Friday marks one week past the NHL trade deadline. The Colorado Avalanche have made six trades since free agency opened on July 1st, with most of the players seeing action in the NHL. This article will cover all the trades one week after the deadline and examine the impact (or lack of) the player had on the Avalanche so far. We will go in chronological order. Here, will start on July 25th will an AHL trade.

Oskar Oalausson for Danil Gushchin

Oskar Olausson was one of the prize picks in the 2021 Draft for the Avalanche. Unable to stay healthy after having to adjust his style of play to the AHL, Colorado traded Olausson to the San Jose Sharks. The return was another prospect, a Russian named Danil Gushchin. He started out hot for the Colorado Eagles, leading the AHL in points for a couple of weeks. Gushchin was then recalled to Avs in November and never played and injured when he returned to Loveland. He has slowed down his scoring significantly since his return but ranks fourth on the Eagles in goals with 15 and has added seven assists with it. Gushchin could be a candidate for the Black Aces in the playoffs for the Avs and will be a UFA this summer.

Ilya Solovyov for Valtteri Puustinen (and a pick)

Ilya Solovyov was claimed off waivers on October 3rd from the Calgary Flames. He ended up playing 16 games for the Avs and only three games for the Eagles. But Colorado turned around and converted a waiver pickup into an AHL player and a 2026 seventh-round pick. In return, the Avs got Valtteri Puustinen from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Puustinen has turned into a decent forward for the Eagles, playing in 16 games and scoring three goals. He poses a threat on the power play, yet he will likely spend more time on the bench with Jacob MacDonald’s return.

Samuel Girard (and a pick) for Brett Kulak

This trade stands out as one of the Avs’ most surprising season transactions. They previously maintained that Samuel Girard would not be traded. Sam Malinski’s performance rendered Girard expendable, making a trade necessary. Colorado needed to replace him with size, and Brett Kulak from the Penguins was the man. In nine games for the Avs, Kulak has become a force on the blue line, providing that much-needed size. Kulak has only four penalty minutes and averages over 17 minutes of ice time a night. This takes a lot of pressure off Cale Makar and Devon Toews. The Avs cleared $2.25 million in salary cap space by only giving up a 2025 second-round pick.

A pick for Nick Blankenburg

Not much has come of this trade. The Avs needed a seventh defenseman, and that is what they got. Nick Blankenburg has had only one game to show his capabilities to Avs fans. Thursday’s game against Seattle saw him play 9 minutes 31 seconds on the ice. His role fulfilled the Avs’ requirements precisely: managing clock time for others to get rest. He’ll play that role for the rest of the season.

Two picks for Nic Roy

The Avalanche acquired Nic Roy for two conditional picks before the deadline. They gave up a 2026 fifth-round and a 2027 first-round pick. But there was speculation it was because the Nazem Kadri deal had gone sideways. Roy was going to be the third-line center until the Kadri deal went through. He has played in four games for the Avs, scoring two goals so far. Besides the goals, he has put nine shots on net and added fight to his resume. Roy has brought some extra grit to the bottom-six the really needed it.

Two players and two picks for Nazem Kadri (and a pick)

The biggest trade by far at the deadline was Nazem Kadri to the Avalanche. It was a deal that snuck under the wire right before the cutoff. Colorado had to give up conditional 2027 and 2028 picks, Max Curran, and Victor Olofsson. In return, the Avs got Kadri (20 percent salary retained) and a 2027 fourth-round pick. Kadri has had an immediate impact on the lineup already in Colorado. In his second period back as an Avalanche, he connected with Nathan MacKinnon for an assist. Kadri scored his first goal on Thursday against Seattle. He can play throughout the lineup as a center and wing, and provide a threat on the power play.

Post-deadline, the Avalanche became a much stronger team. There was talk of winning the Stanley Cup before this; now it would be considered a failure. Colorado is a solid team (right now) on lines 1-3. Once they get Gabriel Landeskog, Artturi Lehkonen and Logan O’Connor back, they will have a solid lineup in all four lines.