The Colorado Avalanche continued their aggressive NHL trade deadline by acquiring longtime Boston Bruins center Charlie Coyle on Friday, the teams announced.
The Avalanche sent center Casey Mittelstadt, 18-year-old left wing prospect Will Zellers and a conditional 2025 second-round pick to the Bruins for Coyle and a 2026 fifth-round pick.
The condition on that pick is based on Colorado’s acquisition of defenseman Ryan Lindgren from the New York Rangers earlier this week. The Rangers get the higher of Colorado’s two second-round picks in 2025. The Avalanche have their own second-round pick and the Rangers’ pick, which they acquired in 2022.
Coyle, 33, is a versatile forward who can play center and the wing. He had 25 goals in 82 games last season, setting a career high in goals and points (60). This season, he has 15 goals and 7 assists in 64 games, struggling along with the rest of the disappointing Bruins. Coyle is in his 13th NHL season, having played 931 games for the Minnesota Wild and Boston.
Mittelstadt, 26, is in his eighth NHL season. The Avalanche acquired him in 2024 from the Buffalo Sabres for defenseman Bowen Byram. Mittelstadt was seen as a potential solution at No. 2 center for Colorado behind star Nathan MacKinnon but had 34 points (including 11 goals) in 63 games for the Avalanche this season. Mittelstadt’s status with the Avalanche seemed precarious once Colorado acquired veteran Brock Nelson from the New York Islanders on Thursday night.
Zellers was taken No. 76 overall in the 2024 NHL draft. He’s listed at 5-foot-11 and has 58 points in 40 games for the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL. Scouts have noted his offensive creativity and potential upside.
The Bruins continued to reshape their roster after a disappointing season that saw them fire coach Jim Montgomery after 20 games. They traded forward Justin Brazeau to the Minnesota Wild and center Trent Frederic to Edmonton earlier this week.
