The Stars signed a right-shot defenseman last year that didn’t work for them. And now he’s on his way out of town. Also, the Avalanche locked up one of their four RHD to an extension.
All that and more on this edition of Deen’s Daily — July 10.
Colorado Hockey Now
I didn’t expect the Avalanche to re-sign Josh Manson, especially a year out from the end of his current contract. And it’s not for anything that has to do with his play. It’s his injury struggles that made me think they might move on from the almost 34-year-old.
But here we are. The front office likely saw value in extending him, even if it means taking a chance on a player that has missed 95 regular-season games in his three full seasons with the Avs. In the end, right-shot defensemen are a rarity and very valuable in the NHL. With the rising cap, the Avalanche felt letting Manson go might be a mistake.
I’ll have more thoughts about the Manson deal tomorrow, but you can read the details of his extension below for now.
Read More: Avalanche Sign Josh Manson to Two-Year Extension
I’ve also got more coming later today on some trade targets the Avs could look at to solve their 3C problem. I gave out a spoiler yesterday on one of those names.
More on that below.
Read More: Should the Avalanche Consider Bringing Back J.T. Compher?
Around The NHL
Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The Pens are the one team in the league to openly admit they’re rebuilding this offseason. One of the perks of that is using your cap space to acquire assets. Pittsburgh took on Dumba from the Dallas Stars, and got a free 2028 second-round draft pick in the process.
The Stars obviously need the cap space now.
I don’t think Dumba is going to be much of a player, but he’s also a RHD. If (big if) he has a solid three or four months, he’ll be highly sought after at the trade deadline, when teams are desperately scouring the market for righty’s on the blueline. This gives Pittsburgh an opportunity to gain more assets than the draft pick they already got.
Like I said, finding an NHL caliber RHD is hard. We’ll see how this plays out.
Montreal Hockey Now: Zach Bolduc is ready for any role the Habs have for him. I still love this trade for them, and have no idea why the Blues felt the need to give him up for Logan Mailloux. It’s that damned RHD they wanted. They likely overpaid for it.
NYI Hockey Now: The Isles aren’t trading their starting goalie, Oilers fans.
Chicago Hockey Now: What should the Blackhawks do with Anton Frondell?
