The Avalanche locked up Martin Necas to a long-term deal last October. Now they must figure out what to do with the other piece of the Mikko Rantanen blockbuster.

Jack Drury, the other guy the Avalanche acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes, is their lone important restricted free agent. In his first full season in Colorado, Drury posted a career high in goals, tied a career high in points, was their best face-off center and played on the first line of the top-ranked penalty killing unit in the NHL. On top of that, he had a productive postseason. Jared Bednar and former general manager Chris MacFarland both referred to him as an “elite fourth-line center” on multiple occasions.

While it’s an interesting classification and pigeonholes Drury, it’s clear the organization values him. But since the Avalanche acquired Drury in January 2025, a lot has changed down the middle. Brock Nelson was acquired and re-signed and both Nazem Kadri and Nicolas Roy entered the fold. Center depth is very valuable in this league, but paying too much for someone you consider to be your fourth-line center can lead to roster-construction issues.

The Avalanche are now left with a few options on how to approach Drury’s pending contract. The player did his part to earn a nice raise. How much the Avalanche can afford to pay him is another question, given their tight salary cap situation. There are three real options here for the Avalanche, all of which come with pros and cons. No matter which route the team chooses, it will impact their offseason.

Arbitration/short-term contract

Drury is arbitration eligible and will almost certainly file when the option becomes available. Arbitration is a nasty process, but both sides rarely go through with it. Last summer, 11 NHL players filed for arbitration. All 11 of those players signed before going through with the process. Filing for arbitration puts a deadline on contract negotiations and ensures the player is signed before training camp.

An arbitration ruling for Drury would be a one-year contract, given his age, and would send him straight to unrestricted free agency. While a one-year deal would be best for the Avalanche from a financial standpoint and allow them to maintain that center depth for one more year, sending a player straight to free agency isn’t ideal. This is an option. In the long term, it might be the least desirable one.

Long-term contract

This is where things get tricky. According to sources, the Avalanche have tried to sign Drury to a long-term deal a few times over the last year and have been unable to do so. From everything The Denver Gazette has been told, the Drury camp was looking for a contract that started in the $3 million range in annual value. From an organizational standpoint, that might be too much for a fourth-line center — even if you like the player, which the Avalanche do.

The Michael McCarron contract extension in Minnesota complicates matters and helps Drury’s camp. While Drury isn’t an unrestricted free agent this summer like McCarron was set to be, the majority of a long-term extension would cover his unrestricted years, so it needs to be taken into account. Drury is 26 and five years younger than McCarron, has a history of more offensive production and has been a far better face-off man. Between the two, Drury is the better player. He just isn’t 6-foot-6, which is McCarron’s best attribute. McCarron’s new six-year, $20 million contract carries a $3.33 million cap hit each year. You’d have to think that’s a cap hit the Drury camp would shoot for, at the minimum, on a long-term deal.

If the Avalanche and Drury’s camp can get a long-term done around that range, that leaves them with somewhere around $3.5 million in cap space to fill a few roster spots, most of which come on the blue line with Brett Kulak and Brent Burns heading toward free agency. That’s not a lot of wiggle room for a defense that could use additional help, which is why a long-term deal could mean additional player movement on the roster to create cap space.

Trade

With Nathan MacKinnon, Nelson, Kadri and Roy, the Avalanche have four natural centers already under contract next season. Those four players combine to account for 27.6% of the salary cap limit. Roy mostly played wing in Colorado, so there is some flexibility there, but the point remains: Colorado is already spending a lot down the middle.

If they can’t get Drury under contract on a deal they like, is a trade the next-best option? It’s a terrible free agent market, especially for centers. It’s reasonable to think the Avalanche could get real good trade value for Drury since some teams could view him as a third-line center. It could be an opportunity for the Avalanche to restock their trade assets by making a move at a position they’ve got some depth at.

On the flip side, Drury is one of the youngest players on an aging roster, and their youngest NHL center. Trading him might help the salary cap situation in the short term and bring back good value, but you’d be left with an aging center core that could see a drop-off in production and on-ice effectiveness at any moment. He might be one of the centers you want to keep in the long run.

Regardless of what the Avalanche do, it will impact how they approach the rest of their offseason. An extension, whether short or long-term, could lead to other roster players to create cap room, while a trade gives them a bit more flexibility at the cost of losing a valuable player.

It’s not an easy decision, but it’s one Joe Sakic will have to navigate in the coming weeks.

What I’m hearing

• In my mailbag earlier this month, I wrote I’d be surprised if Zakhar Bardakov was back next season in Colorado. That’s because I was told there were two real options with the player: Back to the KHL or a move to a different NHL team. It appears it will be the former, as Bardakov is set to sign a one-year deal in the KHL. It’s a loss, but I wouldn’t consider it a major one. While Bardakov has tools, he would only flash those tools for, maybe, one shift a night. Granted, he only really got six or seven shifts a game, so that makes it hard for a player to stand out. Can’t blame the player for wanting to go somewhere they can get on the ice. The Avalanche can tender him a contract to retain his rights just in case he decides to return to the NHL.
• The free agent market is bad and impossible to predict when you combine the talent available with a rising cap. But one name I’d keep an eye on with the Avalanche is Oliver Bjorkstrand. He’s been a strong two-way player but had a down year offensively in Tampa Bay. Bjorkstrand played for Jared Bednar in the AHL while in Columbus’ system and, together, the two won an AHL championship.

What I’m seeing

• Another offseason means another summer of Bowen Byram trade rumors. He had a real nice season in Buffalo last year, but it does appear he still wants to go somewhere where he can have a bigger role. San Jose, Chicago and Los Angeles seem like places where he could run their top power play units, something he wants to do.
• Sure sounds like Edmonton is going to hire Mike Babcock after the NHL cleared the Oilers to do so. Should be fascinating to see how that works out. Babcock’s success behind the bench in the NHL disappeared as soon as he no longer had Niklas Lidstrom to rely on, but I guess Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl aren’t the worst players to lean on. Babcock has not advanced past the first round of the playoffs in his last six years as a coach in the NHL.

What I’m thinking

• Former Avalanche forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare officially retired, so best of luck to him in his next chapter. One of the best talkers I’ve come across in my time covering the NHL and his career was remarkable when you look back at his path to the league.
• The Avalanche were one of the teams that tried to get K’Andre Miller from the New York Rangers last summer but couldn’t pull off the deal. He went to Carolina and led them in ice time on the way to a Stanley Cup. He would have looked good in an Avalanche uniform, but they didn’t have the assets the Hurricanes sent to New York.