Avs, Wild swap defencemen

Colorado and Minnesota swapped veteran defencemen on Tuesday, with the Avalanche acquiring Greg Pateryn and the Wild receiving Ian Cole.

The trade represents a significant salary-cap savings for Colorado from Cole’s $4.25 million hit to Pateryn’s $2.25 million.

It also frees up a spot on the left side of the blue line for 19-year-old Avalanche prospect Bowen Byram, a former member of the Lethbridge Val Matteotti bantam AAA Golden Hawks and defenceman for the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League

“The trade really works for them and the trade really works for us,” Wild general manager Bill Guerin said. “And that’s what’s most important, I think, in making deals is you make a fair deal.”

The 30-year Pateryn had two assists in three games for the Wild this season. Cole, who turns 32 in February, didn’t register a point through two games.

Since being selected in the fifth round of the 2008 draft by Toronto, Pateryn has four goals and 37 assists over 270 career games with Montreal, Dallas and Minnesota. He had a career-high 12 assists in ’17-18 with the Stars.

“Greg is a strong, veteran defenceman who plays a heavy game,” Avalanche GM Joe Sakic said in a statement. “He’s a hard-nosed, competitive player who can kill penalties, block shots and brings some additional grit to our back line.”

Cole had a career-high 22 assists last season for Colorado. He also had 83 hits and 122 blocked shots in 65 games during the 2019-20 season.

A first-round pick by St. Louis in 2007, Cole has 26 goals and 112 assists in 543 games with the Blues, Pittsburgh, Columbus and Colorado. He won back-to-back Stanley Cup titles with Pittsburgh in `15-16 and '16-17.