Tag: Colorado Avalanche
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How the Avalanche can increase Stanley Cup odds for 2026-27 season | Evan’s take
When the Avalanche acquired veterans Brock Nelson and Charlie Coyle at the 2025 trade deadline, superstar Nathan MacKinnon shared a poignant belief. “I really don’t think you can win with young players,” he said. The same thing happened this year when the organization brought in Nicolas Roy and Nazem Kadri. The Avalanche have not hesitated…
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Central teams get aggressive as grip at top of division loosens for Avalanche | NHL Insider
The NHL is a funny league. No one would argue that the two best divisions in hockey are the Central and Atlantic. There are high-end teams in each, but there is also depth. And yet, at the end of this season, no team from either of those divisions represented their conference at the Stanley Cup…
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Avalanche sign former Colorado College forward Jaden Schwartz to 3-year contract, add depth defenseman
Jaden Schwartz is returning to Colorado. He’ll just be a little farther north this time around. On Wednesday, the Avalanche signed the 34-year-old Schwartz to a three-year contract that will carry a cap hit of $3.25 million on the opening day of NHL free agency. Schwartz spent two years with Colorado College from 2010-2012 and…
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Why inevitable contract extension for ‘important’ Artturi Lehkonen comes with risk for Avalanche | Evan’s take
Joe Sakic has two big contract extensions to work on this summer as Avalanche general manager. They are a little different. Cale Makar? He can name his number. The Avalanche will work with Makar’s camp to see if they can get him to take a “discount” to help out the team. Ultimately, however, the superstar…
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Avalanche open development camp with top prospects absent, sign Taylor Makar to two-year contract
The Avalanche released their development camp roster Sunday. The first thing that popped out wasn’t who will be there, but who won’t be there. When the prospects hit the ice Tuesday at Family Sports Center, fans in attendance will not see top prospects Ilya Nabokov, Mikhail Gulyayev, T.J. Hughes or Egor Shilov. Instead, it will…
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Avalanche restock prospect pool with 9 selections, make minor trade during NHL draft
Nick Pryor, the director of amateur scouting for the Colorado Avalanche, was a heck of a lot busier this weekend than he was during last year’s NHL draft. The Avalanche entered the day with 10 selections, which would have been the most they’d made since the league went to a seven-round draft. They traded two…
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Joe Sakic outlines final Avalanche roster targets, expects young prospects to step up
It’s been a busy 14 days for Joe Sakic. He’s made two trades with his former colleague in Chris MacFarland, dealt away one of the key players from the 2022 Stanley Cup team, and signed two veteran defenseman. It doesn’t sound like he’s done, either. “We’d still like to sign one or two forwards and…
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Avalanche re-sign Brett Kulak to 5-year contract, bring back Brent Burns on 1-year deal
While Joe Sakic has removed an entire line’s worth of forwards from the Colorado Avalanche this summer, it appears he’s going to run it back with the same defense in 2026-27. On Friday, the Avalanche announced they had re-signed Brett Kulak to a five-year contract that will carry a cap hit of $4.5 million each…
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Avalanche, Nichushkin make clean break as Sakic trades Russian forward to Columbus for picks | Evan’s take
Joe Sakic sold again, clearing even more cap space for his Colorado Avalanche. Is it finally time for him to start buying? Just one day after sending Jack Drury to Nashville on Thursday, the Avalanche sent Valeri Nichushkin to the Columbus Blue Jackets. In return, they received three draft picks: a 2026 second-round pick, a…
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Players in free agency and on trade market to keep an eye on with Avalanche | NHL Insider
We were promised a strong trade market by NHL insiders this summer. So far, general managers have not disappointed. In the past 10 days, names like Brady Tkachuk, Bowen Byram, William Eklund, Jordan Kyrou and Simon Nemec have been dealt, with returns including top 10 and even top 5 draft picks. It’s an unheard-of level…