Fantasy impact: The Colorado Avalanche sign center Joe Colborne to a two-year contract worth $2.5 million per season.
 

Colborne to Colorado. 2 years, $2.5 mil per.

— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) July 1, 2016

The Avalanche get: A tall (6’5”, 213 lb.) center who flew under the radar last season, scoring 44 points in 73 games. Yet to make room for Troy Brouwer, RFA Colborne wasn’t even given a qualifying offer and became expendable. This signing has the potential to be sneaky good, since Colborne is only 26 and scored 22 points over his last 22 games. Colborne should probably be penciled in to be the third-line center to start, but his ability to play either wing could also move him into the top 6. Expect him to also take on some power-play minutes in front of the net as he did in Calgary.

Fantasy players impacted: We may have to wait for the dust to settle on the Avalanche, since players like Tyson Barrie, Gabriel Landeskog, and Matt Duchene have been rumored to be on the trading block. If he sticks at center, Colborne could keep Mikhail Grigorenko out of a more prominent role. But if Colborne moves to the wing, Mikko Rantanen could be held back. In Calgary, Colborne’s departure should pave the way for additional minutes for center Sam Bennett, who is ready to step into a more prominent role anyway.

Fantasy players this helps:

Bennett (game logs, stats, line combos here)

Fantasy players this hurts, in order:

Grigorenko (game logs, stats, line combos here)

Rantanen (game logs, stats, line combos here)