{"id":486099,"date":"2026-03-05T02:44:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T02:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/486099\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T02:44:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T02:44:13","slug":"colorado-avalanche-nashville-predators-complete-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/486099\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Avalanche &#038; Nashville Predators Complete Trade"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEjTJH8zDUic3_GCrlzvbzs-2LzMEOFKdNB065f-zDaNU0N_uQBeFu5DtSle7O_ujBgXLSBhrFa5B9XSnmY9FqjkQR-RO0OxTxmS-TNgCl-Ei036RnwIZ7DvWHknX9J4UpC3xpwwNqFhOfKttaHTcpsnK1UKttBJ5QtuCFNkhDVIjVsQ3xbulC98pTyNCu78\/s3941\/USATSI_27741025.jpg\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Nashville Predators defenseman Nick Blankenburg shoots the puck during 2025 game.\" border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"2627\" data-original-width=\"3941\" height=\"266\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/USATSI_27741025.jpg\" title=\"Nashville Predators defenseman Nick Blankenburg shoots the puck during 2025 game.\" width=\"400\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In return, Colorado is sending Nashville a fifth-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft as the Western Conference powerhouse continues to fine-tune its roster for a playoff run.<\/p>\n<p>Avalanche add Nick Blankenburg to strengthen blue line depth<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"1136\" data-start=\"669\">Blankenburg, 27, is enjoying the most productive season of his NHL career, recording six goals and 15 assists for 21 points in 49 games with the Predators.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"1136\" data-start=\"669\">The right-shot defenseman has also averaged nearly 18 minutes of ice time per game this season, proving capable of handling steady minutes in a two-way role.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"1136\" data-start=\"669\">His offensive totals ranked near the top among Nashville defensemen, and three of his goals came on the power play during a strong stretch in November.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">We have acquired defenseman Nick Blankenburg from the Nashville Predators in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft.<\/p>\n<p>Welcome to Colorado, Nick! \ud83c\udfd4\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/uB47UPH9Ma\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/uB47UPH9Ma<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Avalanche\/status\/2029370412572803307?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">March 5, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n<p data-end=\"1570\" data-start=\"1138\">Across his NHL career with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhltraderumors.me\/search\/label\/Columbus%20Blue%20Jackets\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a> and Predators, Blankenburg has appeared in 164 games, totaling 16 goals and 39 assists for 55 points while averaging over 18 minutes per night.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"1570\" data-start=\"1138\">Originally signed by Columbus as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Michigan in 2022, the 5-foot-9 defender has carved out a reputation as a hard-working, mobile blueliner capable of contributing in multiple situations.<\/p>\n<p>Predators collect draft capital in Nick Blankenburg trade<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"1981\" data-start=\"1635\">For the Predators, the move continues a busy week of deadline activity as general manager Barry Trotz stockpiles draft assets.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"1981\" data-start=\"1635\">Blankenburg was in the second year of a two-year deal carrying a $775,000 cap hit and is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Nick Blankenburg, acquired by COL, is a 5&#8217;9 two-way defenceman who has a quite strong track record in third pair minutes. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/n7uZJN1id4\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/n7uZJN1id4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 JFresh (@JFreshHockey) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JFreshHockey\/status\/2029371087742517753?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">March 5, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n<p data-end=\"2310\" data-start=\"1983\">Colorado, meanwhile, adds another experienced option to an already deep defensive group as it prepares for the postseason.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"2310\" data-start=\"1983\">Photo Credit:\u00a0Sam Navarro-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In return, Colorado is sending Nashville a fifth-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft as the Western Conference&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":486100,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[462],"tags":[5,181,4,465,466,550,106,60,107,549,548,546,547],"class_list":{"0":"post-486099","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl-draft","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-hockey-news","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-nhl-draft","12":"tag-nhl-entry-draft","13":"tag-nhl-free-agency","14":"tag-nhl-news","15":"tag-nhl-playoffs","16":"tag-nhl-rumors","17":"tag-nhl-teams","18":"tag-nhl-trade-deadline","19":"tag-nhl-trade-rumors","20":"tag-nhl-trades"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116174276508370140","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=486099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/486100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}