Jonathan Drouin re-signing headlines understated free agency for Colorado Avalanche

As the Colorado Avalanche watched their Central Division rival Nashville Predators spend a ton of money to burn down the concept of a rebuild and go for it immediately, they hung back and worked the phones for a more understated approach.

Thanks to the $13M cloud of uncertainty hanging over them, the Avs couldn’t get into the mix for Jake Guentzel or Steven Stamkos. Instead, their focus of the day was in keeping arguably their highest-priority free agent, Jonathan Drouin.

We all know the Drouin story. Junior teammates with Nathan MacKinnon who experienced a significant amount of turmoil through his tenures with Tampa Bay and Montreal, Drouin eschewed larger offers last summer to team up once again with MacKinnon.

The results didn’t look great at first as Drouin was a healthy scratch just ten games into the season, but after that, it all started to click. He had 55 points in the final 69 games and set a new career high in both points (56) and assists (37).

Heading into a weaker free-agent class, there was plenty of thought that Drouin could cash in again and get another big contract. It sparked plenty of conversation about Drouin’s priorities and how he was uniquely equipped to say no to the largest contract offer he could get thanks to his history in Montreal.

We saw those priorities play out today when Drouin stayed in Colorado. We know the team and player badly wanted to continue the relationship, but the feeling had gone sideways a bit in the last 24 hours as we approached the opening bell of free agency.

It all came together shortly after Drouin talked with other teams and took a look around at the market. He wanted to be in Denver, so he was staying in Denver.

The final cost for the Avs? A one-year commitment at just $2.5 million. That’s a hefty raise for a player who played for $825K last season, but it’s not what you expect when you’re coming off a career year and are still just 29 years old.

Drouin is the key guy for the Avs so far in free agency as he brings them a little certainty in their top six forwards. The questions surrounding Gabe Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin meant the Avalanche were looking around for help after finally locking down a worthy 1-2 center punch in MacKinnon and Casey Mittelstadt, who signed an extension of his own last week.

Drouin removes one of those question marks. If they end up getting Landeskog and Nichushkin back, the roster obviously takes a huge jump forward even if Landeskog isn’t the same player he was before the injury (a fair expectation).

If neither player pulls on an Avalanche sweater next season, shopping for a top-six wing at the trade deadline isn’t the hardest piece of business. Drouin’s salary means the Avs might be able to manage their salary cap conundrum just right regardless of the other two.

Because it’s me, let’s take a look at some of the fancy stats here from Drouin’s season in Colorado and see what tremendous growth he experienced, which was surely a catalyst in the decision he made today.

As a reminder, positive numbers on offense and negative numbers on defense are good. They’re all relative to league average.

The most surprising of all of this was the defensive impact. We talked throughout the year that he appeared to be getting much more comfortable as a disruptive force in the middle of the ice.

He’s not great along the wall but he’s good enough with his stick to make it work. Where he got going was using that stick to pick off passes in the neutral zone to stymie rushes and create one of his own.

His finishing is probably not going to be repeatable in the same way as he scored 19 goals on 15% shooting, the second-highest of his career. Of course, he was owed some luck after shooting just 2.9% in his final season in Montreal.

All of this is to say that Drouin came as advertised: A great playmaker who saw the ice well but needed work on his defensive game. He put that work in and produced easily the best two-way season of his career.

If he can repeat that, it seems likely that the contract he signs for next season will be quite a bit larger (especially when Colorado’s cap problems are sorted out).

There were other players the Avs signed today, too, so let’s take a look at them as well.

Calvin de Haan, one year, $800K

If you’ve been a DNVR reader/listener for any previous offseasons, you already know how I feel about Calvin de Haan. He’s an excellent fit for what Colorado was looking to replace in Jack Johnson.

At 33, you aren’t trying to dream on him anymore and just accepting that he is who he is: a quality defensive defenseman who does a lot of the dirty work on a team and brings an additional physical edge. He likes blocking shots and clearing the front of the net while not bringing much offense. He also struggles with a long injury history, so prepare for him to miss some games.

That’s been de Haan for years now. I’ve long felt he was one of the league’s more underrated defenders in his own zone. He’s smart and understands how to play within himself.

I’ll admit that I am very curious about what happens when he plays in a system that takes the leash off and allows him to roam offensively, but he might be so comfortable not doing any of that that it won’t matter.

He is excellent at denying zone entries and retrieving pucks from the D-zone and getting them out. It’s a very similar skillset to what Johnson had, but de Haan is a little better at everything other than staying healthy.

The fancies show a good player in his own zone, too.

Seeing that he was actually a pretty decent play-driver with Tampa Bay last year makes me wonder if letting him loose could produce some better results, but my expectations are limited for a player who has broken 20 points just once in 11 years.

Joel Kiviranta, one year, $775K

Joel Kiviranta re-signed after taking a quick look around. The Avalanche coaching staff loves him and he worked his way from PTO player in last year’s training camp to being a lineup regular in the playoffs when he was healthy.

Those playoffs were his best showcase, too. He was okay in the regular season with nine points in 56 games played but it was his work in the playoffs that popped. He scored two points in eight games but was among Colorado’s most consistently effective forwards in the Winnipeg series.

Against Dallas, he was battling injury and didn’t have the same impact. It would stand to reason that with Logan O’Connor being healthy next season, Kiviranta is once again fighting for a spot in Colorado’s depth with Parker Kelly, Nikolai Kovalenko and anyone else who gets into that mix.

Kiviranta’s defensive results are what keep the coaching staff interested in him as we’ve seen a very limited offensive player throughout his career. He’s also the kind of hardworking guy who is well-liked and makes it easy to keep him hanging around.

As a depth guy, he’s solid. He will have some competition from Kelly, however…

Parker Kelly, two years, $825K

Parker Kelly likely won’t be familiar to many Avalanche fans as a fourth-line wing for the Ottawa Senators the last three seasons. When Brandon Duhaime left for greener pastures in Washington, the Avs lost a physical presence on their fourth line.

Enter Kelly, who got a multi-year deal from the Avalanche as a reward for scoring 18 points (8 goals!) in 80 games last season. The production is good for the price he signed at, but it’s what he does in his own zone and on the forecheck that caught the Avalanche interest.

He takes care of business in his own end as a quality depth wing should but he plays with the kind of heart and soul they also lost when Andrew Cogliano retired. Throw in his love of running into opposing players and you have a classic combination for a role player.

He won’t wow anyone, but he’s going to fill one of the fourth-line vacancies. The Avs are looking for cost-efficient players and this signing counts. Just my two cents here, but I love this. I’m a sucker for guys with average size and skills who carve out NHL careers out of sheer force of will. This is what being a tryhard is all about.

Jacob MacDonald, two years, $775K

Our original agent of chaos returns to the fold! Jacob MacDonald comes back after a sojourn to the San Jose Sharks two years ago. He’s still sometimes a forward and sometimes a defenseman, which I imagine is part of the appeal for the Avs. Two positions for the price of one!

It’s a two-way contract, though, which is always an indicator that the Avs really view MacDonald as likely headed to the AHL. That he got $525K for an AHL salary strongly suggests we might be looking at the next captain of the Eagles.

Not much has changed since MacDonald was traded to San Jose a couple of years ago. He’s the same high-event maniac he was back then. He’s a delight to watch, but his effectiveness wanes. I look forward to seeing him back in the Avalanche organization.

Calle Rosen, one year

I haven’t seen financial terms of this deal anywhere but I would guess it’s the same $775K we saw with MacDonald. It’s also a two-way deal, so this is another guy I am planning to see in Loveland with the Eagles.

I’m mostly writing about him because I think it’s fun that Calle Rosen is back in the organization with the Avalanche where he has some interesting ties.

He was traded to Colorado along with Nazem Kadri and then was later traded back to Toronto. He found his way to St. Louis and, wouldn’t you know, was the defenseman who pushed none other than Nazem Kadri into Jordan Binnington, injuring him for the remainder of the series and sparking a torrent of hateful invective sent Kadri’s way.

Well, I find it interesting.