With the Stanley Cup Finals underway between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Florida Panthers, the offseason is growing nearer. With that comes the excitement of the Draft, trades, free agency, and more craziness before the dog days of August...

This is one of my favorite times of year; I love following the rumors and the news around all the teams. I've always been fascinated with the idea of roster building, finding chemistry, and the ways that different teams build their rosters. The GM-ing of it all is exciting! Thinking back on the past years, and different directions the Avalanche have taken, it'll be interesting to see what this offseason brings.

Will it be a Ryan Smyth+Scott Hannon type offseason?
A Kariya-Selanne offseason?
A rumor of a big offer to Artemi Panarin?
The next Nazem Kadri trade?

This writer, along with some others, feel that the Avalanche may go the trade route for filling their 2C issues.... With the freed up cap space from Gabriel Landeskog's unfortunate LTIR (Believe me, I'd rather have Gabe the Babe on the team than speculate on how to to fill the skates he leaves behind this year), the Av's have some unexpected room to play with, and for me, it is obvious there needs to be some spending on the 2C hole. This year, with the JTC/Newhook experiment compared to the Nazem Kadri of the magical run from last year, this is an area of weakness that should be filled. It's not the main reason why the Av's faltered (Injuries!!!), but it certainly didn't help.

Let's take a look at a few trade targets that the team could look at. Keep in mind, these are in no particular order, and this is just based on speculation and possibilities!

1) PL Dubois.

PL Dubois is young, and there have been vague rumors about his desire to play in Montreal (this has been tossed around, unsure if true or not), but the Winnipeg Jets are in a weird spot. They have several potential free agents after next year (Hellebuyk, Dubois, Scheifele, Neiderreiter, Wheeler and more), and the GM in Winnipeg has said he may be listening on guys with 1 year left. He also mentioned that he is looking to stay competitive, and aren't going into a rebuild. This actually bodes well for the Avalanche, who might look to trade from their backend for that 2C. Maybe a deal around Samuel Girard and Dubois? Dubois plays a relatively heavy game, and is more of a goal scorer than playmaker. This seems similar to the Kadri deal, where the Av's moved Tyson Barrie, a smooth skating puck mover, for a shoot first gritty center (Kadri). Dubois had 27 goals this year, and 28 the year before, and it's possible he takes a 1 year qualifying offer and goes straight to UFA next year, so there is plenty of risk in this deal. The Av's might be looking to keep space open for Landy to come back though, so this might work out.

2) Mark Scheifele

Another Jet makes the list, as Mark Scheifele is one year away from UFA status. At age 30, he just posted an impressive 42 goal career high this year, and while his defensive effort leaves much to be desired, he could be paired with wingers like Val Nichushkin and Lehkonen to bring the defensive game, which would allow Scheifele to bring his offense to the table, which the Av's could have used this year.

3) Elias Lindholm

This player would be an AMAZING add if Colorado could convince the Flames to give him up. 50+% on the dot, 20+ goals 4 out of the last 5 years (the outlier being that he scored 19... so call him a lock for 20 goals), and could be a near point per game guy? Plus he's good defensively! Multiple votes for the Selke over his career, although he's never won.... Unfortunately I think the only way the Flames give him up is if someone either offers them something they HAVE to say yes to (overpayment), or if he let's the team know hes not willing to sign/gives them trouble on contract negotiations. That said, he would fit the team to a tee.

4) Nazem Kadri

Hey, if the Flames retained him down to $5 million, I'd take Naz back in a heartbeat. I know he had an outlier year last year. I know he likely wont repeat it ever. Being deep in the heart of Maple Leaf fan country (Nova Scotian's seem to love the Leafs...), I didn't like Naz when he was a Leaf. He had a bad rep. His playoff suspensions, and the antics... But over the course of his tenure with Colorado, he found a place in my heart, and will be a player I will enjoy for the rest of my life for what he did for this year. I think the team misses some of his swagger, and I'd take him back retained. Will the Flames do this? Nope. 98% chance they don't, but hey, a man can dream!

5) Evgeny Kuznetsov

Kuzy is an interesting case. He's always had such great hands. A fantastic playmaker. The famous super slow shootout moves (Youtube it, it's pretty cool...) He's rumoured to have requested a trade, the Capitals are in a weird spot, so could he be gotten cheaper with some retention? He scored a measly 12 goals last year, but his career shooting percentage is 11.2. Last year he shot a 7%. He may be in a regression, but it might be just because the Caps weren't great last year, and he's apparently wanted out of town for a bit of time. There are of course the cocaine suspension he faced for testing positive for the substance... So there is some risk.

Again, this list is pure speculation (and some wishful thinking) but isn't that what the offseason is about?

Stay tuned to see what happens next!

-Jordan Boutilier

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