Carl Soderberg's Colorado tenure ends with trade to Arizona

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After four years in an Avalanche jersey, Carl Soderberg’s time in Colorado is no more as the Avalanche traded him to the Arizona Coyotes today in exchange for defenseman Kevin Connauton and a 2020 third-round pick.

Soderberg, 33, has just one year remaining on the five-year deal he signed when the Avalanche traded for his free agent rights in 2015. He was Colorado’s highest scoring forward last year after the dominant top line with his 49 points (23g, 26a) in 82 games played.

Statistically, it was Soderberg’s second-best season of his career behind the 51-point year he had in his first year in Colorado. Soderberg did struggle some at the end of the season and notched just two assists in 12 playoff games.

Coming back to Colorado is Connauton, a 29-year-old defenseman signed for one more year at $1.3 million. He appeared in 50 games last year for Arizona and scored eight points (1g, 7a). Colorado’s defense is already pretty loaded but with Erik Johnson having shoulder surgery and Ian Cole having surgery on both hips, there’s a reason to feel like Connauton can play a depth role for the Avs.

In addition to Connauton, the Avs added a third rounder to their 2020 draft coffers. That likely ends up being the primary piece of this deal from Colorado’s end, especially because they didn’t have their own third round selection thanks to the trade deadline acquisition of Derick Brassard.

The deal also leaves an obvious hole in the middle of Colorado’s lineup but also gives them approximately $38.9 million in cap space to work with this summer as free agency opens next week.

“I’d like to thank Carl for everything he has done for the Avalanche both on and off the ice,” Avalanche Executive Vice President / General Manager Joe Sakic said.  “This trade allows some of our young centermen to have a chance to play a more prominent role on our team while adding an experienced defenseman to our roster.”

The “young centermen” could be any combination of Alexander Kerfoot, J.T. Compher, Tyson Jost, Vladislav Kamenev, and Shane Bowers. All of those guys have either played in the NHL as centers or in Bowers’ case, will someday.

The other obvious aspect to this deal is how the Avs plan to weaponize the additional cap space. Should they be aggressive in free agency as they’ve previously stated they will be, they likely won’t miss Soderberg much and they’ll be just fine. They’ve already been connected to players like Artemi Panarin, Mats Zuccarello, and Gustav Nyquist.

Below are some of Connauton’s fancy stats, courtesy of Micah Blake McCurdy: