3 Trades To Make Colorado Avalanche And New Jersey Devils Better

Very often, trades are one-sided in the NHL. More often than not, a team overpays in picks and prospects in order to get a star player. Those 1st-round picks can sometimes turn into future star players. Sometimes the prospects grow within an organization and become something great. Other times, one team gets a star and the other team gets pieces that don’t turn out to be anything. It’s very rare that trades are even.

However, it’s not impossible. One recent trade that seems to fit is the deal between the Anaheim Ducks and New Jersey Devils that exchanged Adam Henrique and Sami Vatanen. The Ducks desperately needed a center and the Devils desperately needed a defenseman. Neither turned out to be exactly what the other team needed, but since the Ducks re-signed Henrique to give the Devils a 3rd-round pick. That countered the 3rd rounder they gave up in the original deal.

So, there are possible even trades in the NHL. The Devils are a team that is going to be making trades this offseason. They have a ton of young players and only so many places to put them. On top of that, they have two 1st-round picks to add to their prospect pool, and they have picks in the other six rounds.

The Colorado Avalanche are a team in flux. They have put together seemingly the best team in the NHL two years in a row. And two years in a row they weren’t able to get through the second round. Something isn’t working with this team, but it’s hard to tell what it is. Two seasons ago, they had major goaltending issues and were on their third-string goalie. This season, there’s no excuse.

Tom Fitzgerald will call Joe Sakic this offseason. That much is obvious. Will they be able to make a deal? That all depends on what everyone wants. Here are three deals that could make everyone a little uncomfortable, but one that everyone will like in the end.