抖阴ap

The Colorado Avalanche face a fascinating offseason after a dominant regular season but yet another postseason failure. This week, The Denver Post will take an in-depth, position-by-position look at where the Avs stand, and what the near-term future looks like as this core group of players chases an elusive second championship.

This is where things could get interesting.

The Avs look set in net, both at the NHL level and beyond, for next season. The defense corps needs some work, but there’s an excellent top four to build around.

But the place to look for where newly named general manager Joe Sakic might shake up this roster for next season is on the wings. It already started Tuesday, when the Avalanche sent Ross Colton to the Nashville Predators, reuniting him with Chris MacFarland, for two third-round picks.

And Colton might not be the only wing who isn’t on the roster on opening night.

What just happened

When all of Colorado’s wings were healthy last season, it was hard to name more than one or two teams with a better collection of them in the NHL.

Martin Necas had a career season, setting new highs with 38 goals and 100 points. He was also Czechia’s best player at the 2026 Winter Olympics, had a great second round against the Minnesota Wild and then was one of Colorado’s least impactful players against Vegas in the Western Conference Final.

Gabe Landeskog’s brilliant comeback story continued. He won the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, did not miss a game in the regular season because of his reconstructed knee and then had five goals and 11 points in 13 playoff games.

Valeri Nichushkin and Artturi Lehkonen were both very good and very important players, though neither produced goals at the same per-contest rate as they have in recent seasons. Both also missed time during the playoffs with injuries, and their effectiveness was limited by said ailments in other contests as well.

Colton scuffled for long stretches in the regular season and spent the first two games of the playoffs as a healthy scratch, but was one of the club’s more consistent players once inserted into the lineup. Nicolas Roy, who also saw some time at center, was a great fit as a depth scorer and versatile player after arriving from Toronto ahead of the trade deadline.

Parker Kelly had a dream season, smashing career-best totals with 21 goals and 35 points. Logan O’Connor missed nearly the entire regular season, but looked like the critical depth playoff performer of old once the postseason began.

Joel Kiviranta’s year after a breakout offensive campaign did not look as impressive on the scoresheet as the 2024-25 season, but he remained a trusted depth guy for coach Jared Bednar. Zakhar Bardakov made the team in training camp and showed flashes of intriguing energy, but the NHL rookie played in just four of the final 12 regular-season games and did not play in the playoffs. He is a restricted free agent and could return to Russia because there isn’t an obvious path to more regular time next year in Denver.

Gavin Brindley was the club’s best rookie and an early-season spark plug, but he was sent to the AHL shortly after the Avs loaded up at the deadline and did not return. Taylor Makar made the most appearances (12) of a forward who began the season with the Colorado Eagles and looked like a player who might turn out to be a fourth-line regular at some point in the future.

What抖阴ap next

Colton is gone … will anyone else from this group join him?

Necas is about to start the first season of an eight-year, $92 million contract. His full no-move clause kicks in July 1. He could finish with 110 points next season, but he can’t answer the big-picture questions about his ultimate value until the 2027 playoffs.

When Nichushkin and Lehkonen are healthy and in form, they give the Avs star-level value on very team-friendly contracts. But, the first part of that sentence feels more in question, given their ages and style of play. Lehkonen is also entering the final year of his contract, so all options 鈥� an extension, playing it out or a trade 鈥� seem plausible.

In each of the past two postseasons when Colorado advanced beyond the first round, Lehkonen’s impact declined. That was definitely injury-related in 2026. Nichushkin’s availability issues have been well documented.

Not everyone in this core group will age at the same rate. Finding a way to inject another impact player into this group that is closer to Necas’ age or even younger would be ideal, but the Avs don’t have the future assets (nor the cap flexibility) to do that right now. Trading another outer-circle core piece might be the only avenue.

Landeskog had no tangible issues with his knee this year, but that doesn’t mean it’s fine in perpetuity. His value obviously goes far beyond the production. Colton has to be replaced, though there could be an internal candidate or two 鈥� at least to start next season.

Either Roy or Kelly could end up back at center if Jack Drury doesn’t return. Conversely, Nazem Kadri could slide to the wing to help one of the top-two lines if Bednar thinks one of the depth guys can handle the No. 3 center spot.

Brindley and Makar will be two guys to watch during training camp, along with T.J. Hughes, who had no trouble being an impact guy for the Eagles, but his ultimate NHL ceiling is both unclear and fascinating.

There are lots of questions here:

1. Will the Avs just run this group back, minus Colton, and expect either better health luck, improved postseason results or both?

2. Will the Avs be able to find a younger top-nine forward while still rebuilding the back half of the defense corps?

3. Could the Avs afford to part with a top-end forward to specifically add one more impact defenseman, and is there enough depth up front to cover for that, at least until the trade deadline?

Moving Colton for cap flexibility kicked off the Sakic 2.0 regime and the 2026 offseason. It might not be the last big shakeup, either.

Future depth chart

^ Unrestricted free agent on July 1; * UFA in 2027; + Restricted free agent on July 1; # RFA in 2027