All that and more on this edition of Deen’s Daily — August 27.

Colorado Hockey Now

Mikhail Gulyayev was drafted by the Avalanche at No. 31 overall in 2023. He’s actually the last first-round draft pick they’ve selected.

This season, the 20-year-old defenseman enters his final year under contract with his KHL club. If he’s looking to make the leap to North America, it could happen in the spring. But most KHL prospects would rather play in the NHL instead of the American Hockey League.

This is going to be a big year for Gulyayev if he wants to get here in 2026.

READ MORE: Mikhail Gulyayev Could Make Jump to Avalanche in 2026

If you haven’t seen it already, Barrie’s Instagram post that announced his retirement on Tuesday was hilarious.

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A post shared by Tyson Barrie (@tysonbarrie4)

Around The NHL

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: As we await word on a potential sale of the Penguins from Fenway Sports Group to the Hoffman family, Dan Kingerski writes how the team can improve with three changes.

San Hockey Now: The Sharks announced a new deal with their arena. It’ll keep them in San Jose for a long, long time.

Boston Hockey Now: The Boston Bruins are slated for quite a bit of National TV coverage this season.

New Jersey Hockey Now: Young Devils defenseman has had quite the offseason of training.

Detroit Hockey Now: The Red Wings are hoping to emulate the step the Ottawa Senators took last year to qualify for the playoffs. Former Sens blueline Travis Hamonic sheds light on how his team did it. Also Lucas Raymond’s favorite European club soccer team sounds familiar to the hockey team he plays for.

The post Deen’s Daily: Gulyayev Enters Pivotal Development Year; Tyson Barrie’s Hilarious Retirement Post; Improving the Penguins appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

All that and more on this edition of Deen’s Daily — August 26.

Colorado Hockey Now

I wrote on Sunday about the surprisingly fun event that was at Magness Arena. I’ll keep that linked below for anyone who hasn’t gotten a chance to read it yet.

READ MORE: Good Vibes and Memorable Moments at the Avalanche’s Alumni Game

Among the participants for the Avalanche was Tyson Barrie, who spent the season with the Calgary Flames. Barrie announced his retirement early Monday morning, 16 years after he was drafted in the third round by Colorado.

READ MORE: Tyson Barrie Announces Retirement — Played 8 Seasons With Avalanche

Around The NHL

Florida Hockey Now: The Panthers’ ability to get Aaron Ekblad, Brad Marchand, and Sam Bennett all signed have the oddsmakers on their side. Can the Panthers make the Final for the fourth straight season and win it all three years in a row?

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The Pens are bringing back their own Hall of Fame and will induct 10 new names spanning several generations of Pittsburgh hockey.

Montreal Hockey Now: The Habs have a hole at 2C and Kirby Dach is the guy they’ve hoped can fill that role. But he’s coming off another knee injury and was testing his ability in recent days.

Detroit Hockey Now: Past and present Red Wings poised to help CSKA return to the top of the KHL.

 San Hockey Now: What has to go right for the San Jose Sharks to make the playoffs?

The post Deen’s Daily: Tyson Barrie Retirement; Can the Florida Panthers Three-Peat appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

Coming off his participation in the Avalanche’s Alumni Game, the 34-year-old defenseman announced his retirement from the NHL early Monday morning, ending a 14-year career.

Barrie spent eight years with the Avs after getting drafted by the team in the third round in 2009. The first two seasons he appeared in, both in 2011-12, and in 2013, were spent mostly in the American Hockey League, mixed with a taste of the big club. But in 2013-14, he began a stretch of six seasons as a key piece of Colorado’s blueline. He also saw time in the AHL that season but ended up playing 64 games with Colorado, scoring 13 goals and 38 total points. Barrie was part of the young core that helped the Avalanche qualify for the playoffs.

That was the start of what ended up being the team’s best puck-moving defenseman for a half decade.

READ MORE: Good Vibes and Memorable Moments at the Avalanche’s Alumni Game

Barrie was part of Colorado’s transitional years from a team building its core to the one that eventually got over the hump after his departure. He built great chemistry with Nathan MacKinnon and other young pieces and played well over 21 minutes per game following the 2014 season.

In 2018-19, Barrie tied his career high with 14 goals and had his best season in both assists (45) and points (59). But the arrival of Cale Makar during the playoffs, along with the continued development of Samuel Girard, made him expendable that offseason. The Avs opted to trade him.

READ MORE: UFA Erik Johnson Still Wants to Play in the NHL

They packaged him and Alexander Kerfoot and sent them both to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a six-piece trade that brought Nazem Kadri to Colorado.

Barrie spent just one season with the Leafs before signing with the Edmonton Oilers. In 2022, he was part of the Oilers’ roster that made it to the Western Conference Final and got swept by the Avs. He was later part of a deal that brought Mattias Ekholm to Edmonton.

His career ended with a one-year stint with the Calgary Flames, where he played just 13 games and had three points.

In total, Barrie 110 goals and 508 points in 822 games — most of which came with the Avalanche.

The post Tyson Barrie Announces Retirement — Played 8 Seasons With Avalanche appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

After last week’s tragedy involving Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau, Cole Caufield made it very clear how much the Flames and Blue Jackets star meant to him. On Tuesday, he made it even more clear when he changed his number to honor Johnny Hockey.

Colorado Hockey Now

His team wasn’t able to pull out a win, but it was a solid showing for Ilya Nabokov (+)

After Leon Draisaitl’s massive contract extension, Andy Scott can now turn his attention to his other client, Mikko Rantanen.

Who is ready for some hockey? We now have a training camp schedule for the Avalanche.

News And Rumors

Yahoo Sports: He’s one of the nicest guys I’ve come across in the NHL, and happy to see him find an opportunity in training camp. Tyson Barrie is headed to Calgary.

A reunion in Colorado never made sense, but I still don’t understand why the Predators just stopped playing him. I get they didn’t want his trade demand to come out last year, but he’s still a solid offensive defenseman. Hope he can land a contract in Calgary.

Instagram: Cole Caufield will be changing his number to 13 this season to honor Johnny Gaudreau. Here’s what he had to say on Instagram about the change.

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A post shared by ColeCaufield (@colecaufield)

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: What the heck is going on in Pittsburgh? All summer long, I’ve been expecting extension news, but nothing to date for Sidney Crosby.

Is the dream still alive?!?

Boston Hockey Now: One surgery in the summer is bad enough, but apparently Bruins star Brad Marchand had THREE.

Florida Hockey Now: He won’t be coming to Avalanche camp, but he’s still got a shot at an NHL deal. Cup winner Steven Lorentz is headed to Toronto on a PTO.

New Jersey Hockey Now: Are there any future award winners in New Jersey? A popular Hart pick right now is Jack Hughes, but he’d have to find a way to stay healthy.

The post Evan’s NHL Daily: Barrie Gets PTO, Caufield Honers Gaudreau appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

With his assist on Nathan MacKinnon’s second period goal, Cale Makar became the highest scoring defenseman in franchise history, picking up his 308th career point. He passed Tyson Barrie, who previously held the record with 307 points in an Avalanche uniform.

With the assist on MacKinnon’s goal, Cale Makar became the highest-scoring defenseman in franchise history with 308 career points

308 Cale Makar
307 Tyson Barrie
275 John-Michael Liles
259 Adam Foote
253 Sandis Ozolinsh https://t.co/tW37ac3I8L

— Brendan McNicholas (@bmcnich) February 28, 2024

Perhaps the biggest surprise is that it didn’t happen sooner. Makar has been struggling of late, having just recently broken a career-long pointless drought of seven games. This record breaking point was actually a second assist, and Makar had an opinion on those earlier this week.

“It’s a second assist. It’s not really an assist, in my opinion,” he told the media on Monday.

Something tells me that this will be Makar’s record for a very, very long time. He’s under contract for three more seasons after this, and I’m sure the Avalanche will want him to spend the rest of his career in Colorado. He’ll continue to rack up points for years and years to come, making it borderline impossible for any other defenseman to pass him.

Stay tuned to CHN for all your Colorado Avalanche news.

The post Cale Makar Makes Franchise History; Will Anyone Ever Catch Him? appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

Around the NHL, Connor McDavid is clearly back, and that’s really bad news for the rest of the league.

The Avalanche got some good news on the injury front, even though they might not see Lehkonen until the New Year.

All that and more in this Saturday edition of Evan’s Daily.

Colorado Hockey Now

Looking back at the loss to the Winnipeg Jets and wonder…where the heck is Mikko Rantanen?

On Thursday, Artturi Lehkonen started light skating, a big step in his recovery from a neck injury.

It’s from Thursday, but I had a nice chat with Tomas Tatar, and wanted to re-post it. It’s not gone well in Colorado, but he’s trying to focus on the team right now. (+)

The Avalanche will host the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. As usual, we’ll be live and in the locker room, so stay tuned for coverage.

NHL Trade News

A few days ago, word got out that Tyson Barrie wanted a trade from the Nashville Predators. Since being acquired at the deadline last season, it hasn’t been a great fit.

Barry Trotz, Nashville’s GM, was NOT happy that the news got out.

“We talked to the agent and really disappointed it got out because there’s only four people in the world that know about any conversation about anything, and somehow it got out,” Trotz said. “So, I was very disappointed on that process and it didn’t come from the Preds — I do know that 100 percent. Obviously, someone felt it should be out there, so they put it out there and from my standpoint, we will get on the phones and say, ‘Obviously Tyson is not happy in his situation right now, is there any takers?’ There might be, there might not.

“…Different players react differently. I didn’t like the way he reacted to it. … I think the player just being in the final year of his contract just feels like A- he’s got to be playing on a pretty regular basis or hopefully if it’s not a fit, look for other opportunities. Everything is dictated on his play. He has to be a good player for us so he can be a good player for anybody in the league if we do decide to move him.”

Tyson Barrie got back in the lineup, and when asked about the demand, responded.

Tyson Barrie: “Well, if we’re getting into it, I’m in the stands so it doesn’t really feel like a great fit. My goal is to be playing hockey. Whether that’s here or elsewhere is up for the powers that be to decide.”

— Robby Stanley (@RStanleyNHL) December 7, 2023

We don’t often get drama like this in the NHL, so it’s pretty fun. I’m not sure what Nashville could even get for him right now if they wanted to move him. He’s expensive and hasn’t played great. Not a good combination. For what it’s worth, I love Barrie as a person. He’s one of the nicest players I’ve covered on the Avalanche, so I hope he finds himself in a great spot soon.

Around The NHL

The NHL had some fun when the Edmonton Oilers looked down and out, but no one is laughing anymore. Connor McDavid is back, and the Edmonton Oilers look well on their way to making the playoffs yet again.

CONNOR MCDAVID, WE ARE NOT WORTHY pic.twitter.com/4f1K9ACXx5

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) December 9, 2023

McDavid has 24 points in his last 10 games, and is back in the hunt for the scoring lead in the NHL.

National Hockey Now

It’s not working for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Time for Kyle Dubas to follow through.

The trade market is pretty weak right now. So weak that the Philadelphia Flyers are trying to get a first rounder for Sean Walker.

You can get a subscription to CHN+ for $29.99 a year with the code “evan10” and get access to the + content on every site in the network. In addition to the + content, everything will be ad-free, which might be the biggest perk.

The post Evan’s NHL Daily: Former Avalanche Player Drama, McDavid Is Back appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

I know what many of you are probably screaming at your screen right now… “OF COURSE, YOU NEW HAMPSHIRE IDIOT!! He was the heart and soul of that 2001 Stanley Cup team!”

And you’d be right in regards to both parts of your screams. 

Well, maybe not the heart and soul. But ask any Avalanche fan with a memory of that last Cup team and they will tell you that after all the star power at the top of the lineup, the third line of Shjon Podien, Stephane Yelle and Eric Messier was probably the heart of that forward group. 

They weren’t the most skilled group or known for their offensive prowess, but they did seemingly everything they needed to when they were tapped on the shoulder. What they lacked in true scoring finish, they made up for in their ability to finish their checks and wear down the opposing team’s top players.

And without Messier’s high sticking penalty that led to New Jersey’s lone tally of the night, the Avalanche win Game 7 comfortably and probably in a shutout. Where’s the drama and showmanship in that? Thanks for giving us a bit more excitement that night, Mess! The holding penalty you took three minutes later was a bit too much for me, though… 

Obviously, I’m joking about Messier’s No. 29 being retired by the Avalanche. Everyone knows that honor will one day go to Ryan Stoa. But it got me thinking: what Avalanche player deserves to have their number retired next?

The current team has four players who — if all things continue on the same trajectory — will one day have their numbers up alongside Sakic, Roy, Forsberg, Foote, Hejduk and the somewhat controversial Bourque. Those four are Gabe Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantenan and Cale Makar. 

Okay, let’s clear the air before we move on. Is Ray Bourque a legend? Yes. Is he one of the five best defenseman in NHL history? Few would argue to the contrary. Is he deserving of having his number retired in Denver? I’m not sure. The problem is in a career that spanned 21 seasons and 1,612 games, 94.1% of it was spent with the Bruins. His number was retired in the feel-good wake of the 2001 win and at the time felt like an appropriate thing to do given his role in helping that team get over the hump. Two decades later, it feels slightly out of place next to longtime Avalanche legends.

All that aside, I don’t spend too much time worried about Bourque. He is such an all-time NHL figure and when most people think about his playing career today, the image they probably envision is Sakic handing him the Stanley Cup that night. That makes me feel that his place in the rafters is probably justified. 

STOP GETTING ME OFF TOPIC! 

I really wanted to look back on some of those legends of the past who wore the ‘Snowy A’ on their chest (I want to make ‘Snowy A’ a thing…) and could one day be honored as well.

For this exercise, I only want to look at those who are seen as Colorado players. I’m excluding Nordiques-only skaters as they had their own set of retired numbers before relocating in 1995. The Avs chose to unretire those numbers and add them back into the rotation once in Denver. However, I did include a player or two who made the move.

I always felt bad for Michel Goulet. Quebec retired his No. 16 on March 16, 1995, and exactly two months later, the franchise played its last game as the Nordiques. Warren Rychel wore the number the following fall as the team re-branded as the ‘Lanche (I also want to bring ‘Lanche back. People used to say that more and then ‘Avs’ became the thing to say), just months after Goulet was honored. Has to be the shortest retired number in sports history. 

With all that said, let’s look at some players who IN MY OPINION should at least be considered for number retirement.

TO BE CONSIDERED:

4 – Rob Blake. I have a soft spot for big Robby Blake. The final piece acquired at the deadline that year to help Colorado win the Cup in 2021. He is a Hall of Famer most known for his contributions to the Kings franchise, but if Bourque can be up there, Blake is more than deserving of the honor in Denver, too. Plus I named my son after him, so obviously I have a special place in my heart for him. No. 4 might also be the most talented number in franchise history with a group of deserving, but, to me, it belongs to the tall guy with the big hip check. 

18 – Adam Deadmarsh. I think that’s how you spell his last name. I should check on that before hitting publish on this article, but if I don’t spell check his last name, it wouldn’t be the first time someone didn’t for Deader. Interestingly enough, the first two names I picked were players who were… wait for it… traded for each other!! Deadmarsh was a great player on those mid-90s Avalanche teams and a beloved teammate, damn near casuing Peter Forsberg to ask off the Avs himself after the trade. He was also a huge part of USA Hockey at that time, too, playing in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey for an American team who — after the 1980 Miracle on Ice Team — is probably the most influential in our nation’s hockey history. (The jerseys for America and Canada were incredible, by the way.) 

8 – Sandis Ozolinsh. He will go down as the best defenseman to wear No. 8 in team history. The quintessential pucking-moving, slick-handed, smooth-skating blueliner. Power-play quarterback. Defensive zone exiting magician. He could do it all and there hasn’t been a player in Denver like him since that 2000 trade to Carolina at the draft. Think about this: Sandis Ozolinsh was so highly regarded that the Avs traded former No. 1 overall pick Owen Nolan to the Sharks to acquire him. He was Cale Makar before Cale Makar was Cale Makar.  (I only put him here and out of numerical order so I could make that comment about Blake and Deadmarsh being traded for each other.)

20 – Rene Corbet. Okay, maybe not. But I had to create him in NHL96 for Sega Genesis and I made him LEGIT. For that, he is a legend in my mind. (Yet another sidenote: Despite winning the Stanley Cup in 1996, the Avalanche were not in that year’s annual game release as the move to Colorado came too late for developers to adjust, so the Nordiques were in a game during a season in which they were not an NHL franchise! Feel free to use that as a conversation starter at bars, guys.)

22 – Claude Lemieux. And do it when the Red Wings are in town. Do it, Joe and Josh. Do it. Lemieux is actually deserving of the honor based on his play on the ice, but many people only remember him for the hit and the fights against Detroit. I have many things to say about that E:60 doc — and only two are about the shirt Dater chose to wear during his interviews — but I’ll save that for another rant some day.

24 – Jon Klemm. I mean… probably the slimmest of chances of all the players I’ll name here, but he played on both the ’96 and ’01 teams. He joined Sakic, Forsberg, Foote, Roy and Yelle as the only players on both… for that, he should hold a special place in Avs fans’ hearts as one of just six players with two rings as a player (SO FAR!).

26 – Stephane Yelle. See Jon Klemm’s write-up. I hope people remember that Yelle was also insanely resilient. He missed scoring the OT game winner into an open net during Game 3 of the ’01 Western Conference Final in St. Louis (which former ‘Lanche Scott Young would win for the Blues a few minutes later), only to bounce back and net the winner two nights later in Game 4. Go watch that year’s championship film (which I wore out on VHS when I was 16) on YouTube and you’ll see just how much that goal meant to Yeller and his teammates.

37 – a few players. I thought long and hard about No. 37 for Chris Drury, Ryan O’Reilly and now the red-bearded legend JT Compher. Realistically: no for any of them. But that’s actually a good track record for a super random number. Drury would go on to wear No. 18 in 2001-02 before being traded, but his best days in Denver were in 37.

40 – Alex Tanguay. He, like Drury, also wore 18 with the Avs, but is best known for his time in the No. 40 sweater. When you score twice in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, that’s the number you’ll forever be in the eyes of that fanbase. He also scored a goal at Coors Field in one of the greatest (sarcasm) games ever played in league history. That game came during his second stint with the Avs while wearing 40.

41 – Tyson Barrie. Sure, he’s known for No. 4, but I’m giving that to Blake or maybe John-Michael Liles or maybe our sweet little angel baby Bo Byram when his career is all done. Barrie wore No. 41 from 2011-13 and I think that’s where he really came on… or it’s just to see him in a number people forgot he wore. Or maybe we retire it for PE Bellemare just because of that press conference where he thought they were playing on the actual Lake Tahoe. Loved that guy on the ‘Lanche (bringing it back!).

54 – David Jones. He played at Dartmouth and after I spent a decade working with that program, I grew to really like ‘Jonesy.’ He was always an awesome guy and he had a great career while with the Big Green and remains the program’s most recent All-America. His Dartmouth days should definitely count toward consideration for this honor. And this is my list and I do what I want!

88 – Eric Lindros. I’m breaking every rule I set at the beginning because I can. Time has given me perspective on this whole situation. I hated him as a kid because I thought Lindros felt he was too good for the Nordiques. Now, with the benefit of hindsight and age, I see his side of it. That being said: I thank him for his refusal to play in Quebec because that trade and its massive trickle-down effect basically led directly to the heyday of the 90s/00s Avalanche teams and two Stanley Cups.

Wait… Joe Sakic wore 88 as a rookie with the Nordiques. Second thought: retire 88 for Sakic instead. 

There you have it: the complete and completely correct list of POSSIBLE Avalanche retired numbers to be considered. Feel free to tell me who I missed, but only if it’s Aaron Miller, Curtis Leschyshyn, Greg de Vries, Ville Nieminen, Serge Aubin, Ian Laperriere, Dan Hinote or Carl Soderberg. Anyone else and I won’t take it seriously.

DOG NAME UPDATE:
My fellow-Avs fan buddy who used to work at Dartmouth with me (I used to work at Dartmouth, did I tell you that?) sent me the pic of his new puppy, Landy, wearing the jersey of his namesake! He also told me his friend also has a dog named Mikko, though not after the Avs player. Apparently, they’re just fans of Finnish culture. 

WHAT A GOOD BOY!!

The post Pat’s Ramblings: Should The Avalanche Retire Eric Messier’s Number? appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

“He’ll be a handful, but nothing we can’t handle,” Barrie told reporters following Oilers practice Saturday.

Here, see for yourself. Fast forward to about the 5:15 mark:

Like I said, not trying to clickbait here. But if the Avs and MacKinnon are looking for any bulletin-board material for the series – like Nazem Kadri did the last series against St. Louis – they might just want to put “Nothing we can’t handle” in big bold letters on the dressing room wall.

Barrie is just trying to sound confident for his team. Nothing wrong with that. But the Avs have used verbal disses to their advantage before. Not only against Craig Berube, but remember the “We’re going to have some fun and we’re going to beat them” comment by Ryan O’Reilly before the first-round series last year.

You gotta use any advantage you can get in the playoffs.

The Oilers, by the way, flew into Denver today, presumably to better acclimate themselves to the altitude. The altitude thing is mostly a myth, as it doesn’t really affect already highly-trained athletes. It actually works to the Avs’ advantage the most when they go on the road at sea level. I’ve done past articles on these, but couldn’t find them.

The post ‘Nothing We Can’t Handle’ – Tyson Barrie on Old Friend Nathan MacKinnon appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

That’s probably a bit higher than the Avs wanted to spend for him, but the problem is Burakovsky had arbitration rights, and a young guy who scored 20 goals, like he did, probably would have gotten a nice deal from an arbitrator, based on comparable. I mean, Josh Anderson just got a deal worth $5.5 million a year from Montreal – for seven years. It’s all about “well, but that other guy got so and so, and my numbers are as good as his” in contract negotiations.

Burakovsky’s signing brings the Avs’ cap room down to $17.4 million, according to CapFriendly. Also, according to the fine site, there are eight other players that still need to be signed to get to 23 players on the roster. That’s a bit deceptive, though, because it’s not taking guys into account such as Logan O’Connor or Conor Timmins or Bo Byram – guys who might have a very good shot at making the roster by opening night of next season.

Anyway, it’s nice to have Burky back (he was never going anywhere, but just sayin’) and now Joe Sakic turns his attention to other free agents – those of his own (restricted) and maybe a couple from other teams.

So…..that brings me to Tyson Barrie. Darren Dreger, the well-respected TSN reporter, tweeted that the Avs are in the mix to sign him as an unrestricted free agent. I’ve talked with Barrie’s agent, Pat Morris, and he wouldn’t shed any light on the situation.

I gotta say, as much as we all love TB4, I don’t see how it fits, hockey-wise, bringing him back. Barrie is a guy who is going to want to get a lot of power play time, but how is that going to happen on a team with Cale Makar and Sam Girard already?

But, hey, this is a crazy business, so nothing surprises me. Barrie is a right-shot D and knows the system, as they say, so we’ll see.

UPDATE: Barrie signed with the Oilers.

As for Taylor Hall…I’m still getting ghosted by his agent and Joe Sakic isn’t going to reveal his cards to me or anyone else, so….we wait.

Boston’s signing of Craig Smith to a deal with a $3.3 million cap hit lessens some room to sign a Taylor Hall, but they’ve still got $12.2 million left and only two of their own RFAs to sign. They could still fit Hall in on a short-term, budget-conscious deal it would seem.

Nashville can throw more money and term at Hall. They’ve got $13 million in cap space, but only nine “regular” forwards signed for next season.

Bottom line: things are fluid, talks are happening and nobody really knows what will happen ’til it happens.

The post Burakovsky signs, while other rumors swirl appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

The post Strange lineup decisions in Avalanche loss to Tyson Barrie and Maple Leafs appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.