Amid the stifling heat wave in Colorado, the Avalanche found the energy to make another transaction that should mostly benefit the Colorado Eagles. Incoming is a 5-foot-11 left shot forward in Georgii Merkulov who inked a one-year two-way NHL deal with the club for the 2026-27 season.
Merkulov went undrafted but was signed out of Ohio State and spent four years in the Boston Bruins organization where he starred for their AHL affiliate in Providence. It’s clear the Eagles needed to rebuild their veteran core after most of the team departed this summer in free agency and Merkulov should provide scoring talent in Loveland.
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Merkulov led his AHL squad with 61 points and has scored 240 points in 271 career AHL games. The 25-year-old Russian’s NHL resume is a bit thinner having only produced one assist while he played in 11 total contests over three seasons with Boston including just one game in the 2025-26 season. If the youth movement fails to take off, Merkulov could be another option for the Avalanche to experiment with.
Contract details show a pretty standard AHL veteran contract with a minor league salary of $350K and $400K guaranteed. The league minimum cap hit of $850K will make it easy for the Avalanche to fit in Merkulov for occasional recalls if they choose to do so.
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