Avalanche send Graves to Devils with eye on expansion draft
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By trading Graves — along with Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson agreeing to waive his no-movement clause — the team can protect defensemen Devon Toews, Cale Makar and Samuel Girard. The Devils have plenty of room to protect Graves.
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He was dependable on the blue line for Colorado since he was acquired Feb. 26, 2018, from the New York Rangers. His plus-40 rating in 2019-20 led the league, the first time an Avalanche player accomplished the feat since Milan Hejduk and Peter Forsberg (plus-52) in 2002-03.
“Ryan brings physicality, size, an ability to defend in tough situations and a fearless compete level that makes him tough to play against,” Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald said in a statement. “His assertive style of play and ability to play with young defensemen are characteristics that fit into what we are building with our group.”
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Colorado picks up another scoring threat to join the likes of Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. The 23-year-old Maltsev had nine points and three assists in 33 contests during his rookie season. He appeared in his first NHL game on Jan. 31, 2021, at Buffalo.
The 6-foot-3, 198-pound Maltsev was a fourth-round pick of the Devils in 2016. He also played in Russia, where he had a goal and seven assists in 35 career Kontinental Hockey League games with SKA St. Petersburg.
Colorado has quite a few big players who are free agents, including captain Gabriel Landeskog and goaltender Philipp Grubauer. There’s also forwards Brandon Saad, Matt Calvert, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Carl Soderberg, goaltender Devan Dubnyk and defenseman Patrik Nemeth.