The Colorado Avalanche were involved in a pair of trades on Wednesday according to Rogers Sportsnet. They first traded centre Ryan Johansen of Vancouver, British Columbia and a first round pick in the 2025 National Hockey League Draft to the Philadelphia Flyers for defenseman Sean Walker of Keswick, Ontario and a fifth round draft pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. The Avalanche then traded defenseman Bowen Byram of Cranbrook, British Columbia to the Buffalo Sabres for centre Casey Mittelstadt.
Johansen is joining his fourth NHL team. He previously played five seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2010 to 2016, eight seasons with the Nashville Predators from 2016 to 2023, and one season with the Avalanche in 2023-24. In 63 games this season, Johansen has 13 goals and 10 assists for 23 points. He is a -6 with 34 penalty minutes, six power-play points, four game-winning goals, one shorthanded point, 78 shots on goal, 431 faceoff wins, 15 blocked shots, 60 hits, 21 takeaways, and 19 giveaways. The shorthanded point came on New Year’s Eve in a 3-1 Avalanche win over the San Jose Sharks. Johansen set up Josh Manson with one minute and seven seconds left in the third period to close out the scoring into an empty net.
Walker is joining his third NHL team. He previously played five seasons with the Los Angeles Kings from 2018 to 2023, and one season with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2023-24. In 63 games, Walker had six goals and 16 assists for 22 points. He was a +9 with 34 penalty minutes, one power-play point, three shorthanded points, one game-winning goal, 109 shots on goal, 98 blocked shots, 86 hits, 35 takeaways and 22 giveaways. Walker’s power-play point came in a 5-2 Flyers win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on November 19. Walker set up Bobby Brink at 1:11 of the second period. Philadelphia took a 2-1 lead at the time. Walker’s game-winning goal came in a 4-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks on December 28. Walker put the Flyers up 2-0 from Owen Tippett of Peterborough, Ontario and Travis Konecny of London, Ontario at 16:24 of the second period.
Byram is joining his second NHL team. He has played the last four seasons with the Avalanche. In 55 games, Byram has eight goals and 12 assists for 20 points. He is a +1 with 40 penalty minutes, 63 shots on goal, 75 blocked shots, 60 hits, 13 takeaways and 27 giveaways. Mittelstadt has 14 goals and 33 assists for 47 points in 62 games.
The Avalanche are third in the Central Division with 83 points. They have a record of 39 wins, 20 regulation losses and five losses in extra time. The Flyers are eighth in the Eastern Conference and third in the Metropolitan Division with a record of 32 wins, 23 regulation losses and eight losses in extra time for 72 points. They are four points up on the New York Islanders for a playoff spot.
