Francouz was injured in Colorado's preseason vs. the Golden Knights and will miss at least three weeks with a lower-body injury. This is a tough start to the season for Francouz, who missed all of 2021 with a lower-body injury. With Franocuz out, Jonas Johansson will likely start the year as Darcy Kuemper's backup.
Toews had shoulder surgery in the offseason and has resumed skating but is expected to miss at least a few games to open the 2021-22 season. With Toews out, Jack Johnson was brought into training camp on a PTO and could earn a contract with the Avalanche.
O'Connor is entering the final-year of a two-year deal worth $725K AAV. He earned a moderate raise to $1.05M AAV that carries through 2024-25. The 25-year-old winger had three goals and two assists (five points) in 25 games in 2202-21.
The Avalanche waited until the final moments to sign Landeskog to a max eight-year contract worth $7.0M AAV. Landeskog will turn 29 this year, so he will be 36-years-old when the deal wraps up. Landeskog has been outstanding during the two shortened campaigns, scoring at a 31-goal and 42-assist (73 points) per 82 game pace.
Juulsen was claimed off of waivers in January but didn't play a lot of hockey afterwards. He went pointless in four games with the Panthers and had just one assist in five games with Syracuse (AHL). Headaches derailed his career in Montreal but he'll be looking to get back on track with the Panthers in 2021-22.
Makar appeared in 10 playoff games in 2019, burning the first year of his entry-level contract, so he needed to be re-signed after just two regular seasons in the NHL. Over that time, the 2017 No.4 overall pick is tied for fourth among defensemen in points (94) but second in points-per-game (0.93) while appearing in 101 of the 126 games. As of now, Makar is tied for the fourth highest-paid defenseman ($9.0M AAV) heading into 2021-22.
