Artturi Lehkonen is doing just about everything right for the Colorado Avalanche this season, and that’s exactly what makes his future tricky.
The 31-year-old has 12 goals and 17 points in 18 games, and he’s been a steady presence on the top line alongside Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas. He’s also stayed healthy, which has helped him build the kind of consistency that has long made him valuable to Colorado.
But Lehkonen is also in the final year of the five-year contract he signed in 2022, a deal carrying a $4.5 million cap hit. What once looked expensive now looks like a bargain, and that’s where the problem starts.
According to notable insider Chris Johnston, Lehkonen wants to stay put. The issue is whether the Avalanche can make the money work.
“I can tell you with certainty... Artturi Lehkonen would love to remain in Colorado; Darren Raddysh got to a point where...[
Tampa] weren't gonna pay him what the market was... I think it could end up in the same spot for Lehkonen.”
Johnston pointed to Darren Raddysh as a recent example during the November 5 edition of the Chris Johnston show. Raddysh had a career year with the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the cap-strapped team couldn’t meet his asking price. Tampa traded him to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a fifth-round pick, and Toronto later signed him to an eight-year, $68 million deal.
That kind of jump is the warning sign here. If a player delivers a true breakout season, the market can move fast - and Lehkonen has the résumé to make that kind of leap. He’s been a top-line winger and a playoff performer, which raises the obvious question: what would he command if he hit the open market?
For the Avalanche, that’s where the math gets uncomfortable.
Colorado has $12.5 million in available cap space for next season, and that figure already accounts for Cale Makar’s major extension. The team also has three notable UFAs coming up in Lehkonen, Nic Roy, and Brent Burns, plus one RFA in T.J. Hughes.
If Hughes is re-signed on a bridge deal that takes him from $952K to around $2 million, and if Burns is not brought back, the Avalanche would be left with roughly $8 million to handle Lehkonen, Roy, a depth defenseman, and the rest of the roster.
That’s not much room if Lehkonen is looking for full market value. He could easily double his current contract on a four- or five-year deal elsewhere. The only way Colorado may be able to keep him is if both sides meet in the middle.
A deal in the range of $6 million on a two-year term is one possible path, but if Lehkonen isn’t willing to take less than market value, the Avalanche may end up having to choose between him and Roy. And if Colorado concludes that Lehkonen won’t accept a discount, moving him at the NHL trade deadline could become the only real option.
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