The Avalanche said it wouldn’t trade prospects and draft picks for “rental” players in February, shortly before the team acquired pending unrestricted free agents Shawn Matthias and Mikkel Boedker for young players.
A year ago, the Avs said they wanted to sign center Ryan O’Reilly to a long-term contract and was he was not on the trade block — shortly before they traded him to Buffalo.
The Avs seem to pull the trigger on deals they say won’t happen, so Joe Sakic’s continuous stance on free agency — which began at 10 a.m. Friday — doesn’t mean the Avs won’t land a special player in the coming hours.