Colton's contract goes through 2027 with a $4 million cap hit. The 29-year-old had nine goals and 24 points in 73 games this season. Sean M. Haffey / Getty ImagesJune 16, 2026 Updated The Colorado Avalanche have traded forward Ross Colton and goalie Isak Posch to the Nashville Predators in exchange for a 2026 third-round pick, a 2027 third-round pick and goalie Magnus Chrona, the teams announced Tuesday.Colton’s contract goes through 2027 with a $4 million cap hit. The 29-year-old had nine goals and 24 points in 73 games this season.“We are very excited to add Ross Colton to our forward mix,” said Predators president of hockey operations and general manager Chris MacFarland, the former Avalanche GM. “Ross is a versatile, two-way winger who will add sandpaper and grit into our middle six group.”The teams also swapped goalies in Chrona, who played for the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals last season, and Posch, who played for the AHL’s Colorado Eagles.
A fourth-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2016, Colton made his NHL debut with the Lightning in 2021 and scored in his first game after two college seasons at the University of Vermont and two years of development with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch. Colton is a fierce competitor, playing in all 23 games of Tampa Bay’s 2021 Stanley Cup run and scoring the Cup-clinching goal as a rookie.Tampa Bay traded him to Colorado for a second-round pick on June 28, 2023. He had 17 goals and a career-best 40 points in his first season with the Avalanche before following that up with 16 goals and 29 points in 2024-25.Colton had his ups and downs this season and was scratched for Colorado’s first two games against the Los Angeles Kings during the playoffs.While Colton’s role was compromised somewhat on a deep Avalanche club, the veteran offers some versatility in that he has played regularly on the wing but also spent a good deal of time in the middle earlier in his NHL career.Though the Predators got a boost from some of their younger players in the organization during their push to make the playoffs this spring, Colton provides some proven depth as a third-line upgrade behind Steven Stamkos and Filip Forsberg on left wing or at center, where Ryan O’Reilly and Matthew Wood are the top two on the depth chart.
