Avs ink Graves to multi-year deal, Sakic playing it close to the chest

The Colorado Avalanche have announced on Monday that GM Joe Sakic and RFA defenseman Ryan Graves had reached an agreement late last night on a new 3-year contract, avoiding salary arbitration.

The contract will kick in for the 2020-21 season and carry a cap hit of $2.5M in year one, $3M in year two, and $4M in year three, for a roughly $3.16M AAV.

Graves, 25, suited up in 69 regular season games for the Avs in 2019-20, tallying 9 goals and 26 points over that span. He recorded an additional 3 points in 15 postseason games prior to the Avs being handed their semifinals loss by the Dallas Stars.

Graves was originally drafted in the 4th round (110th overall) in 2013 by the New York Rangers. He was acquired by the Avalanche at the trade deadline in 2018 in a 1 for 1 swap for minor league defenseman Chris Bigras.

GM Joe Sakic has not shown his hand, in terms of what, if anything, he plans to do through the remainder of free agency. One issue that stands out is that the Avs only have 5 NHL defenseman on the roster for next season, though Sakic has commented that he believes Connor Timmins may be ready to make the jump to the NHL this season, with Bowen Byram receiving a look in camp as well.

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