Unrestricted free agent forward Andrew Cogliano signed a one-year contract worth $1.25 million with the Colorado Avalanche. This contract carries him through the 2022-23 season.
Andrew Cogliano’s new deal with #GoAvsGo is 1-year x $1.25 million.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) July 5, 2022
UFA Andrew Cogliano Signed Contract, Stays in Denver
Over his 15-year NHL career, Cogliano played for the Avalanche, San Jose Sharks, Edmonton Oilers, Anaheim Ducks and Dallas Stars to-date. The Oilers drafted him back in 2005 with their first-round, 25th overall selection. In total, Cogliano amassed 174 goals and 252 assists for 426 points through 1140 career games. In 2021-22, he posted four goals and 12 assists for 16 points in 74 games.
Cogliano arrived in Colorado at the trade deadline and appeared in 18 regular season games with the team. However, his postseason impact exceeded everyone’s expectations. In 16 playoff contests, he posted three goals and three assists, including a few in massive moments contributing to their eventual championship. He averaged just 9:42 per night in the playoffs, coupled with a relative Corsi-for of -12.5%. However, his veteran impact in the locker room added enormously to their success. He delivered a speech between games five and six of the Stanley Cup Final, something the rest of the team drew upon heavily. They reiterated his message before the third period of what wound up being the Cup-clinching game six in Tampa Bay. With a 2-1 lead and Cogs’ message on everyone’s minds, the team help the Bolts to just two shots on goal. Bowen Byram called it potentially the greatest closeout period in history. Considering they become the team to finally dethrone the Lightning dynasty, that statement seems fitting.
What This Means for the Future
Cogliano only exceeded the 20-goal plateau once in his career, and it came way back in 2013-14. He also posted negative relative Corsi-for percentages every year since 2016-17. But Cogliano’s value comes from beyond those numbers. The fourth-line forward starts nearly 80% of his shifts in the defensive zone. He eats tons of penalty kill minutes, blocks shots, and throws tons of hits (especially for a 5’10, 175-pound player). The way Cogliano plays is the way teams need to play to win big games in big moments. And in those big moments, he played even more clutch and contributed some absolutely enormous points.
He mentioned a desire to stay in Colorado right away, too. After all, he finally won his first ever Stanley Cup with this team. Now, he looks to run it back with the Avs. And with his determination, grit, and leadership all year long, Colorado surely will get plenty out of him. Though they will lose some faces too, including the likes of Nazem Kadri, Andre Burakovsky, and/or Valeri Nichushkin, this team still possesses plenty of ability. And now, they have championship pedigree to attract new faces, too.
Joe Sakic and company look dialed in on doing what the Lightning just did: win back-to-back titles.
Andrew Cogliano delivered an important speech to the Avalanche between Games 5 and 6 of the #StanleyCupFinal and then they went out and won the Cup.
Staff writer @Tramyers_NHL with the story:https://t.co/DMRtVpbCpE
— NHL.com (@NHLdotcom) June 27, 2022
