7 Biggest Trades in Colorado Avalanche History, Ranked

The Colorado Avalanche have made some of the biggest trades in the last 30 years, and it can be argued that no team has benefited from blockbuster deals more than the Avs in that span.

Patrick Roy, Raymond Bourque, Rob Blake, and Nazem Kadri all joined the Avalanche via trade and rewarded the club by helping them capture a Stanley Cup. 

This countdown will focus on the seven biggest trades since the Avalanche joined the NHL in 1995-1996.

7 Biggest Colorado Avalanche Trades in Team History

1. Jocelyn Thibault, Andrei Kovalenko, and Martin Rucinsky for Patrick Roy and Mike Keane  

The Colorado Avalanche looked like a potential powerhouse in the mid-1990s, but they were missing one key piece: an elite goaltender.

That all changed on Dec. 6, 1995, when the Montreal Canadiens dealt Patrick Roy to the Avs because the iconic goaltender demanded a move. 

The trade would have massive ramifications for both clubs. 

Roy led the Avs to two Stanley Cups and cemented his place as an all-time great while in Denver, while the Habs have not won a championship since the deal. 

2. Brian Rolston, Samuel Pahlsson, Martin Grenier, and a First-Round Pick for Raymond Bourque and Dave Andreychuk

The entire hockey world was behind the Avalanche after this trade.

Raymond Bourque was considered one of the best players in NHL history never to win a Stanley Cup when this trade was made on March 6, 2000. Knowing it was Bourque’s last chance to change that, the Bruins offered him the opportunity to join the Avalanche for the rest of the 1999-2000 season.

Bourque and the Avs would come up short against the Dallas Stars in the 2000 Western Conference final, but he signed a one-year extension with the Avalanche that summer and helped Colorado win the 2001 Stanley Cup.

3. Mikko Rantanen for Martin Necas, Jack Drury, a Second-Round Pick, and a Fourth-Round Pick

The jury is still out on the winner of this trade, but there’s no denying that it shook up the hockey world when it took place.

Mikko Rantanen won a Stanley Cup with Colorado and was one of the best scorers in the league at the time of the deal, but the team and Rantanen couldn’t come to terms on a new contract, so they decided to move the Finnish forward rather than risk losing him for nothing in free agency.

The return was Martin Necas – a prolific producer in his own right – and bottom-six centre Jack Drury.

This was a deal that shook up the landscape of both conferences, as well as the hockey odds. 

4. Wendel Clark for Claude Lemieux

The Colorado Avalanche had enough star talent in their ranks in 1995-1996 to be considered one of the favourites to win the Stanley Cup, according to their NHL odds.   

What they were missing was a little bit of snarl.

The Avs addressed that issue by acquiring one of the game’s premier agitators, Claude Lemieux, from the New Jersey Devils in a three-team deal that saw Wendel Clark leave the organization. 

Lemieux won a Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in his first season in Denver.

5. Tyson Barrie, Alex Kerfoot, and a Sixth-Round Pick for Nazem Kadri, Calle Rosen, and a Third-Round Pick

This was like the modern version of the Lemieux trade.

Nazem Kadri was a skilled player, but his greatest asset was his ability to get under the skin of the opposition. Kadri crossed the line one too many times with the Toronto Maple Leafs, leading them to trade him to Colorado in 2019.

Kadri fit in like a glove with Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Devon Toews, and Rantanen, and powered Colorado to the 2022 Stanley Cup. 

6. Adam Deadmarsh, Aaron Miller, and Two First-Round Picks for Rob Blake and Steve Reinprecht

The Avalanche were already considered one of the heavyweights in the league when this trade went down, so you could imagine the groans around the league when Colorado acquired Rob Blake from the Los Angeles Kings.

Blake was considered one of the best two-way defencemen in the NHL at the time of the deal, and he joined forces with Bourque to create a dominant pairing in the playoffs.

Blake recorded 19 points in 23 games during the 2001 playoffs, helping the Avs win their second Stanley Cup in five seasons.

7. Two Second-Round Picks for Devon Toews

The Avalanche took advantage of a cap crunch on Long Island and acquired smooth-skating defenceman Devon Toews for a bargain price right before the 2020 offseason. 

The trade would go on to pay huge dividends as Toews and Cale Makar grew into one of the best defensive pairs in the NHL and played a huge part in Colorado’s championship season in 2021-2022.