The Avalanche had just one notable restricted free agent to get under contract this summer.

That job is now done.

Less than 24 hours before free agency opens in the NHL, the Avalanche on Monday signed defenseman Sam Malinski to a one-year contract that will see him make $1.4 million next season, according to PuckPedia.com. With the one-year deal, the 26-year-old will become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Malinski is coming off an uneven regular season where he went long stretches of time without producing but played well down the stretch. He finished with 15 points in 76 games played, with eight of those points coming in the final 17 games. After being a healthy scratch for the first two games against Dallas, he played the rest of the series and picked up one point in five games.

The Minnesota native was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Avalanche after completing four seasons at Cornell.

With Malinski now signed, the Avalanche have 17 roster spots filled with $7.55 million in cap space. Russian winger Zakhar Bardakov is a good bet to take up one of those empty roster spots with his $867,500 cap hit.