DENVER — A rollercoaster of emotions made its way through the Avalanche organization on Wednesday.

Following their usual morning skate, Colorado shipped out two of its regulars, Bowen Byram and Ryan Johansen, in separate trades with Buffalo and Philadelphia. While Johansen’s time in Denver only lasted months, Byram, only 22 years old, was a fan favorite and a key piece of the 2022 Stanley Cup run.

“It’s always difficult when you lose a guy and you know how much they care about what’s going on here,” head coach Jared Bednar said of Byram.

Hours later, Colorado, hosting the Detroit Red Wings, celebrated the career of Darren Helm with a ceremonial tribute and puck drop. Helm, 37, retired last summer after a 16-year NHL career. He spent the first 14 years in Detroit and the last two with Colorado, winning a Stanley Cup with both franchises. Then, at the first commercial break, a tribute for former Av J.T. Compher was displayed on the board with an ensuing standing ovation for another fan favorite, who signed with the Red Wings last summer after a seven-year stint with the Avalanche.

The Avs went on to thrash the Red Wings 7-2. And they celebrated Cale Makar’s first career hat trick and Jean-Luc Foudy’s first career goal along the way.

“Best defenseman in the world,” said superstar center Nathan MacKinnon of Makar after extending his season-opening home point streak to 31 games. “He’s been playing so great lately and I think he was just due.”

MacKinnon (goal, 3 assists), Makar (3 goals, assist) and star forward Mikko Rantanen (4 assists) each had four points for the Avs, who improved to a whopping 25-6-0 at Ball Arena. Jonathan Drouin also had two points and goalie Alexandar Georgiev made 27 saves for Colorado, which dominated the majority of the game, outshooting Detroit 55-29.

“We played offense all night, and scored so many goals,” Georgiev said following his 32nd win of the season. “Felt like we were in control from the second period onwards. It was a great game by us.”

The Avs surrendered the first goal and exited the first period tied at 2-2. But they dominated the middle frame, outscoring the Wings 3-0 on a 24-6 shot advantage. Makar, who already scored in the first period, added two late-period goals just 3:14 apart to become just the second Avalanche defenseman to record a hat trick and the first since Sandis Ozolinsh accomplished the feat in 1999.

“I told you it was a blip on the radar for Cale,” Bednar said, referring to Makar’s recent offensive drought.

Chris MacFarland meets with the media

Before the game, general manager Chris MacFarland met with the media to discuss the two trades he made earlier in the day. MacFarland, who had a swagger to him after a successful day on paper, made it clear that the team might not be done making trades before Friday’s 1 pm. MT trade deadline.

MacFarland acquired defenseman Sean Walker and center Casey Mittelstadt on Wednesday.

“If this ends up being all that we do, we feel we’re better today than we were yesterday,” MacFarland said. “But we’re going to leave no stone unturned and see what the next 48 hours holds with the deadline on Friday. But we’re breathing easier today than we were yesterday, that’s for sure.”

MacFarland referenced how tough it was to let Byram go. But felt it was necessary to give something up to acquire a clear-cut No. 2 center like Mittelstadt. Byram was a part of the organization for nearly five years after being drafted No. 4 overall in 2019.

“We feel as good as our back end was with Bo, we feel Sean Walker is going to come in and do a really good job,” he said. “He’s a really good player in his own right, and being able to put him in that mix and put Casey and solidify the second line and give the coaches and our players another weapon there, we felt was really important.”

Bednar also sang the praises of Mittelstadt — a player he’s excited to have on the team. Both Mittelstadt and Walker were credited for being exceptional skaters by their new head coach. Bednar lit up when speaking about the addition of his new No. 2 center. He tried his best to not throw around the word ‘elite’ when describing Mittelstadt’s play.

“The way he thinks the game and can play in offensive situations is high-end,” Bednar said.