NHL trade grades: Blue Jackets pay high price, let Avalanche off the hook in Charlie Coyle deal

New York Times

21 hours ago

By Corey Pronman, Dom Luszczyszyn and James Mirtle
Columbus Blue Jackets get: F Charlie Coyle and F Miles Wood
Colorado Avalanche: F Gavin Brindley, 2025 third-round pick (No. 77) and 2027 conditional second-round pick
The condition on the 2nd Rd pick in '27 is that the CBJ have two 2nd Rd picks that year so can send lower pick to Colorado https://t.co/vuDMKW1cqS
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 27, 2025
Gavin Brindley was just OK as a rookie pro, but he was also a very young player at the AHL level. He's a highly likable player with a great track record, though at the college and international levels. With excellent skating and work ethic, Brindley buzzes around the ice, playing with a ton of pace and giving his best effort nightly. He's able to make highly skilled plays at full speed and plays with courage, going to the net and engaging along the walls. Brindley is a creative playmaker as well, although for a tiny forward, I wouldn't call him a dynamic offensive player. His energy could make him a middle-six wing, but he will need to score more versus men than he showed this past season.
I understand Colorado wanting to target a player such as Brindley over a high draft pick as well. Brindley could realistically play in the NHL within a year or two. — Corey Pronman
This one is some nice Houdini-like salary magic for the Avs, who were projected to be over the cap going into this deal. Instead, they free up $7.75 million that will allow Colorado to be an unexpected player in free agency on Tuesday. Plus, they get a little draft and prospect capital sprinkled in, too.
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It's been a weird year for contract dumps already, as Mason Marchment and others have been shipped out for what feels like very little. Here, two overpriced forwards fetch two decent picks and a young player who put up huge numbers in college.
I can see what Columbus is thinking, as the Blue Jackets are drowning in cap space (more than $35 million before this deal), and it's going to be a challenge in this free agent landscape to bring in one of the few big names. They also have an exciting young team that made a huge step last year, so trying to spend that money on reinforcements and depth makes sense.
Both players are rebound candidates and likely playing down the lineup for Columbus, where they'll bring OK value. If it doesn't work out, Coyle is signed for only one more year anyway. Wood, meanwhile, has had a lot of injuries and the term on his deal — with four more years to go — could hurt, even though the cash is closer to $2 million than his $2.5 million AAV. (And Columbus is still working on getting to the floor.)
All in all, it's not all that exciting for either party — but it could be setting the table for bigger things to come for both teams. — James Mirtle
Avalanche grade: B+
Blue Jackets grade: C+
This is a telling deal when it comes to where the NHL market currently stands in two ways. One, the center market must be dry as a bone. Two, cap growth has led to some cap-hit blindness.
To the first point, Coyle is the focal point of the deal, and the Blue Jackets are a better team with him on it. He gives Columbus a lot of versatility in the middle six as a plug-and-play center who can play wing if needed. While there isn't much about Coyle's game that stands out, there aren't a lot of holes either. He's by almost any account — scoring, play-driving, puck possession, offense, defense — an average player. That's a helpful addition to a team that had a lot of sub-standard players in the bottom six.
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Coyle is also 33 and will probably fall a bit below average next season as a result; third-line calibre. At $5.25 million, that's a pricey ticket for what he likely brings to the table. And between Sean Monahan, Adam Fantilli and Cole Sillinger, a top-nine center wasn't exactly the most pressing need either. Columbus has a lot of cap space, making the price not too concerning, and you can never have enough centers. Still, the cost of acquisition shouldn't have been this high for what is effectively a cap dump.
Which brings us to the cap-hit blindness and the Miles Wood of it all.
It's possible Wood reignites his game with the Blue Jackets, but he's been a below-replacement-level player for two years in Colorado. Wood played in just one of seven playoff games for the Avalanche, and at 29, there's a big question of how much he has left to offer at the NHL level. With four years left at $2.5 million, it's unfathomable that the Avalanche were able to rid themselves of Wood's deal without any consequences.
This is a deal that teams used to have to pay a heavy price to get out of — the Avalanche seemingly got an asset out of it. Even if Columbus was really enamoured with Wood (for whatever reason), the Blue Jackets completely let Colorado off the hook here. Just because the cap is going up doesn't mean that cap efficiency no longer matters. A bad deal is still a bad deal.
This is an unbelievably good move for the Avalanche, who clear $7.75 million in cap space while getting a 2nd, 3rd and a prospect for two players that aren't worth their current cap hits — by a substantial degree. With that money freed up, the Avalanche can seriously load up. And while Columbus got a decent center for its trouble, the cost of doing so looks obscenely high. — Dominik Luszczyszyn
Avalanche grade: A
Blue Jackets grade: D
(Photo of Charlie Coyle: Jerome Miron / Imagn Images)