The Colorado Avalanche have plenty of cap space for signing their restricted free agents — $18,749,407. However, the team has some big-name RFAs coming up — specifically Tyson Barrie and Nathan MacKinnon.
Per Mike Chambers of the Denver Post, the Avalanche and Barrie’s agents are scheduled to meet during the 2016 NHL draft to negotiate. If they don’t agree to a deal, GM Joe Sakic states that he expects the two sides to enter salary arbitration. This means Barrie would be ineligible to entertain offer sheets from other teams.
That said, Sakic also said Colorado and MacKinnon’s agent had only had “initial talks” and “not much lately.