The overwhelming consensus from Avalanche fans on their team’s offseason?

Eh.

Summer plans for the Avalanche changed the moment Nazem Kadri was acquired directly before the trade deadline in March. Bringing in a forward carrying a cap hit of $5.6 million for the following three seasons has repercussions. Those repercussions were felt in late June when the Avalanche shipped out three regular forwards from last season to clear cap room.

Make no mistake: the Avalanche are not a better team than they were when the Golden Knights eliminated them in May. It would have been impossible for them to keep that group together even with a rising salary cap.

But when the puck drops Sept. 30, will their opening night lineup be better (or equal) to the one they dressed to start 2025-26?

That’s probably the better question. Joe Sakic has made it clear his plan moving forward is to bank cap space that will allow him to make the necessary moves in season. Even if the summer has been underwhelming, the Avalanche are set up to contend again next season.

But about those summer moves. Let’s take a look at each of them that will impact the NHL club one-by-one and grade the work done by Sakic thus far.

Avalanche trade W Ross Colton and G Isak Posch to Nashville for a 2026 third-round pick, 2027 third-round pick and G Magnus Chrona

Coming off his worst season as an NHLer, Colton was all but guaranteed to move on this summer. His role had diminished over the past two seasons and he started the playoffs as a healthy scratch. When he reentered the lineup, he was very effective, which may have helped his trade value in the end. Either way, it was clear he would be a cap casualty so the Avalanche could open up $4 million. Not having to retain anything while gaining two decent draft picks is tidy work, if unspectacular.

Grade: B

Avalanche trade C Jack Drury, W Chase Bradley and 2029 third-round pick to Nashville for C Fedor Svechkov and W Zachary L’Heureux

At the time of the trade, the Avalanche gave up the best player in the deal. That’s usually not a good thing. But this is a case where Colorado acquired not one, but two, young players they seem excited about. Both have NHL experience, although neither have set the world on fire during their time in the league. Svechkov’s microstats are intriguing while L’Heureux’s value will come with the energy he plays with.

This trade will ultimately depend on whether one or both of the young forwards become trusted players for Jared Bednar. Drury was Colorado’s best face-off man, a top penalty killer and a good playoff performer. In the immediate, it feels like a downgrade, but that has the potential to change if Colorado can develop either or both of them.

Grade: C+ (with potential to go up or down)

Avalanche trade W Valeri Nichushkin to Columbus for 2026 second-round pick, 2027 third round pick and 2028 fifth-round pick

This move requires some perspective. Two years ago, the Avalanche couldn’t have given away Nichushkin considering his past. Even a year ago, they probably wouldn’t have gotten much value. All things considered, they waited things out until they could get some value back.

The problem: as of now, they’ve lost an important top six forward who played in all situations and did not replace him. Nichushkin had a poor postseason and there are genuine concerns injuries will hinder him the rest of his career. But he was still a rock defensively and produced at an over 50-point pace. Colorado might be thinking a full season of Kadri can replace his offense, and they might be right. But that doesn’t replace Nichushkin’s defensive impact.

This may be one of the spots Sakic looks to fill in-season. But trading a key cog in your top six for just draft picks does make this Avalanche team worse.

Grade: C-

Avalanche re-sign Brett Kulak to five-year contract carrying $4.5 million cap hit

There was a potential deal discussed to send Nichushkin to a team in return for a younger defenseman, according to a source. That team was ultimately one of the 12 that Nichushkin could block, so it never got close to the finish line. The safe fallback move after that was bringing back Kulak, who was a nice fit after being acquired from Pittsburgh.

Kulak is a trusted defensive player who won’t provide much offense. Given the poor free agent class on defense, it made sense to bring him back if there wasn’t a trade to be made. Is it a year too long? Probably, but the goal is to win in the immediate. They’ll worry about years four and five when they get here.

Grade: B-

Avalanche re-sign Brent Burns to one-year contract carrying $850,000 cap hit with potential for $2.15 million in bonuses

Burns was fantastic last season up until January. After that, his game took a pretty big dip, which is not a major surprise given his age. With Kulak in the mix, you’d have to imagine his minutes will be more limited over the course of the entire season.

There’s no denying the positive impact he had on the penalty kill, but Sakic’s comments about him getting fatigued as the year went on were interesting. Burns needs 58 games to break the consecutive games record and become the NHL’s iron man. That’s around the same time as the trade deadline. If this team can find an in-season upgrade on defense, and that should be a priority, could they be looking at giving Burns some nights off down the stretch? That will be fascinating to watch.

Grade: C+

Avalanche sign W Jaden Schwartz to three-year contract carrying $3.25 million cap hit

Money wise, this move is completely fine, even if it is maybe a year too long. That’s usually what happens in free agency. Schwartz is still an effective player who might be used in all situations by Bednar. He is also a proven playoff performer who has never been afraid of going to the dirty areas, which is a plus. The question will be availability, which could become a major problem on the left side. The Avalanche are banking on Schwartz, Artturi Lehkonen and Gabriel Landeskog to be their top three left wingers. All have a history of missing time due to injuries. The three combined to play 180 of a possible 246 games last season. If they’re all healthy, the Avalanche look good, but it’s reasonable to expect all to miss games due to injury.

Grade: B-

Avalanche sign D Noah Juulsen to one-year contract carrying $1.1 million cap hit

Perhaps the Avalanche are learning from some past mistakes.

Colorado entered last season without a seventh defenseman they could trust, forcing them to claim Ilya Solovyov right before the start of the season. They eventually moved on from him and brought in Nick Blankenburg at the deadline, another player who never really earned the trust of Jared Bednar. Chasing depth is never ideal.

Juulsen is the opposite of Blankenburg. He’s not flashy. He won’t lead a breakout, but coaches tend to trust him because they know what they’re going to get. That’s a valuable trait in a seventh defenseman. By getting this done now, Juulsen can get to camp and earn Bednar’s trust while the front office can focus on swinging for a better defenseman at the deadline that could push Juulsen (and someone else) down the depth chart.

Grade: B

Avalanche trade C Ivan Ivan for W Fabian Lysell

The type of swing the Avalanche should be commended for taking. With the additions of L’Heureux and Svechkov, Colorado has enough potential bottom-six forwards under contract there probably wasn’t room for Ivan. With Lysell, they’re hoping his speed and skill fit with how the team likes to play. His AHL numbers are impressive, but he hasn’t gotten much of a look in the NHL. There’s no guarantee he will in Colorado or that he’ll work here, but it doesn’t hurt to try. The prospect pool lacks high-end skill, so taking a chance on a player like this is smart. If he doesn’t boom at the NHL level, he’s a proven AHL scorer at the very least.

Grade: B

Yes, calling the Avalanche offseason “meh” is fair. They’re unquestionably worse than what they were a few months ago. But when you compare this current roster to what they started last season with, it doesn’t seem like much of a downgrade, if at all. Sakic’s ability to tinker in-season and the older players fighting off the inevitable impact of Father Time may ultimately make or break the 2026-27 campaign.

What I’m hearing

• That potential Nichushkin trade discussed above would have had a substantial impact on their offseason. A fascinating “what if?” scenario, for sure.
• It’s the dead of the summer, but look for an exclusive interview next week in The Denver Gazette with a former Avalanche forward.

What I’m seeing

• Shane Wright staring down the Montreal Canadiens draft table after they passed on him with the No. 1 pick in 2022 is a tough look right now, but I’d still be interested to see what Wright looks like on a team other than Seattle. He was on a decent trajectory before regressing last season.
• Eeli Tolvanen seems destined to be a nice, cheap pickup for some team late this summer that needs an easy upgrade.

What I’m thinking

• It doesn’t appear Dylan Larkin and Steve Yzerman were fans of each other. With Yzerman no longer running things in Detroit, you must wonder if Larkin rescinds his trade request. That would be good news for the Avalanche, as two of the four teams he was willing to go to were in the Central.
• The Broncos were able to upgrade their practice facility within just a few years, while the Avalanche have been waiting for over a decade on a new one. Not great.