Charlie Coyle, who just finished his 13th season in the NHL, joined the Colorado Avalanche late in the season. Coyle was part of a trade that sent Casey Mittelstadt and prospect William Zellers the other way to Boston.

The Trade

Boston had been steadily falling in the standings by the time the trade deadline came around, so they were all in. The Avalanche expected Mittelstadt at the beginning of the season as the second line center. His well documented struggles to produce any points made it a simple decision for management to trade him away. Coyle became the target. By March 7, Coyle had 15 goals and 7 assists in 64 games for the Boston Bruins.

Coyle’s Performance

Coyle joined the Avalanche and immediately became a bottom-six center. He was a defensive force that was hard to play against for any team that played against him. Coyle became important for his role on special teams for Colorado. The veteran would eventually play on both the second power play unit and the penalty kill for the Avalanche.

Coyle kept his streak of playing in the playoffs every year alive as the Avalanche played against the Dallas Stars. The Weymouth, Massachusetts native saw action in all seven games against the Stars. Unfortunately, Coyle tallied only one goal in the series as the Colorado scoring went silent.

Next season, Coyle is due to return in the last year of his contract with a cap hit of $5.25 million. He will be a great building block for the Avalanche to build the bottom-six around along with Logan O’Connor. His positive attitude and tradition of heading to the playoffs is something that the Avalanche will desire coming into next season. A full training camp will be very beneficial to Coyle, who played well, but could improve on his two goals and 11 assists with Colorado.