Necas and Jack Drury were traded to the Avalanche on Friday night in a stunning three-team trade that sent Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes were awaiting a Saturday night tilt with the Islanders when they found out about the deal.

As NHLRumors.com has documented, Avalanche General Manager Chris MacFarland has been busy reshaping this roster. It started with the goaltending, bringing in Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood. Even with the upgrades in the goaltending position, the Avalanche felt they did a couple of seasons ago before they got Nazem Kadri.

For one, you have the money part of it all. Collectively, Necas and Drury are making $8.225 million against the salary cap this season, which is less collectively than Rantanen’s $9.25 million cap hit on his own. With his deal expiring in the offseason and the other two being under contract for 2025-26, there’s a “run it back” aspect in play.

The New York Islanders (22-20-7) won their fifth straight game and defeated the Colorado Avalanche (29-21-2) 5-2 on Tuesday night in UBS Arena.

After what has certainly been a hectic weekend and road trip for the Colorado Avalanche, they’ll take on the New York Islanders tonight before heading back home. This will be the second and final regular-season matchup between these two teams,

The Avalanche made one of the biggest trades in Colorado sports history last week when it sent away star forward Mikko Rantanen to the Hurricanes in a deal that included the Blackhawks. In return, the Avs received forwards Martin Necas and Jack Drury, plus a pair of draft picks (2025 second-rounder and 2026 fourth-rounder).

Colorado comes into this game off of a thrilling win over the New York Rangers, which saw Artturi Lehkonen end the game for the Avs in regulation with just seconds left in the thi

MacKinnon leads the NHL in points (77) and assists (58). Among NHL defensemen, Makar is first in goals (18), tied for first in points (56) and being for second in assists (38). Necas is seventh in the NHL in assists (41).

Jared Bednar has been known to rely heavily on his top forwards, often overplaying the top line to the point where some nights you wouldn't know the Avalanche were even dressing 12 forwards. That was not the case in Sunday's 5-4 win over the New York Rangers.

I didn’t think this would need to be updated so quickly. But when a historic mid-season trade between two contenders (and Chicago) breaks on a Friday night, things change.

Martin Necas had two assists, nearly scored twice himself and excelled on the top line. Jack Drury scored a goal and centered a new-look depth line while all 12 Avs forwards played more than 10 minutes, a departure from the usual top-heavy distribution.

NEW YORK -- Artturi Lehkonen scored with 15 seconds remaining in the third period, and the Colorado Avalanche ended the New York Rangers’ 10-game point streak with a 5-4 victory at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.