We knew going into the offseason that the Avalanche’s bottom-pair defense would look a lot different than it did in 2023-24. Following the Bowen Byram trade and the preceding acquisition of Sean Walker, Colorado boasted a third pair of grizzled veteran Jack Johnson alongside Walker.
The former is still an unrestricted free agent, one who hoped to return to the Avs, which seems less likely now than it did a week ago. But the latter was one of the better free-agent right-shot defensemen on the market. Walker landed a five-year deal with the Hurricanes with an AAV of $3.6 million on Monday.
The Avs already have soon-to-be 26-year-old RD Sam Malinski vying for an opportunity. But a permanent spot in the lineup won’t be handed to him, despite the flashes he’d shown in limited opportunities last season.
Colorado announced on Monday that 24-year-old defenseman Erik Brannstrom has signed a one-year contract. This comes less than 24 hours after the team landed veteran blueliner Calvin de Haan for a year. Both deals come in at less than a million with Brannstrom signing for 900K and de Haan 800K.
de Haan, like Johnson, plays a sound defensive game and a lot of penalty-kill minutes. He’ll likely land a permanent spot on the left side of the third pair behind Devon Toews and Samuel Girard. Last season, he appeared in 59 regular season games and one playoff game for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
But Brannstrom, a lefty who prefers to play on the right side, will likely battle it out at training camp with Malinski for an opportunity to start the season alongside de Haan. Brannstrom was drafted No. 15 overall in 2017 — 11 spots after the Avs took Cale Makar. He was a highly touted prospect who was expected to develop into a top-pair blueliner. Instead, Brannstrom has struggled to develop with the Ottawa Senators in recent years. The Sens acquired him as the main piece coming back in the 2019 trade deadline blockbuster deal that sent Mark Stone to Vegas.
On one hand, Brannstrom could benefit from a more stable defensive system run by coach Jared Bednar’s staff in Denver. But on the other hand, Malinski won’t be making it easy for Brannstrom to acquire the ice time needed to develop. If everyone is healthy, it’ll be a competitive battle for a spot in the lineup seemingly every game. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
