The Avalanche’s two recent moves showed the immediate direction of the franchise. 

After hiring former Seattle Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol to be their new assistant coach, taking the spot previously occupied by Ray Bennett, the Avalanche announced a two-year extension with Josh Manson, keeping the rugged defenseman under contract with the Avalanche through 2028.

We’ll focus for now on the Manson extension, because it’s not something that needed to happen this summer. That’s what makes it so intriguing.

Keep in mind Manson, who will turn 34 when next season starts, was already under contract for the 2025-26 campaign. This extension won’t kick in until the following year and will see him take a minor pay cut. Manson is set to have a cap hit of $4.5 million next season but his next extension will see him carry a hit of $3.95 million.

And that’s pretty fascinating.

Comparing it to a few contracts signed this summer by defensemen, it’s no wonder Chris MacFarland and company were willing to get this done now. Both Ryan Lindgren and Cody Ceci were signed to four-year contracts this summer that will see each carry a cap hit of $4.5 million.

Would I take either of those guys over Manson? No chance, even with Manson’s availability issues. When healthy, Manson brings an edge to Colorado’s blue line they could use more of. There’s also an argument to be made he was their most consistent defenseman against Dallas in the playoffs. He has his faults, but he’s a solid defenseman you can expect to live up to the extension for at least one of those years.

That “when healthy” part is a big deal, though. It’s also why some folks are wondering why the Avalanche felt the need to get this taken care of now.

Since signing his four-year extension after helping the Avalanche win the Stanley Cup in 2022, Manson has had real trouble staying healthy.

It’s something the Avalanche should have foreseen, given he had the same issue in Anaheim, but it hasn’t gotten better. Over the last three seasons, he’s played in 151 of the 246 games. In other words, Manson has only been available for 61% of the games the last three seasons.

That’s a lot of time out of the lineup, and given the way he plays the game and the fact that he’s not getting younger, it’s fair to assume it’s still going to be an issue moving forward. The way I see it, the pay cut takes into account the fact both parties know he’s going to miss some games. It’s risky to extend an injury-prone player this early, but given the price tag and the shorter term, this isn’t a bad piece of business by MacFarland.

So what happens with the rest of the defense, if anything?

Colorado has seven defensemen under contract for next season. The seventh defenseman is Keaton Middleton, which gives the Avalanche the rare “problem” of having four of their best defensemen as right-hand shots. Most teams would kill to have one or two, let alone four.

How this situation plays out will be fun to watch.

Technically, no one has to go anywhere. Cale Makar and Devon Toews aren’t headed out the door in a trade and now you can add Manson to that list. The new guy, Brent Burns, has a spot locked down. Rounding out the top six you have the two smaller defensemen in Sam Girard and Sam Malinski. The latter signed a one-year extension earlier this summer that could make him an unrestricted free agent in a year, while the former has two more years left on his deal.

There’s some belief around the league teams are willing to accept one undersized defenseman on their roster, but not any more. Both Sams would qualify as undersized, as the 5-foot-11 designation given to Malinski seems generous. Girard is trusted by the Avalanche staff, but it will be interesting to see how his role changes with the addition of Burns, if it does at all.

Manson and Girard, on paper, should be a good fit together, but it hasn’t worked on the ice. If the Avalanche have to move anyone to their “off side,” Burns is as a good bet to be the guy. He’s done it before and the staff would likely trust a veteran like him being able to do it again. If he does, it’s not unreasonable to expect him to get a look with Manson. And is Burns, who has made a career out of firing the puck from the blue line, a candidate to take Girard’s spot on the second power-play unit?

If Manson and Burns end up together, you’re left with Girard and Malinski as a pair. The Avalanche were comfortable with those two together in the playoffs, but would they want to do it again? I’m not sure they would.

While the Manson extension doesn’t kick in for a year, it raises some immediate questions. We should get those answers in training camp. If MacFarland has more up his sleeve between now and then, we may get those answers a little quicker.