Unless something changes, the Colorado Avalanche will be bargain hunting when the NHL’s free agent market opens Monday morning. The Avs have a unique set of circumstances, but if what general manager Chris MacFarland said this past weekend at the 2024 NHL draft is true, they have very little room below the salary cap ceiling to work with. Colorado could spend well past the $88 million limit, for now, because Valeri Nichushkin’s $6.125 million cap hit doesn’t go on the books officially until he is reinstated.