I think the Avalanche have done what more teams in their situation need to do and that's make the difficult decision to cut loose a player who's looking for a huge payday when you've already got a couple elite players on the roster with huge contracts. It's going to be really difficult to ice a team with enough depth when you have three huge superstar contracts. Mishandle this situation and you risk losing Cale Makar in 2027.
It's the same situation that Edmonton is going through with McDavid (no brainer) and Bouchard this offseason. Edmonton, being a poorly run organization, will hand out a fourth large contract to Bouchard and watch as their team struggles to get out of the first or second round over the next decade because they lack the depth to field a good enough team to do so.
The Avalanche's underlying metrics have looked pretty ugly over the last 10 games. They haven't racked up back-to-back wins since the new year, I believe, and I think they realize that they can't win consistently while getting offense from one line. Sucks to trade away a superstar, but long-term this could be for the best, though as a Blues fan right now, I'm pretty pleased to see them move Rantanen out of the division.
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