J.T. Compher Stays Put, Agrees To A 4-Year Contract With The Colorado Avalanche

By Jordan Long

The Colorado Avalanche agreed to a new contract with restricted free agent J.T. Compher.  It will be 4-years paying him $3.5 million a year.  This avoids the Avalanche going to arbitration with him.

                Compher was a key part of the Avalanche’s secondary scoring.  He played on the 2nd line.  He was able to use his speed to skate past the defenseman to score goals and found the puck for rebounds.   If Compher couldn’t score, he found his teammates for scoring chances. Compher ended up with a career of 16 goals and 16 assists for a total of 32 points.

                The Avalanche used him on special team situations. He was able to find the loose puck and bury it behind the goaltender on the man advantage.  If he knew he couldn’t shoot, Compher passed it to a wide open skater for them to light the lamp.  He totaled 4 power play goals and 5 power play assists.  On the power play kill Compher blocked shots and took away the puck.  When he had the puck he skated the other way and fired it to the other end of the ice to take time off the power play kill and he scored 3 short handed goals.

                With his play on the 2nd line, the Avalanche made the playoffs.  In 12 postseason games for the Avalanche Compher’s play in the regular season carried over to the postseason.  He scored 4 goals and added 2 assists for 6 points.  Compher wasn’t as valuable on the power play with 1 assist.  The Avalanche knew when their season ended in game 7 of the 2^nd round to the San Jose Sharks,  they wanted to keep Compher because of his ability to score and create scoring opportunities.

                The Avs worked with him to reach this new deal. According to ESPN.com, General Manager Joe Sakic said, “J.T. has been one of our most versatile forwards over the past two years. He plays on our power play, kills penalties and has played up and down our lineup. He has scored some big goals late in games and we are counting on him to have an even more expanded role moving forward. We are excited to have him under contract for the next four seasons.”

                The Avalanche have to be happy this deal with Compher is done.  His play will help Colorado reach the ultimate goal and that is to make a deep run in the playoffs and bring the Stanley Cup back to Colorado.  Now that Compher’s contract is done, Colorado needs to sign forward Mikko Rantanen to a long-term deal.   Once that is completed, the Avalanche can look forward to the 2019-2020 season. Accent