With the Ross Colton trade, the Colorado Avalanche have cleared more cap space to make this summer. With just under $7 million in cap space, the Avalanche have some money to spread to their pending unrestricted and restricted free agents. Though, as the clock ticks closer to the 2026 NHL Entry Draft and July 1, more contracts are being extended, and that could impact the Avalanche.

Minnesota Wild’s Michael McCarron was extended to a six-year, $20 million contract, which puts Jack Drury into a market of bottom-six centers looking to get a larger contract. Though it doesn't help with the recent Edmonton Oilers extension, it might make talks even tougher for the Avalanche if they want to extend Drury.

The Oilers just a couple of days ago extended Jason Dickinson with a five-year $20 million extension, with a cap hit of $4 million per season that comes with a no-move clause for the first three seasons and a modified no-trade clause for the final two. The 30-year-old finished with one goal and three assists for four points in the 17 regular-season games he played. In the playoffs, he scored two goals and one assist for three points in four games.

Dickinson brings great defensive structure to that Oilers bottom-six that they have struggled to find before, and while his offensive numbers can be higher and he's shown it with the Chicago Blackhawks, you're locking in a strong, defense-first depth defenseman in a solid cap range considering his age and production on the ice.

The issue in comparing Dickinson and McCarrons' situations to Drury is that both are in their early or mid-30s and on win-now teams. Drury is turning 27 this season, and both of these guys are cashing in on a salary cap jump, so Drury gets the advantage of wanting a longer and more expensive deal.

While Drury might not be as big as these guys, he plays just as tough and in an important role the Avalanche really need, the only bonus is he's much younger. So if I'm the Avalanche, I want to extend Drury 5-6+ years to lock in a crucial bottom-six center for the foreseeable future, but if I im Drury and I'm hearing that, I want to be paid considerably more since I im locking in when the cap's supposed to continue to rise in my current contract.

A major update is that, according to DNVR’s A.J. Haefele, Drury has already turned down multiple extension offers from the Avalanche. While the Avalanche do have the fortunate favor that Drury is a restricted free agent, meaning they won't immediately lose his rights come July 1, it's still unfortunate to hear that, as of right now, there's a gap in contract talks between the team and the player.

I can imagine the Avalanche would likely like to keep Drury's new contract under $4 million, given how the other contracts in the bottom six look, aside from maybe Nazem Kadri if he gets shifted down the lineup. Even the new addition of Nic Roy is $3 million, helping keep a majority of the cap on the top six and Cale Makar's pending contract extension.

Ross Colton's $4 million salary was a topic of discussion all season, and they wanted to move off it by the trade deadline, but nothing they liked really came to fruition. If they do have to pay him $4 million or more, that opens the window to not being able to keep Brett Kulak or to trading someone like Valeri Nichushkin, whose name has grown louder in the rumor cycle, and free up more cap space.

I imagine the Avalanche would like a contract extension done before free agency, as that could really set the market for what bottom-six centers could make. Players like Adam Henrique, Lars Eller, Boone Jenner, and Scott Laughton could all command interest come July. While they may be older than Drury, we could see what teams value in depth at defensive center, which could easily set Drury up to want more.