Before casting aspersions on the Avalanche front office for its lack of 2023 trade deadline deals, it might be wise to observe other playoff results.

Colorado’s early elimination against scrappy Seattle was unexpected and inadequate for a team with proven championship credentials, but at least it didn’t cost as much as New York’s first-round exit. Or Boston’s, or Tampa’s.

The Rangers, Bruins and Lightning were three of the heavy spenders at the trade deadline in March. Turns out rentals were a waste of time in a season this unpredictable.

Boston’s Game 7 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers — the same night Colorado’s season ended — would have been a historic upset even if the Bruins had done nothing at the deadline. But with Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci already on expiring contracts, the winningest team in NHL regular-season history went all-in. It landed Tyler Bertuzzi from Detroit and Dmitri Orlov and Garnet Hathaway from Washington. All three are about to be UFAs. The total cost? Two first-round picks (2023 and 2024), a second-round pick (2025), a third-rounder (2024), a fourth-rounder (2025) and veteran wing Craig Smith.The Bruins’ core is on the verge of collapse.