Pierre LeBrun has put Boone Jenner on the Colorado Avalanche’s radar, and the timing matters because free agency opens tomorrow. The fit is simple on paper: a proven center, a team looking for depth, and a decision window that is closing fast.
Jenner is 33, has played 808 career regular-season games, and has stayed with the same club since the Colorado Avalanche selected him 37th overall in the 2011 NHL Draft. He has 212 goals, 209 assists, 44 power-play goals and 29 power-play assists, while also finishing at 50% or better on faceoffs in each of his last 11 seasons. That kind of profile explains why a depth-minded team would take a look.
The question is price. Jenner’s last contract carried a $3.75 million average annual value over four seasons, and that number may sit above where the Colorado Avalanche want to go for a player who would not be slotted as a top-six forward. Teams can like the player and still balk at the term if the role is narrower than the salary suggests.
The Avalanche’s center group already includes Nathan MacKinnon, Brock Nelson, Nicolas Roy and Fyodor Svechkov, which makes any addition more about fit than need. That also helps explain the way the club has handled similar situations before: Jack Drury was moved once it became clear he would price himself out, and Valeri Nichushkin was traded after a long stretch of speculation. In that context, Jenner reads less like a must-have and more like a test of how far the Avalanche are willing to stretch for a reliable two-way piece.
For Jenner, the appeal is obvious: a fresh start with a contender. For the Colorado Avalanche, the choice is sharper. If the number comes down enough, he becomes a plausible depth signing. If it does not, the connection may remain only that — an idea floated before free agency, then left behind when the market speaks.
