Canucks coach Rick Tocchet says there's a lot to learn from the Avalanche. Adam Proteau explains why the opposite is also true ahead of the trade deadline.

Rick Tocchet is one of the more straightforward coaches in the NHL – and his recent comments regarding the Colorado Avalanche’s overall success speaks to the respect he and the Vancouver Canucks have for the Avs.

"l've covered this team in the media for TNT - I was here when they won the Cup - just the way they handled adversity was nice to watch from the outside," Tocchet told reporters last week, as per Meghan Angley of DNVR Avalanche. "They got a great coach, a great organization, and they got great players. To me, it's just learning from them (and) how they handle their resolve."

That said, Colorado can also learn something from the roster moves the Canucks have made this season. 

So far this year, the Canucks have dominated, always being near or at the top of the Pacific Division. But GM Patrik Allvin has added crucial pieces of the puzzle via trades, and he hasn’t been forced to part with a slew of roster pieces to improve Vancouver’s lineup.

Earlier in the year, the Canucks beefed up their defense corps by acquiring former Calgary Flames blueliner Nikita Zadorov. The price was one third-round draft pick and one fifth-round pick. Nobody off the roster had to be moved out, and Zadorov has fit in well in Vancouver. The Canucks improved without sacrificing any notable assets, and that’s almost certainly going to be what Colorado intends to do.

Similarly, Vancouver got better again at the end of January, landing former Flames star center Elias Lindholm in exchange for winger Andrei Kuzmenko, prospects Hunter Brzustewicz and Joni Jurmo, a first-round pick and a conditional fourth-rounder. The price was much higher for a player who could be just a rental for the rest of this season. Still, the deal also allowed the Canucks to free up about $650,000 in salary cap space, giving them another opportunity to improve the lineup by the NHL’s March 8 trade deadline.

The Canucks did have to move a regular lineup member in Kuzmenko in return for Lindholm, but Kuzmenko had fallen out of favor in Vancouver by that time and ultimately was deemed expendable. The Canucks now have $3.5 million in cap space, and they almost assuredly will use all of it by the deadline, even if they’re only now only going to be adding depth players to augment their core talents.

The Avalanche, meanwhile, currently have $1.2 million in space, but any move Colorado GM Chris MacFarland makes will probably include one of the Avs’ first-round picks. Colorado currently has all three first-rounders in the next three drafts, as well as their second-rounder in 2026. 

Peeling off one of those top picks to bring in a solid forward is the best-case scenario for the Avalanche. They could convert that asset into Anaheim’s Adam Henrique or Ottawa’s Vladimir Tarasenko. Henrique and Tarasenko have major cap hits, so Colorado would likely either need Anaheim, Ottawa or another team to retain some salary or move out cap ballast. But the Avalanche have the motivation and the competitive window to go all-in by the deadline.

At their best, Colorado and Vancouver have shown they’re among the best teams in the league, but every NHL GM wants to get better. And the Canucks and Avalanche have to take advantage of the great situation they’re currently in. They do that by mostly adding for this season, and worrying about their draft capital and prospect base two or three years from now. That’s what the Canucks have done already this season, and that’s what the Avs ought to be doing in the next 10 to 11 days.

Teams like Vancouver and Colorado don’t necessarily need to make a move or two to be considered legitimate Stanley Cup contenders, but depth is always important in the war of attrition that is the post-season. While the Canucks have things to learn from the Avalanche, the opposite is true as well. The pressure is squarely on both teams to amass as much skill as they can by the deadline, and Vancouver’s early-bird activity on the trade front is a template for Colorado to try and follow.

Time is quickly ticking away, and the Avalanche should be buyers at the level the Canucks have been thus far.