The avalanche added its back as they gained Patrick Nemeth from the Red Wings in exchange for a fourth-round pick in 2022. Both teams announced the deal.
The 29-year-old is certainly familiar with Colorado, as he spent two seasons with them in 2017-18 and 2018-19. There he had the best offensive years of his career (15 and 10 points, respectively), while he appeared as a physical presence in his second season, recording 137 shots. This helped him win a two-year, $ 6 million deal with Detroit in the summer of 2019, with an eye on helping them stabilize their backs. However, Colorado will not assume the full price, as reported by Peter Baugh of The Athletic (Twitter link) that Wings Red keeps at most 50% (or $ 1.5 million) of Nemeth’s business.
In his first season with Detroit, Nemeth recorded just over 22 minutes per night, but his playing time dropped especially this season to 18:24 per night, while scoring two goals and six assists in 39 games. However, he is still a physical player with the ability to kill penalties and block shots, elements with which Avs has not had as much this season. Erik Johnsonpersistent injury problems and early-season trade Ian Cole in Minnesota.
Nemeth is likely to have an even more limited role with Avs as he sets out to participate in the third pair. But, with him already familiar with the system, he should have a perfect transition in their line than most purchases would, although he will not start a few more days, as he currently has a hand injury. As far as Detroit is concerned, this is the first of three eligible retained wage transactions, a number that could very well increase from now until the trading deadline of Monday and earn themselves a middle choice to do so; now they already have three selections in the fourth round already in the NHL 2022 entry project.
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