It wasn’t by accident the Colorado Avalanche wrapped up all their existing Restricted Free Agent loose ends before the start of the 2026-27 league year. However, after trading for Fabian Lysell from the Boston Bruins in late June, one more contract to take care of was put back on their plate.
The 23-year-old right wing had concluded his four-year Entry Level Contract but didn’t hold any arbitration rights so it was really up to the Avalanche to negotiate with Lysell in good faith after extending him a qualifying offer and it didn’t take long to reach an agreement on a one-year two-way contract for the upcoming season.
As always, there’s a lot of clues on the outlook for Lysell in the details of the contract with a $850 NHL cap hit and $190k guaranteed minor league salary. The relatively low guaranteed money on this two-way deal puts the right winger at the bottom of the list as far as financial commitment from the Avalanche. Both Gavin Brindley and Taylor Makar were given identical two-year contracts which are two-way in the first year. Their NHL cap hit is $875K and minor league salaries are $200K with a $300K guarantee. Oddly enough the Lysell deal is nearly the same as the one-year contract Ivan Ivan received in Boston. One upside on the $850K cap hit is that makes Lysell is the cheapest call-up option to the Avalanche.
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