Is Jack Johnson’s time with the Colorado Avalanche over? His latest signing seems to indicate that there’s a chance that might be the case.
On Monday, the Avalanche signed 33-year-old defenseman Calvin de Haan to a one-year, $800,000 contract, according to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. The veteran has played in 632 career games and spent last season with the Tampa Bay Lightning, averaging just over 16 minutes per night for them.
De Haan has long been a steady defenseman in the NHL, but he has one major problem: He’s injury-prone. He’s topped the 70-game mark just once since 2017 and spends a lot of time on injury reserve. He won’t contribute much on offense, but that’s not why teams bring him in.
This would seem to indicate that Jack Johnson’s time in Colorado has come to an end, but we’ll see if that’s the case. De Haan is also a left-shot defenseman who plays the penalty line (he averaged 1:56 per game there last season), but his underlying numbers are significantly better. Tampa Bay had some defensemen who really struggled last year, but De Haan still finished with positive possession numbers. The Lightning were outscored with him on the ice, but a lot of that is due to poor performance in goal, as the team’s save percentage with him on the ice is just over 89%. He’s not a big guy, standing at just 6’1″, so it would make sense for the Avalanche to go out and get another defenseman who has a little more grunt in his game.
In addition to De Haan, Avalanche announced that Joel Kiviranta will return for one more season. It is expected to be a two-way contract, meaning he would make less if he were sent to the AHL. Jacob MacDonald is also returning to the organization on a two-year, two-way contract.
The Avalanche later signed forward Parker Kelly to a two-year deal for $825,000. He’s a physical, penalty-killing winger. And just when I thought they were done, they signed defenseman Calle Rosen to a one-year deal. He had played for the team a few years ago and was acquired in the Nazem Kadri trade with Toronto.
Chris MacFarland is expected to meet with the media later today to discuss Colorado’s moves.
UPDATE: The Avalanche have now confirmed a one-year deal for de Haan.