Anton Lindholm decided not to file for arbitration earlier this month and he didn’t need to. The young defenseman has re-signed for two years with the Colorado Avalanche. CapFriendly reports the contract is a two-way deal and worth an average annual value of $742,500 at the NHL level.
Now 24, Lindholm’s career to a slight step backwards last season when he spent nearly the entire year in the minor leagues. After a 2017-18 campaign where he played 48 games with the Avalanche, he suited up just twice in the NHL and instead played 57 games with the Colorado Eagles. Now with an incredibly crowded NHL blue line he’ll be in a tough spot once again.
The Avalanche do have both Erik Johnson and Ian Cole on the shelf to start the season, but with Kevin Connauton, Cale Makar, Calle Rosen and Bowen Byram all competing (or already taking) NHL roles there isn’t a ton of room for Lindholm. Instead, he’ll probably serve as some injury insurance and anchor the minor league group. That would require waivers however, making him a possible target for teams looking for defensive depth at the end of training camp.
Lindholm will actually be a Group VI unrestricted free agent at the end of the deal if he doesn’t play in another 18 games. Otherwise, he’ll still be a restricted free agent in 2021.