The Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche announced a trade on Tuesday that involved two veteran defensemen. The Wild will be receiving Ian Cole, while the Avalanche will have Greg Pateryn coming back their way.
Pateryn, is in the last year of his contract with a $2.25 million AAV. Cole is also in the last year of his contract, with a bit of a higher salary at $4.25 million AAV, but the Avalanche will be retaining a portion of it in the deal.
Cole is a two-time Stanley Cup Champion with a hard shot and is known for playing his game hard-nosed. This move adds some needed grit to the Minnesota Wild lineup.
Per sources, #mnwild have acquired #avs left-shot D Ian Cole (#GoIrish) for D Greg Pateryn.
Cole: 2-time Cup champ with Pens, hard shot, hard-nosed, most importantly, exceptional quote
Pateryn pending UFA ($2.25M AAV); Cole pending UFA ($4.25M AAV, COL retains some salary)— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) January 19, 2021
It seems the Avalanche made this move to make room for Bowen Byram, who seems to be ready for a shot with the NHL club. Pateryn is very good defensively, but he doesn't add much offense, if any at all. If, for some reason, Byram doesn't work out this year or the Avalanche are caught dealing with injuries on the backend, he is a more than capable replacement.
