Joe Sakic sold again, clearing even more cap space for his Colorado Avalanche. Is it finally time for him to start buying?

Just one day after sending Jack Drury to Nashville on Thursday, the Avalanche sent Valeri Nichushkin to the Columbus Blue Jackets. In return, they received three draft picks: a 2026 second-round pick, a 2027 third-round pick and a 2028 fifth round pick. Columbus takes on the entirety of Nichushkin’s contract, which carries a $6.125 million cap hit for the next four seasons.

By moving Nichushkin, Colorado’s cap situation becomes much clearer. The Avalanche now have just under $11 million in cap space with 17 roster spots spoken for. Of those 17 roster spots, only four of them are defensemen, so it would make sense if Colorado focuses on adding to their defense in the coming weeks.

While they now have cap space to make some moves, it’s clear that this Avalanche roster has taken a step back from the one we saw on the ice less than a month ago.

The Avalanche and Nichushkin parting ways is not a surprise. Sources told The Denver Gazette that both sides were ready for a split. That doesn’t mean the Avalanche won’t miss him on the ice.

Nichushkin had a down year offensively, but he was still a very strong two-way winger for this team. Playing on a line with Brock Nelson for almost the entire season, the two formed Colorado’s shutdown line, taking all the difficult matchups and freeing up Nathan MacKinnon’s line to create more offense. Nichushkin also was an essential part of the penalty kill. With both Nichushkin and Drury gone, Colorado’s top-ranked penalty kill has taken a hit.

The highs with Nichushkin in Colorado were high. He was arguably their best player during the 2022 Stanley Cup Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning, a series that earned him the massive contract he’s currently playing on. Until this past season, when Nichushkin was healthy and in the lineup, the Avalanche were unstoppable and the big Russian scored goals at an absurd clip.

The lows, however, were quite low.

Nichushkin struggled with issues off the ice, entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program in 2023 after his disappearance during the playoff series against Seattle. The next postseason, he received a six-month suspension for violating the terms of the Player Assistance Program.

He’s had no issues off the ice since then, but it’s always been something that has lingered over the team. In addition to the off-ice issues, Nichushkin has struggled to stay healthy, dealing with groin and, most recently, wrist issues. As he gets older, it’s fair to question how much those injuries will impact his game moving forward, as the wrist issues certainly impacted his offensive production this past season.

With four years left on his deal, the Avalanche were ready to move on and so was the 31-year-old winger. Time for a clean slate.

What Sakic does next will be fascinating to watch. He has some cap space and a few assets to use in trades, but the free-agent class is underwhelming to say the least. The Avalanche have youngsters like the newly acquired Fedor Svechkov and Zachary L’Heureux ready to step in up front, as well as Michigan products Gavin Brindley and T.J. Hughes. It’s possible they add a veteran forward in free agency for depth, but expect younger players to get an opportunity at forward to start next season.

The defense is a different story. Colorado has now cleared enough cap space to re-sign Brett Kulak if they choose to do so. Kulak was a nice addition and is a steady presence on the blue line, but he’s probably better suited on the third pair at this point in his career. The Avalanche have their sights set on a top four defenseman, per sources. Whether or not they are able to snag one now or wait until after the season starts remains to be seen.

The NHL draft will take place Friday and Saturday and the Avalanche, as of this moment, will make 10 selections.