Rumor: Avalanche have named their price for Samuel Girard.

It would appear that the Colorado Avalanche are looking to unload one of their young defensemen, one that could very well fetch them a solid return if they can find a suitable dance partner.

Recently Avalanche reporter Mike Chambers revealed his belief that the Avalanche continues to work on to move defenseman Samuel Girard, a player that they were reportedly dangling in the Jack Eichel sweepstakes, to another franchise. Although we now know that the Avalanche eventually missed out on Eichel, Chambers believes that they are still shopping Girard in the hopes of acquiring another forward.

"I believe Sam Girard was the big piece in the efforts to get Jack Eichel here and I still think Girard is going to get traded, I think the Avs want a forward for him and they want to lose his $5 million long term cap hit," said Chambers.

The fact that Chambers claims the Avalanche are looking to move Girard's cap hit does seem a little bit odd to me. The Avalanche have Girard locked down for this season and the next 5 that follow at what I would argue is a fairly reasonable number, and those are exactly the kind of contracts that are worth a premium with the National Hockey League's salary cap remaining relatively stagnant year on year. 

Even stranger still is that this news come as Girard is having a pretty good start to the season with a goal and 8 assists for 9 points through his first 10 games with the Avalanche. In spite of that apparent success on the ice Chambers believes that the team's issues with Girard, issues that date back to last season and more specifically to the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, will lead to the young blue liner being dealt by the Avs at some point.

"They were highly unhappy how Sam Girard played in the second round series against Vegas, his turnovers, he didn't produce offensively, he was not good and I think that has lingered on into this season and primarily it's Bo Byram that has showed the Avs that he's better than Girard," added Chambers.

There's no doubt in my mind that if Girard is indeed up for grabs there will be no shortage of suitors for his services. Not many teams have an Eichel-like player that they are willing to trade, and as a result how likely a deal gets done here will depend on what kind of forward the Avs are willing to take in return. For a 23 year old defenseman locked in for several more years to come, you can bet that the asking price from the Avalanche and general manager Joe Sakic will be relatively high.

Girard does have some form of trade protection in the deal he signed with the Avalanche, a 9 team no trade list, but that clause won't kick in until the final 3 years of this deal which means that for now he is entirely at the mercy of the Avalanche.