Report: Avs sign Carl Soderberg to 5-year deal; O'Reilly on way out?
Carl Soderberg has reportedly signed a new five-year contract with the Colorado Avalanche less than 24 hours after his free agent rights were traded to them by the Boston Bruins.
By
Adam Gretz
•
1 min read
Less than 24 hours after acquiring his free-agent rights in a trade with the Boston Bruins, the Colorado Avalanche have reportedly signed forward Carl Soderberg to a five-year, $22.5 million contract, according to ESPN's Craig Custance. The deal would carry a salary cap hit of $4.75 million per season.
The deal also reportedly includes a full no-trade clause over the first two years and a limited one over the remaining three. He was eligible for unrestricted free agency on July 1 if no new deal was reached before then.
Soderberg, 29, has been a solid depth player for the Bruins the past two years, scoring at a rate (about 45 points per season) that would make him a borderline second-or third-line player. He was in line for a significant raise given his solid two-way play and the fact it's a pretty weak free-agent class, especially at forward.
The signing also will only increase speculation that center Ryan O'Reilly could soon be on his way out of Colorado. With one year remaining on his current deal before becoming an unrestricted free agent, O'Reilly has been involved in some difficult contract negotiations over the years with the Avalanche and his name keeps surfacing in trade rumors this summer.
General manager Joe Sakic has said he wants to have O'Reilly extended before the season, but it's difficult to see them giving him a big contract extension after just paying Soderberg $4.75 million per season over the next five years since they are similar players and could fill similar roles.
UPDATE: The Buffalo Sabres sent the Avalanche defenseman Nikita Zadorov, forward Mikhail Grigorenko and prospect J.T. Compher and the 31st overall a draft pick to the Avs for O'Reilly and Jamie McGinn according to Darren Dreger of TSN.
