Guessing what Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland has up his sleeve has proven to be difficult. He may have tipped his hand earlier this week.

By trading Ilya Solovyov to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Avalanche dealt away their seventh defenseman. If everything goes according to plan, you aren’t dressing the seventh defenseman most nights, but this is the NHL. Injuries happen, and you aren’t likely to make it through four rounds of the playoffs without needing at least one more defenseman you feel comfortable playing.

The Avalanche had that guy in 2022 in Jack Johnson, who stepped in when Sam Girard’s season ended in round two due to a broken sternum. Right now, that guy is Jack Ahcan, a 28-year-old defenseman who has filled in admirably with 18 NHL games under his belt.

“Great skater, highly competitive, good puck mover,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said of Ahcan. “I like the way he defends. He’s an intelligent player. He’s been around for a while, and he’s excited for the opportunity. He’s played outstanding for the Eagles, and when he comes up here, he looks at ease.

“We like what he’s done when he’s played here.”

Ahcan has played well with the Avalanche this season, but the regular season and postseason are different beasts. It’s a copycat league and the team that has won it all each of the last two seasons, the Florida Panthers, has done so with a bigger blueline. Considering the Avalanche are already dressing Girard and Sam Malinski, two sub-6-foot defensemen, turning to the 5-foot-8-inch Ahcan would seem unlikely.

So while the Avalanche sent away their seventh defenseman in a trade on Tuesday, it’s likely MacFarland will be bringing in a new one within the next 42 days. And perhaps even one more to make sure the Avalanche are ready for anything when the playoffs roll around.

Who that defenseman could be remains to be seen. The jumbled standings in both conferences have plenty of teams still believing they’re in contention to make the postseason. Some teams seem to have accepted reality, that it’s just not their year, like the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks, while others (Columbus) think they’ve got a shot.

That means the number of teams looking to buy significantly outweighs the number of teams looking to sell. Until that changes, pinpointing potential trade targets on defense could be difficult.

One name that would fit a lot of what the Avalanche might be looking for is Carson Soucy of the Rangers. The 31-year-old defenseman is a pending unrestricted free agent, meaning the Avalanche wouldn’t be committed to him beyond this season. The Rangers have openly admitted they’re looking to retool, meaning players like Soucy will likely be headed out the door before the March 6 trade deadline.

At 6-foot-5-inch, 212-pound, Soucy would bring a different dimension as the team’s seventh defenseman. With over 400 regular-season games under his belt and another 38 playoff games, the coaching staff would have a better idea of what to expect from Soucy compared to some of the options they have in the AHL.

As things currently stand, the Avalanche are very happy with their top six on defense, as they should be. When those six are in the lineup together, the Avalanche are a ridiculous 22-1-2. Expecting all six to play every game in a grueling playoff run is highly unlikely, and MacFarland knows that.

Which is why he won’t stand pat with what he’s got on defense.

What I’m hearing

• When Valeri Nichushkin was in a pregame car accident on Monday, the Avalanche had to scramble to get forward Alex Barre-Boulet to Denver for the game from Loveland. “I think we let him know about 50 minutes before the guys were supposed to be here, which is two hours before the game,” Bednar said. Luckily, that was an afternoon game. If it had been an evening game, I’m not sure Barre-Boulet would have made it on time in I-25 traffic.
• Spoke to Avalanche video coach Brett Heimlich for a feature coming soon to The Denver Gazette. Everyone knows about challenges, but his job is so much more than that. “We wouldn’t be able to operate without him,” Bednar said of Heimlich.

What I’m seeing

• The Western Conference team with the third-best goal differential is not the Minnesota Wild. It’s actually the Utah Mammoth. They’ve gotten hot and have separated a little bit from the other Wild Card teams in the race.
• Speaking of heating up, the Vegas Golden Knights have found their game again. I find Rasmus Andersson to be a little overrated, so that trade doesn’t move the needle much for me, but you know what does? A healthy Jack Eichel. It’s no surprise they’ve turned it around with him back in the lineup. He won’t win the Hart Trophy as I predicted in the preseason because of his injuries, but he has played like a Hart candidate this season.

What I’m thinking

• It’s never a good sign when general managers have written more letters to the fans than they’ve won Stanley Cups. The New York Rangers’ ratio is way off right now.
• Is anyone crazy enough to trade for Elias Pettersson and the rest of that contract? Since signing an eight-year, $92 million deal, he has just 74 points in 106 games. Supremely talented, but taking on the rest of that deal would be awfully risky.