Defenseman Francois Beauchemin will not return to the Avalanche next season. The team announced Thursday morning it will buy out the final year of the 37-year-old’s $4.5 million annual contract, with no salary-cap benefit for 2017-18.
The move opens a roster spot and allows Colorado to protect another player from next week’s expansion draft. Beauchemin had a no-move clause, automatically putting him on the protected list. According to TSN hockey journalist Pierre LeBrun, Beauchemin’s agent Bob Sauve said the Avs never asked the player to waive his NMC for the expansion draft.
Beauchemin spent two seasons with the Avs after being acquired from Anaheim as an unrestricted free agent July 1, 2015.