DENVER — The Avalanche have been Stanley Cup champions for a week now and have clearly enjoyed their celebration. But soon, the front office is going to have to make tough decisions on who will return next season.

Colorado has several key players becoming free agents and with $25.685 million in projected cap space, according to CapFriendly.com, the Avalanche will likely be able to keep some of those pivotal pieces. But they are also expected to lose a handful of players who have played themselves into contracts the Avalanche likely can’t afford.

Atop of that list is center Nazem Kadri, who is an unrestricted free agent. Kadri, 31, had the best season of his 13-year career with 87 points and 28 goals in the regular season and 15 points and seven goals in the playoffs. Kadri is expected to be one of the top free agents in the NHL and will likely field offers close to $9 million per year, which the Avalanche may not want to match.

PHOTOS: Colorado Avalanche 2022 Championship Parade and Rally

Still, Kadri has enjoyed his time in Colorado and might be willing to take a discount, knowing the Avalanche will again be contenders.

“Of course that’s a preference,” Kadri said to reporters Thursday. “But that’s just the business of hockey. We’re going to see what unfolds. I’m not even trying to think about that right now. I just want to celebrate with my teammates and the fans of Denver.” 

While Kadri will be the center of attention in free agency, Valeri Nichushkin is arguably the Avalanche’s top priority. Nichushkin, 27, played a huge role in Colorado’s Stanley Cup run, totaling 15 points and nine goals while playing on a broken foot in the final. Nichushkin is sure to make $6-7 million per year and very well could be the first free agent the Avalanche sign. 

Colorado could also be looking for a new goalie, with Darcy Kuemper an unrestricted free agent. Kuemper, 32, was a solid goaltender for the Avalanche in 2021-22. But don’t be surprised if Colorado goes in a different direction considering Kuemper’s age, cost and health. The Avalanche do still have backup goalie Pavel Francouz on the books for two more years at $2 million per year. 

Other free agents to watch include André Burakovsky, Artturi Lehkonen and Josh Manson. Burakovsky, like Nichushkin, is expected to get offered in the $6-7 million range. Lehkonen — who was one of the Avalanche’s most underrated players — is a restricted free agent, meaning Colorado can match any offer he’s given and it would not be surprising if Colorado does exactly that. The team values Lehkonen more than some may realize. And Manson has likely played himself into a big contract elsewhere, as he was one of the Avalanche’s best defenseman in the playoffs. 

Fans will be interested to see what happens with veterans like Andrew Cogliano, Jack Johnson and Darren Helm, two of the oldest players on the team who played integral parts in the playoffs. It’s not out of the question any of those three decide to retire. 

Either way, the Avalanche hope to keep as many key players as possible, in hopes of winning a second-straight Stanley Cup. But they will likely have to give up a few of those pieces this offseason. 

“We’re going to enjoy this moment,” General Manager Joe Sakic said after the Stanley Cup Final. “Obviously we have things we have to start focusing on and it’ll probably be a few days before we do that… It’s going to be a lot different, obviously. We have a lot of unrestricted free agents here and the cap’s not going up, really. So we have some decisions to make. But with a core this young, I think we’re always going to be in a good place.”

Avalanche restricted free agents

RW Nicolas Aubé-Kubel

LW/RW Artturi Lehkonen 

Avalanche unrestricted free agents 

LW/RW André Burakovsky

LW/RW Andrew Cogliano

C/LW/RW Darren Helm

C Nazem Kadri

LW/RW Valeri Nichushkin 

C Nico Sturm

D Jack Johnson

D Josh Manson

D Ryan Murray 

G Darcy Kuemper