Avalanche will buy out Francois Beauchemin to open expansion draft slot

The Colorado Avalanche will buy out the final year of defenseman Francois Beauchemin’s contract, per AP’s Stephen Whyno. The team confirmed the move Thursday morning. As a 35-plus contract, the move will not provide any salary cap savings.

Beauchemin had been set to earn $4.5 million in the final season of a three-year, $13.5 million deal signed with Colorado in 2015. With the buyout, he’ll receive $1.5 million each of the next two years, ultimately saving the franchise $1.5 million over his base salary. The cap hit stays at $4.5 million because the defenseman was over 35 years old when the deal was signed.

The buyout also frees up an expansion draft protection list slot for the Avalanche, who will need to figure out who to keep away from the Vegas Golden Knights. Beauchemin’s deal has a no-movement clause, so Colorado would be required to protect him if he’s still under contract.

The move therefore gives the Avalanche the opportunity to protect another player instead.

If Colorado wants to go the nine-player protection list route, it can now protect four defensemen without including Beauchemin. That would be Erik Johnson (who must be protected due to his NMC), Tyson Barrie, Nikita Zadorov, and a fourth option. It could be Mark Barberio, although he presently needs to be left unprotected to cover requirements. They could also use that final slot on Eric Gelinas, who is a restricted free agent.

Alternatively, going the 7-3-1 route for their protection list would now allow the Avs to protect seven forwards, plus Johnson, Barrie, and Zadorov. Previously, the 7-3-1 format was a non-option because it would’ve meant choosing between Barrie and Zadorov, who are both no-brainers to be protected.

The Avalanche don’t really have seven quality forwards to protect, so it’s more likely they go the nine-player route, but removing Beauchemin from the mix gives them greater flexibility as they hammer down their pre-expansion draft plans.

Last season, Beauchemin recorded five goals and 13 assists in 81 games for a disastrous Avalanche team. He played over 21 minutes per game.