I guess you could call this day three of the trade deadline coverage. The Colorado Avalanche have made multiple moves in the last two days, but wrapped with a slow day on Friday. They gained Sean Walker, Casey Mittelstadt, Brandon Duhaime, Graham Sward and Yakov Trenin. The Avalanche would have to give up Bowen Byram, Ryan Johansen, Jeremy Hanzel and a few picks to achieve this.
As usual, the day started out pretty slowly for Colorado. Right before their morning skate, they announced they had made a move.
BENNY MEYERS WITH 43 SECONDS LEFT! Jack Ahcan sends it up to Cedric Paré for the drop pass to Meyers. Meyers shoots and the Eagles complete the comeback win! They have now won 8 in a row!!!!!!! #Avs #GoAvsGo #EaglesCountry @TheRinkColorado pic.twitter.com/0QfjiHmUc9
— Brennan Vogt (@brennan_vogt) March 2, 2024
Deadline Day
The team sent Ben Meyers over to the Anaheim Ducks for their 2024 fifth round pick. Colorado now will have two picks in the fifth round this year. The Avalanche signed Ben Meyers in April 2022 as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Minnesota. Meyers played a fill-in role on the fourth line for the Avalanche, showcasing strong forechecking skills with limited offense. When Meyers was on the Colorado Eagles, it was a different story. Meyers primarily played on the top line and power play unit. Last year, the forward split his time between the NHL and AHL, so playing under head coach Greg Cronin is familiar territory. Given the recent influx of forwards, Meyers is likely to receive increased playing time in Anaheim. This is helpful for both teams.
Ben Meyers requires 21 more NHL games played to retain his RFA status. Anaheim #FlyTogether only have 20 games remaining this season, and therefore Myers will be a UFA 6 at the end of the season. https://t.co/8wahWuszSK
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) March 8, 2024
Conclusion
The Colorado Avalanche would keep it light for the actual deadline day. The Colorado Avalanche did all the heavy lifting in the days prior with the four trades. Meyers needed 21 games to keep his restricted free agent status or he would be a Group 6 unrestricted free agent. The feeling I am getting is that Colorado wanted to part ways with him after this season. The Avalanche are so overloaded in forward that the Eagles may not see many call ups after this point. Overall, the Avalanche came out of the deadline as a better team. They filled in the bottom six and the second line center, both issues all season. The one thing that is an issue is that they did not get a solid back up goaltender. Justus Annunen and Ivan Prosvetov cannot handle the backup roll in the playoffs. Getting a solid, experienced backup goaltender is something that has to be addressed this summer.