After two significant deals, the Avalanche acquire a second-line center.

The NHL trade deadline is about 48 hours away, and the Colorado Avalanche have made two big moves.

The first one is an area they’ve been trying to solve since Nazem Kadri left town after winning the Stanley Cup in 2022. And that’s the issue of second-line center.

The Avs are acquiring Casey Mittelstadt from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for defenseman Bowen Byram. Multiple reports say the trade is player for player, with no picks involved. This is a significant one.

In 62 games with the Sabres this season, Mittelstadt has 14 goals and 33 assists, good for 47 points. That leads Buffalo in scoring. He’s been in the NHL for parts of seven seasons, all with the Sabres, and is just 25-years-old.

It’s an all-in type move from Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland and team president Joe Sakic, trying to capture their second championship in three years. Losing Byram really hurts — there’s no other way to slice it.

He was a key member of the Cup team in 2022, and is just 22-years-old. But he’s also battled some health problems, specifically concussions, and hasn’t looked like the same player this season. It’s a risk Colorado’s front office is willing to take, and it makes sense. You don’t acquire top talent without giving it up.

Meanwhile, the Avs have also unloaded disappointing center Ryan Johansen and a 2025 first-round pick in exchange for Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Sean Walker. Walker, who’s in his sixth year in the NHL, has six goals and 16 assists for Philly this season. He’s averaging nearly 20 minutes per game of ice-time.

For Johansen, it simply never worked with the Avalanche. MacFarland and Sakic had high hopes when they brought him over from Nashville to be the second-line center, but the 31-year-old might be out of gas. In 63 games with Colorado he had just 13 goals and 10 assists. He was demoted to the third-line and taken off the power play for the most part.

Philadelphia immediately put Johansen on waivers, showing they didn’t want him either.

With the Avs acquiring Walker, they felt comfortable using Byram as a chip in the bigger deal. Walker will fill the void left by Byram on the second-line defensive pairing.

Colorado is slated to play Detroit later tonight at Ball Arena and Minnesota on Friday. How different the roster looks between now and then remains to be seen, but clearly MacFarland and Sakic thought some significant moves were necessary.

Avalanche opt for long-term solution for second-line center

There’s been no question of who the top center on the Colorado Avalanche is for some time. But after Nathan MacKinnon, one of the team’s biggest issues has long been who centers the second line. The team struck gold with Nazem Kadri but had to move on from him for salary cap reasons after winning the Stanley Cup.

And because of knee injuries to Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado has already been thin with their top forwards. So the last two years have been a bit of an adventure for the Avalanche filled with trial, and error and rentals. Now, general manager Chris MacFarland believes he found the solution for the team with a trade on Wednesday.

The Colorado Avalanche have three days to make a big move before the NHL’s trade deadline.

And while that could still happen in the next 72 hours, the team got a boost they needed on Tuesday.

Forward Valeri Nichushkin is likely ready to return to game action on Wednesday night against the Detroit Red Wings. Nichushkin entered the Player Assistance Program of the NHL and NHLPA on Jan. 15, and returned to practice on Feb. 26. The Avs have played four games without him as he works himself back into shape, going 3-1-0 during that stretch.

Nichushkin was spotted skating with the second-line at practice at Family Sports.

The numbers with and without Nichushkin in the lineup are staggering. Last year, the Avalanche were 39-8-6 with him, and 12-16-1 without him. This year, Colorado is 26-11-3 with him, and 12-9-2 without him. They’re basically a .500 team without Nichushkin, and a Stanley Cup contender with him.

We saw that last year in the playoffs, as he missed the final five games against the Seattle Kraken in a shocking Round 1 exit. The Avalanche’s Cup defense ended in seven games, and Nichushkin’s absence was a big part of it. Nichushkin vowed to address his issues “once and for all” when he left the team six weeks ago.

Before he sought treatment in January, Nichushkin was having a monster season. He’s posted 42 points by netting 22 goals and adding 20 assists. Even with the games missed thus far, he’s still fourth on the team in points behind Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar.

After going 3-5-2 to start the second half of the season after the All-Star Break, the Avs do seem to have things back on track. As mentioned, they’re 3-1-0 over their last four games, not surprisingly in the same stretch Nichushkin has been back at practice. That’s a big mental boost for the team, even if he’s yet to skate in a game.

But that looks to change tomorrow night against the Red Wings, and the Ball Arena crowd will be happy to see him back. The Avalanche are 38-20-5, good for 81 points on the season. That’s two points back of the Jets and Stars, who are both in action on Tuesday evening.

(Update 12:59 p.m.) –

After practice, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar pointed out Nichushkin still needs to get cleared by the NHL. Provided that formality goes through, he’s a strong candidate to play against Detroit.

After morning skate on Wednesday, Bednar said Nichushkin actually won’t play against the Red Wings. He still hasn’t been cleared by the NHL, and Bednar has “no idea” what that process looks like. Nichushkin’s next chance to play will be Friday against the Wild.