Breaking: Colorado acquires Nick Blankenburg — and more

We’re less than 48 hours away from the NHL Trade Deadline this upcoming Friday, and the Avs have made another trade a week after acquiring defenseman Brett Kulak from the Pittsburgh Penguins. This time around, Colorado acquired right shot defenseman Nick Blankenburg from the Nashville Predators in exchange for a 2027 5th-round draft pick.

The 27-year-old Blankenburg will very likely be Colorado’s 7th defenseman for this season, and serve as “break glass in case of emergency” depth, in case the Avs need an NHL-caliber defenseman to slot in for any number of reasons. In 49 games for Nashville this season, Blankenburg has recorded six goals and 15 assists for a total of 21 points this season, and is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer on an expiring $775K contract.

Blankenburg is a good set-and-forget third-pairing defenseman and should be more than fine stepping into the lineup whenever he might be called upon. It is interesting that after a week of hearing how much the Avalanche value big strong and size on the back end that they’d target not only another right hander as well as someone listed at 5-foot-9 and 177 lbs. But the price must have been right and Blankenburg is an affordable depth addition.

As previously mentioned, we’re less than 48 hours before the deadline as of tonight and action has started to pick up around the league. Colorado has yet to address their forward group, which might be next on the docket after seemingly setting their defensive core for the rest of the season.

On Sunday, March 1, the Warrenton 8th‑grade girls captured the state title after a 60‑52 win over Madras/Warm Springs in Salem. They finished the weekend with five victories, including wins over Yamhill‑Carlton and Crescent Valley, and a comeback from a nine‑point halftime deficit in the championship.

The squad, made up of six eighth‑graders and four seventh‑graders, has had six players together for five years, giving them a strong chemistry that helped them dominate the tournament.

Portland (30-33), making a push for the postseason, used a strong finish to seal the victory. The Trail Blazers had lost three of their last four games before Wednesday's win.

The Grizzlies, playing the second game of a back-to-back, received 24 points from Jaylen Wells and 20 from GG Jackson but fell to 3-9 in their last 12 games. Memphis continues to be without Ja Morant, who missed his 18th consecutive game with a left elbow injury.