Ross Colton Traded From Colorado to Nashville Predators© Instagram
The Colorado Avalanche traded forward Ross Colton and goaltending prospect Isak Posch to the Nashville Predators on Tuesday in exchange for goaltender Magnus Chrona, a third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft and a third-round pick in 2027. The deal marks the first significant move for new Predators GM Chris MacFarland, who spent the previous four seasons running Colorado’s front office before taking the Nashville job on June 2.
“We are very excited to add Ross Colton to our forward mix,” MacFarland said. “Ross is a versatile, two-way winger who will add sandpaper and grit into our middle-six group.”
Why Colorado Avalanche Moved On
Colton had 24 points on nine goals and 15 assists in 73 regular-season games this past season, a number considered disappointing given he shot just 5.9 percent despite generating reasonable volume. He picked up form in the playoffs, contributing five points in 11 games as Colorado went 8-1 through the first two rounds before being swept by Vegas in the Western Conference Final.
He has one season remaining on the four-year, $16 million contract he signed with Colorado in July 2023, carrying a $4 million cap hit for 2026-27 before becoming an unrestricted free agent. With roughly $3 million in cap space heading into the offseason, Avalanche GM Joe Sakic had signalled last week he was open to trades, and Colton became the first player to go. The move frees up closer to $7 million in space for Colorado to work with this summer.
The Goaltending Piece
Magnus Chrona, returning to the organisation that traded him away as part of the 2024 Yaroslav Askarov deal with San Jose, played collegiately at the University of Denver and went 73-34-5 with a .914 save percentage across 114 games. He is set to become a Group VI unrestricted free agent on July 1, which limits Colorado’s long-term commitment to him. Isak Posch, the 24-year-old goalie heading to Nashville, spent the 2025-26 season split between the ECHL and AHL, appearing in 28 games for the Colorado Eagles.
Colton won the Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay in 2021, scoring the Cup-clinching goal. He now joins a Predators team that finished 38-34-10 last season, sixth in the Central Division, looking for the kind of bottom-six grit MacFarland believes he provides.
Topics mentioned in this article
