Colorado's latest acquisition is a solid two-way player who can win faceoffs and create scoring chances.

The Colorado Avalanche added depth to their roster in a trade with Tampa Bay for forward Ross Colton on Wednesday. In exchange, the Lightning received the Avalanche’s second-round pick, 37^th overall, it had acquired from the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday.

The 6-foot and 194-pound New Jersey native was drafted by the Lightning in the fourth round (118th overall) of the 2016 NHL Draft. He put up 83 points (47 goals, 36 assists) in 190 regular season games with Tampa Bay and added 19 points (10g,9a) in 52 career postseason contests. Colton scored the lone game-winning goal in the series-clinching Game 5 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Final for Tampa Bay against the Canadiens.

In his first full NHL season, Colton scored a career-high 22 goals in 2021-22. He is a solid faceoff winner with a 56.08% win percentage last season and 52.2% in the 2021-22 campaign.

"Ross is a hard-working, two-way center with a championship pedigree,” Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland said. “He has physicality to his game, is ultra-competitive and his versatility will make him a valuable addition to our lineup in a lot of ways.”

The 26-year-old is solid on the penalty kill and his grit and physical play will be an asset to the bottom six.

Colton earned 76 points in 131 career American Hockey League games with the Syracuse Crunch from 2018-21. He scored one goal in the four Calder Cup Playoff contests he played in.

Before he went pro, Colton played college hockey at the University of Vermont where he notched 50 points in 69 games from 2016-18. He was named to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team in 2016-17.

Prior to his collegiate career, Colton played two seasons in the United States Hockey League with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders from 2014-16. He earned 99 points (53g,46a) in 113 career games and was team captain in 2015-16.

Colton is due to become a restricted free agent on July 1.