Josh Manson deal shows Colorado is the destination

The Colorado Avalanche barely broke a sweat when finalizing their defense corps after Josh Manson let it be known where he wanted to play.

Video Transcript

JUSTIN CUTHBERT: I mentioned Josh Manson to Colorado. The return, again, as I mentioned, a second-round pick and a former second-round pick in prospect [? Drew ?] [? Ellison. ?] This one is so much different, as I was kind of alluding to, than the Chiarot deal, because Josh Manson used his leverage. He only wanted to go to Colorado, and he winds up in Colorado.

And that's an advantageous position to be in if you're the Avalanche. And why not? You earn your advantages sometimes. And Colorado being so good, being so close to being a super team, they had a guy like Josh Manson just hold out for them. And Manson really winds up in a perfect spot.

And he's kind of the perfect guy for Colorado. He's going to play probably with Sam Girard on the second pairing behind what is one of the best teams-- or one of the best pairings in the NHL in Cale Makar and Devon Toews. So that top four is set and really, really good.

But the best thing about Colorado is that they're nine defensemen deep. Nine NHL defensemen on that roster. Don't believe me? Just look at it. And that's-- they could do that because they're only paying Manson $2 million. Chiarot, cost-effective. Manson, also cost-effective because Anaheim was willing to retain 50% of his salary.

So he slots in as like the sixth most highest paid defenseman on their roster, when really he's a really-- and can be a really dominant force, or at least the stabilizing guy to play with a guy like Sam Girard, who can go and free-wheel and do what he needs to do to be his best self. A great move for the Colorado Avalanche, getting Josh Manson. That team, as good as those forwards are, the strength of the team might be in their defense, which is scary for everybody else.