from Mike Chambers of the Denver Post,

NHL free agency went well for the Avalanche. It didn’t sign center John Tavares, and Colorado still has a gaping (unproven) hole with its No. 2 center, but 29 other teams failed to sign Tavares or had the cap space to do so.

As a consolation prize, the Avs got defenseman Ian Cole and forward Matt Calvert from Columbus and will stand between $10-$13 million under the salary cap when the season begins. They will have the flexibility to make moves in 2018-19 without behind strapped with a $11 million annual cap, which is what Toronto now has by winning the Tavares sweepstakes....

Without Tavares, it’s all up to the young forwards — all rookies last season — to establish the secondary scoring Colorado didn’t have enough of in 2017-18. Jost or Kerfoot will likely be that No. 2 center, but all four are capable of playing in the middle or the wing.

“We’ve got a young forward group, some young centermen, and we look forward for them to make that next step,” Avs general manager Joe Sakic said. “Obviously, we’d like to improve our secondary scoring and we’ll continue to look at avenues to accomplish that. But yeah, I’m excited to give these guys that opportunity.”

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