Avalanche Acquire Colin Wilson from the Predators

It may not be the big, splashy move we’ve all been anticipating, but the Colorado Avalanche made a trade today that should help shore up the team’s dearth of bottom-six talent. They traded away a fourth-round pick in 2019 (because who needs mid-round picks anyway?) to the Nashville Predators for forward Colin Wilson, fresh off their recent run to the Stanley Cup Finals.

The story broke via Elliote Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada.

Wilson is a 6’1” 220-pound, 27-year-old center/left-wing who has spent all or parts of the last eight seasons in Nashville. He’s put up 237 career points over that time, posting a career high 20 goals in 2014-15. For most of his career, Wilson has been good for a consistent dozen or so goals and 20-plus assists.

Colin Wilson Career Statistics

As the chart below indicates, Wilson is a productive player in a number of complimentary areas. He sets up his teammates and plays enough defense that he’ll likely stand out on an Avalanche team who struggles in their own end.

Salary

It was rumored Colin Wilson was in a position to be bought out by Nashville before the June 30th deadline. His $4,000,000 cap hit the next two seasons might have been prohibitive for a Predators team coming off a Stanley Cup Finals appearance and have a handful of players due expensive contracts, but not Colorado. The Avalanche are swimming in cap room and likely see Wilson as a player they can flip for better assets than the fourth-round pick they just surrendered.