slated to pick just three times (in rounds one, three and seven) before tonight’s deal.

Also in the trade is forward Mikhail Maltsev, who is a big body at 6’3″ and 200 pounds and still just 23-years-old. A native of Russia, Maltsev has only been in North America for the last two years and has recorded 22 (12g, 10a) points in 50 games in the AHL before putting up nine points (6g, 3a) in 33 NHL games last season.

Maltsev is entering the final year of his ELC and is a fair bet to be in competition for a depth roster spot with a salary at just over $800K.

A quick look at Maltsev’s underlying numbers reveals a decent player but not one that the publicly available tracking data suggests is a real analytics find. This looks more like a pro scouting call than anything else but here are his underlyings for those curious.