The depth defenseman agreed to a two-way contract.
After a quiet day on Thursday, the Colorado Avalanche were back at it again shaping the roster for the 2022-23 season by signing 33-year-old left-handed defenseman Brad Hunt to a two-year contract. Hunt is a nine-year veteran of the NHL with 241 regular season games played who just spent the entire last season with the Vancouver Canucks scoring 17 points in 50 games so perhaps it was a little surprise that he agreed to a two-way deal, although his guaranteed salary is fairly high.
Brad Hunt #GoAvsGo
2 year / 2-way contract
$762,500 AAV2022-23: $750k / $400k ($450k guaranteed)
2023-24: $775k / $450khttps://t.co/cBqDGsfeXz— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) July 15, 2022
The Avalanche needed to fill their depth and reserve defenseman positions and although Jack Johnson and Ryan Murray are still available on the market neither are likely to return. Hunt could either become solid depth in that seventh defenseman position or play with the Colorado Eagles and replace their top points-producing defenseman in Jordan Gross who signed with the Nashville Predators.
Kyle Burroughs nailed Brad Hunt’s value last season: “He’s a happy guy and resilient and kind of a Swiss Army knife, who can play the power play, play minutes, eat shots, take hits, dish hits and make good passes.” #Canucks #Avalanche #NHLFreeAgency
— Ben Kuzma (@benkuzma) July 15, 2022
The Nazem Kadri watch continues and takes center stage but these depth signings are an important part of building out teams at both the NHL and AHL levels. Although, Hunt might have to change his number from 77 in burgundy threads.