Latest report raises more concern for former Avalanche star
Photo credit: The Canadian Press
The Colorado Avalanche have been questioned in recent years over their controversial trades, and one of the most notable trades was Ryan Johansen being dealt to the Flyers along with a first round pick in exchange for Sean Walker.
The club received a lot of criticism for the move and the drama that followed it, but that may finally all be behind them.
Is the Ryan Johansen drama finally over for the Colorado Avalanche.
Ryan O'Hara of Mile High Hockey recently discussed the Johansen saga with the Avalanche. The former star player was traded in March of 2024, and that deal still haunts the Avalanche almost two years later.
"Yet the transaction quickly unraveled. After the Flyers attempted to assign Johansen to their AHL affiliate, he professed an injury and refused to report, effectively sidelining himself for the remainder of the season. Philadelphia subsequently terminated his contract over the summer, contending that Johansen's claimed injury was insincere-a claim bolstered by the fact that he had played every single game for the Avalanche that season." -O'Hara
Johansen then filed a grievance against the club to reverse the termination of the contract but was unsuccessful and he lost millions of dollars as a result.
"Some critics have framed the episode as a failure of the Avalanche front office-if, of course, one accepts the prevailing narrative at face value. For context, Johansen was on the ice for morning skate the very day he was traded, showing no outward signs of injury. Interpret that as you will." -O'Hara
To add insult to injury, the Avalanche had to trade away a first-round pick for Walker who only had a short term stint with the club. He was involved in the Byram-Middlestadt deal; another trade that faced a lot of criticism.
"Had the Avalanche tried to waive Johansen would he have claimed injury then just the same? In retrospect, if Johansen's saga in Philadelphia truly stemmed from resistance to an AHL demotion, there is little reason to believe Colorado would have fared any better had they attempted the same maneuver. It was an unfortunate and messy chapter, but one the organization is now free from." -O'Hara
While the Avalanche can move on from this saga finally, they are still riddled with many questionable decisions, the most recent one being Mikko Rantanen.
If that trade proves again to be a disaster, and we already saw glimpses of it last postseason, the head office is going to be under a lot of pressure moving forward.
| POLL | ||
AOUT 25 | 33 ANSWERS Latest report raises more concern for former Avalanche star Did the Avalanche make a mistake trading forward star Ryan Johansen? | ||
| yes | 10 | 30.3 % |
| no | 23 | 69.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
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