After moving Miles Wood and Charlie Coyle, Colorado Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland has some wiggle room. With $8.95 million in cap space and some roster spots to fill, they’ll have to make some moves to fill out the roster prior to the season.

Here’s what we learned from MacFarland over the weekend and what The Denver Gazette is hearing about other potential moves.

Improving the defense a priority

While the Avalanche dealt away two forwards, it does sound like they want to improve on defense heading into the season. They’ll qualify Sam Malinski and hope to get something done soon, but finding him a defensive partner, or even someone for the second pair, is on the table.

“A left shot would go a long way,” MacFarland said, pointing out that the Avalanche have Cale Makar, Josh Manson, and Malinski on the right side.

If they do find someone, look for it to be someone with a bit of size and snarl.

Trade more likely over free agency

Colorado has typically been a team that acquires players through trades as opposed to free agency. When he was asked about his philosophy, MacFarland smiled a bit and said they look at all avenues to improve, but past history tells you a lot.

Given the free agent market is a bit weak, expect the Avalanche to pursue the trade market if they want to get better.

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Unprompted, MacFarland mentioned 24-year-old Russian Zakhar Bardakov as someone they’re excited to see at training camp.

Acquired in the Kurtis MacDermid trade, Bardakov is coming off a great KHL season where he put up 35 points in 53 games. The 6-foot-2 center has some real bite to his game and isn’t afraid to mix it up, something the Avalanche could use a bit more of. He was a solid penalty killer for his KHL team, something that could give him a leg up on the competition in training camp. He’ll have to play a bit more disciplined in North America, as he had a tendency to take bad penalties in Russia.

Logan O’Connor’s hip surgery

Earlier this month, Logan O’Connor had hip surgery, the same hip surgery he had in March 2024 that he was able to recover from. When asked by The Denver Gazette about the surgery, MacFarland confirmed that this procedure was done to O’Connor’s other hip. O’Connor is expected to make a full recovery and be ready to play by November or December.

If the Avalanche wanted to use LTIR again this year, they could with O’Connor, but it didn’t sound like that would be the case. Things always can change, but MacFarland mentioned they expect to be right up against the cap when the season starts.

What we’re hearing

Sources tell The Denver Gazette the Avalanche have looked into the idea of moving forward Ross Colton over the last few weeks, but nothing has materialized. The 28-year-old forward has a full no-trade clause until July 1, giving him the ability to nix any deal. After Tuesday, his no-trade clause becomes modified, meaning he can only block a trade to a limited number of teams. The Coyle and Wood moves may have changed plans a bit, but it’s something we’re told they’ve looked into.

While inconsistent, Colton has value on the trade market and if nothing comes to fruition (which is never a guarantee), it would still be a valuable player for the Avalanche. Artturi Lehkonen, Gabriel Landeskog, and Valeri Nichushkin, three of Colorado’s top four wingers, have all missed significant time over the last few seasons due to injuries and having a player like Colton there to step in when needed never hurts. He also has the versatility to play both wing and center, which is never a bad thing.

Either way, expect the Avalanche to be more active in the next week or so to improve their team.