That mission was accomplished years ago for the Colorado Avalanche, and Cale Makar’s commitment to an eight-year, $163.2 million contract on Friday has ensured the club’s franchise-level players are locked in together for at least the next five seasons.

“We were trying to find a way collaboratively with the Avalanche to get Cale to a level commensurate with his standing in the league and his accomplishments and where we think the cap is going to go over the term of the contract, but also to push it only so far as it wouldn’t handicap the team’s ability to win championships,” Makar’s agent, Brian Bartlett, told The Denver Post.

“It wasn’t particularly contentious and grinding. There were a lot of different pieces that went into it. It was a lot about how did we want to do this? I don’t think there was ever a question about Cale wanting to spend his entire career here.”

But, as this core group of Avs has found out, dynasties are really hard to come by.

Winning the Stanley Cup in 2022 has not begat a string of championships. Makar’s contract ensures the superstars will stay together, but at a significant cost. The salary cap is expected to keep rising, but how will the Avs continue to compete for the Stanley Cup?

“I mean the game is in great shape. Contracts are going to go up, as they should,” Avs president/general manager Joe Sakic said. “You have Nathan [MacKinnon], you got Marty [Necas] signed long term; it makes it easier on your other decisions.”

What does the financial future look like for the Avs? Let’s dig into it.

2026-27: Still in the mix

The Makar contract didn’t affect Colorado’s cap sheet for this season, but it does make it clear that last season and this one are the best chances for this core group to win again. It doesn’t mean it can’t happen in 2028 and beyond, but the math is going to change next year, and the core around MacKinnon, Makar and Necas will likely need to as well.

Val Nichushkin is gone, so the core has already changed. Will Jaden Schwartz plus potential trade deadline additions be enough to overcome the loss of a unique, two-way force?

2027-28: The Lehkonen contract

This could happen well before next summer, but what happens with Artturi Lehkonen will have a large say in how the Avs proceed next offseason. Lehkonen is in the final year of a very team-friendly contract. He’s been worth much more than $4.5 million per season, regardless of where the cap ceiling was at.

But he’s also going to be 32 years old next year, and it’s fair to wonder how well and how long his “sacrificial lamb” style of play will remain at the level the Avs will need it to be at to justify a hefty raise. Like Nichushkin, Lehkonen would also be a very hard player to replace, and not having either of those guys would alter the calculus of how the Avs can compete for the Cup.

The rest of the roster is mostly intact for the 2027-28 season. The Avs currently have about $11.6 million in cap space, with Makar signed for 2027-28, and the league projects the cap to rise to $113.5 million. If Lehkonen eats up a lot of that, replacing Nicolas Roy, Brent Burns and Scott Wedgewood will likely involve younger, cheaper players.

2028-29: The last dance, for real?

Brock Nelson and Josh Manson have two years left on their contracts. We don’t know what the cap ceiling will look like in 2028-29 and beyond. If it continues to spike by $9-10 million per year beyond next season, that will help top-heavy clubs like the Avs.

NHL agent Allan Walsh in March for 2028-29. Colorado has seven forwards — MacKinnon, Necas, Schwartz, Gabe Landeskog, Nazem Kadri, Logan O’Connor and Parker Kelly — under contract already for that year, plus young forwards Gavin Brindley, Fedor Svechkov and Zachary L’Heureux are all restricted free agents.

The Avs need a young forward or two to pop as a development success, but if it happens, that will also cost more to keep them. If the cap gets to $123 million, the Avs currently would have about $36 million to fill out the roster, minus what Lehkonen potentially gets (and other additions).

Replacing Nelson, in particular, could be a $10 million proposition by then if the Avs don’t find a younger, cost-controlled No. 2/3 center by then. Manson is also currently signed at below-market value.

2029-30: A new era

If the Avs are going to compete for the Cup in 2030, there will be almost certainly be drastic changes to the roster between now and then.

The age of key players around MacKinnon, Makar and Necas could be an issue at any point in the near future, really, but nearly all of the current outer-circle core players will be old by NHL standards by July 2029. Devon Toews and Brett Kulak will be 35 and heading into the final years of their contract.

Landeskog, Kadri and Schwartz will all be free agents, and all will be 36 or older by then. It’s fair to project that MacKinnon, Makar and Necas will all still be great players in 2029, but the Avs are going to have to retool the roster around them to remain a contender … or brace for a potential decline period with the hopes of building another winner around them in the early 2030s.

Joe Sakic, back in the general manager role, wrapped up business for the 2025-26 season quickly in July. There were three key members of the organization entering the final year of their contracts then. All three — Cale Makar, Artturi Lehkonen and coach Jared Bednar — are still without extensions about three weeks before training camp begins.

Sakic, speaking Sunday ahead of the second annual Avalanche-University of Denver alumni game at Magness Arena, made it clear he is not concerned.

Makar, a two-time Norris Trophy winner and co-face of the franchise alongside Nathan MacKinnon, is expected to sign the largest contract in franchise history.

Avalanche 2026-27 schedule: Best matchups, toughest stretches in NHL’s new 84-game slate

"Not really an update. We continue talking," Sakic said when asked about No. 8. "I'm pretty confident that he'll be signed before the season starts.

"I'm not worried about it. I don't think Cale is worried about it. The dialogue has been great. When there's an agreement, we'll be glad to announce it. Hopefully something will be done before the start of training camp."

Lehkonen has been a critical member of the club since arriving ahead of the 2022 trade deadline. The 31-year-old Lehkonen had 21 goals and 48 points in 70 games last season, but was injured during the second round of the 2026 playoffs and did not have his typical postseason impact after returning in the conference finals against Vegas.

Bednar is the most accomplished coach in franchise history, and is entering his 11th season at the helm. He's the second-longest tenured coach in the league, behind only Tampa Bay's Jon Cooper. There have been calls to fire Bednar from outside the organization after stunning postseason endings each of the past two seasons, but management and ownership have stood firm in its support of the coach both times.

"Everything's great," Sakic said of his relationship with Bednar. "Not worried about that. There's been coaches, been players that have entered the last year of their deals before, and there's going to be in the future. Not really concerned about that, and I don't think Jared is either.

Makar is entering the final season of a six-year, $54 million contract. His next deal could be worth twice as much per season or more. The financial environment in the NHL has been changing rapidly in recent seasons as the salary cap ceiling has experienced unprecedented spikes after years of post-COVID pandemic stagnation.

There is also a new collective bargaining agreement coming in the NHL, and one part matters for Makar and the Avs. The current maximum contract length is eight years to re-sign a player and seven to sign with a new club. That will change with the CBA, and the last day Makar and the Avs could agree to an eight-year pact is Sept. 15, one day before the new CBA begins.

"No, not really worried about (that deadline)," Sakic said. "I think when there's a deal announced or signed and agreed to, both sides will be comfortable with whatever term it is."

Makar and fellow defensive superstar Quinn Hughes are both expected to reset the market for elite defensemen. The top contract for a defenseman in 2026-27 will be Pittsburgh's Erik Karlsson with an $11.5 million cap hit. Former Avs defenseman Bo Byram has signed a new deal with Chicago that starts in 2027-28 that carries a $12.5 million cap hit.

Hughes and Makar are expected to blow past that. The landscape has changed, even since Byram's surprising mega deal was announced July 1. The Anaheim Ducks matched a five-year, $90 million offer sheet for center Leo Carlsson in early July, then the San Jose Sharks signed their franchise star Macklin Celebrini to a five-year, $94 million pact. At $18.8 million per season, Celebrini has the largest contract in league history on a per-year basis.

Whether or not Makar and/or Hughes top that remains to be seen.

"I think everybody's projecting where the cap is going, and that's why you're seeing these contracts at a certain level," Sakic said. "Everybody wants to lock up their young stars, and that's what is happening."

While camp is a few weeks away, the Avs' projected lineup looks pretty similar to the one that won the Presidents' Trophy with a franchise-record 121 points before the stunning conference finals sweep by the Golden Knights. Sakic and Co. re-signed defensemen Brent Burns and Brett Kulak, so the defense corps and goaltending will be the same.

There were changes up front, notably trades of Valeri Nichushkin, Ross Colton and Jack Drury to provide some salary cap flexibility. Younger players will compete to replace Drury and Colton, while the Avs signed free agent Jaden Schwartz to a three-year, $9.75 million deal to fit somewhere among the top-nine forwards and ostensibly replace Nichushkin.

"We like the roster," Sakic said. "I think we have a good enough team to compete for the Stanley Cup. It's a long season. It's a process. Just got to try and get better every day. Obviously, there's some changes, but there's changes with every roster, every year. But we have the core here and it's a great core. They have a standard and we expect and assume that everyone's going to live up to that standard."

The Avs are Doja Cat. The Nuggets? Hello Kitty.

The difference between the approach of the local hockey team and resident hoops club remains striking. What makes it more confusing is that they are both owned by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment.

The Avs throw caution to the wind. The Nuggets rely on caution to prevent wins.

Knee-deep into the offseason, general manager Joe Sakic has executed three trades, shipping Ross Colton and Jack Drury to Nashville and Valeri Nichushkin to Columbus for a combined five draft picks and three players. He created $8 million in additional salary cap space to re-sign Brett Kulak and Brent Burns.

And he still has $6 million left to pursue a forward. It is easier to make moves in the NHL, but the Avs have been bold over the last two trade deadlines and summers.

They moved on from Mikko Rantanen and Nichushkin, exhausted by Moose’s contract demands and wisely recognizing Nichushkin’s decline. These were not only top players on their team, but, at times, in the league. And they ripped off the band aid in pursuit of a Stanley Cup.

As CSG podcaster Jeff Morton pointed out last week, the Nuggets have been cautious, while other KSE properties are aggressive. Is it because president Josh Kroenke is more involved in the basketball operations, becoming too close to the players?

There is no question he has strong relationships. I witnessed the emotion first hand in the locker room after the Nuggets were eliminated the past two seasons. Caring is not a bad thing. But it is always better to like players, not love them.

And it is fair to wonder if Kroenke’s connection to the Nuggets has influenced the team’s conservative movement this offseason.

The other potential answer? It is about money. NBA owners would rather swim through a moat of alligators and walk in hot lava to their suite at The Four Seasons than go into the second apron.

It is punitive, and the Nuggets showed how scared they were during the first round of the draft. Desperate for a better ball handler or a tougher big man — Jonas Valanciunas was a scorer, not an enforcer — the Nuggets traded their pick to San Antonio for a pair of second-round selections.

They moved back to make the team they are chasing better, giving the Spurs another brute, Tarris Reed Jr., to guard Nikola Jokic.

Co-general manager Jon Wallace said it was important that the Nuggets not catch “draft fever.” The buzzword was discipline. Cheap also works for a team that hired two general managers and a coach with no previous experience in their roles.

Remember, the Nuggets’ new second rounders — Trevon Brazile and Bryce Hopkins — will receive non-guaranteed contracts. Hardly anyone does unless their name is Bronny James. Brazile might become a rotational player this season, but it is more likely he is hooping with Hopkins in the G-League.

It would be easy to crush Wallace and co-GM Ben Tenzer for this draft night yawn.

But was it really their choice? Or are they operating under guidance from Kroenke?

Collecting picks is not uncommon, and there is an argument to follow this path as a market correction for the horrible trades of Isaiah Hartenstein and Reggie Jackson and for Bol Bol and DaRon Holmes II.

Those missteps left the Nuggets without assets to move up, or contributing players to fill out the roster (Where have you gone Bryn Forbes? Nuggets Nation turns its lonely eyes to you, woo, woo, woo).

Why can’t the Nuggets be transparent? Just admit they are in the middle of a reset?

Instead, Kroenke insists they are in a championship window because, you know, Jokic is on the roster. Well, you know who seems to be having a hard time believing that?

Jokic.

As the well-conditioned captain of the Serbian national team, Jokic said last week that the Nuggets were not good enough to win last season. The year before he said they were not deep enough.

All he left out was too predictable and unathletic, and he would have hit the problems right on the nose.

And the answer to all of this is frugality? Really?

“I think any time you get bounced in the first round like that, everyone’s gotta look themselves in the mirror,” Wallace said. “I think a large part of that is health. I think a large part of that is, as our team has entered into a more seasoned state individually, the type of basketball we play. The way we prepare, the way we attack teams is gonna have to change a little bit.”

This word salad makes me hungry for the Nuggets to just be honest about their intentions. Ship off two of the four starters between Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Cam Johnson and Christian Braun and re-sign Peyton Watson.

Develop Spencer Jones and Julian Strawther, hope Brazile and Holmes become contributors and position the franchise to make a championship run in 2028, or more likely, 2029.

This is not my preference. I would love ownership to say, “F-them dollars!,” pay a significant tax penalty and become a second apron team for the first time under the current collective bargaining agreement. Then trade Johnson, keep Tim Hardaway Jr., and add backup point guard Keaton Wallace.

That would spark talk of another championship.

But that is not realistic. That is something the Avs would do.

They, after all, are Ozzie Osbourne to the Nuggets’ Ozzie and Harriet.

Sakic spoke shortly before the 2026 NHL draft began Friday night. The Colorado Avalanche don’t pick until Saturday, but Sakic and Co. have made three trades and signed two key defensemen since he returned to the general manager role after Chris MacFarland left for Nashville.

The first two trades were with MacFarland and the Predators, before he sent Valeri Nichushkin to Columbus on Thursday. The Avs used some of the salary cap space created Friday to sign defensemen Brett Kulak and Brent Burns to new contracts.

“We weren’t friends,” Sakic said of making deals with MacFarland. “No, I mean, it was good. He did what he thought was best for his group. I thought we did what was best for our group. Those decisions for us really were cap decisions.

“We couldn’t have brought everybody back. You see where we are now after the two signings today with Kulak and Burns. Cap’s not at ($110 million). It’s ($101 million) for us, and so we had to do things to free up cap space while accumulating draft capital which hopefully tomorrow we can get some good prospects in our system. We’ve got a lot more draft picks now next year that we can use during the year or trade deadline or whenever to try and help our team.”

The cap ceiling for the 2026-27 is $104 million, but the Avs have nearly $2.3 million in dead money because Burns signed a one-year, bonus-laden contract last year. That allowed Colorado to exceed the ceiling last year, but also means the bill is due this season.

With the moves Sakic has made, the Avs currently have 11 forwards, six defensemen and two goaltenders on one-way contracts. They also have about $5.6 million in cap space to work with.

“There’s things we’re going to look to do, but it’s going to be with players that we feel are a good fit for us for what we’re trying to do,” Sakic said. “Hopefully it works out. If it doesn’t work out, we’re going to have a good amount of cap space and draft capital for things to happen during the year. So there’s no panic on our end. We’re not rushed. If we’ve got to start out with some kids this year to see what they’ve got, what they can do, we’re perfectly happy with that as well.”

Sakic did say he’d like to sign two more forwards and another defenseman. If the forwards don’t materialize, the Avs do have some interesting young forwards in the organization. Two of the guys who are among the 11 now arrived Wednesday.

Fedor Svechkov and Zachary L’Heureux were both first-round picks in the 2021 draft. They’re both 23 years old. They’ve both played mostly in fourth-line roles for Nashville.

“We liked getting the two younger players that can immediately go on your roster,” Sakic said. “Svechkov, he’s like a (Jack) Drury. He’s not quite at Drury’s level yet, but we think he can get there. We do see a similar player that could play that role.

“L’Heureux, he’s going to be exciting for us. He’s type of player that we were looking for. … We probably wish we had that player in the (2026) playoffs. He’s going to bring a lot of enthusiasm, excitement, physicality and he goes to the net. He’s always around that net, so we’re excited to have both of them.”

Colorado signed Brett Kulak and Brent Burns to new contracts Friday, ensuring that the Avalanche’s top six defensemen from last season are now under contract. Kulak’s contract is a five-year deal with a $4.5 million cap hit, a source confirmed.

Burns signed a one-year deal with a base salary of $850,000, but with bonuses, the deal could be worth about $3 million. This is similar to his contract from last season, which featured a $1 million base salary and $4 million in potential bonuses.

The Avs have traded away Valeri Nichushkin, Ross Colton and the rights to restricted free agent Jack Drury in the past 10 days, which freed up the cap space necessary to sign Kulak.

Kulak, 32, joined the Avs ahead of the trade deadline this past season from the Pittsburgh Penguins in a deal that sent Samuel Girard the other way. He was a steady, defense-first presence for the Avs, and could slot in on the second or third pairing, depending on what else general manager Joe Sakic accomplishes this offseason.

Burns, 41, signed a one-year deal with the Avalanche before last season. He had 12 goals and 35 points in 82 games. He has played in 1,007 consecutive games, which is the second-most all-time behind Phil Kessel. Burns could break Kessel’s mark and be the NHL’s all-time Ironman in Game No. 58 this coming season.

Because he is older than 35, Burns can sign contracts that include bonuses. The Avs can also roll over bonus money to the following year if they make the club exceed the salary cap ceiling. Burns attained $3 million in bonus money last season, and nearly $2.3 million of that was rolled over onto the 2026-27 cap for next season.

The Avs now have 11 forwards, six defensemen and two goalies on one-way contracts for next season, and about $5.63 million in cap space remaining. One of the forwards currently on a two-way deal could win the final spot up front and would eat up a little less than $1 million of the remaining space, but there is still room for Sakic and Co. to add.

It is a historically weak free agent class, but the Avs have also added more draft capital over the past 10 days for potential trades. They now have 10 selections in the 2026 NHL draft, which begins Friday night in Buffalo.

The Avs’ defensive depth chart could look the same on opening night as it did after Kulak arrived, but Colorado could still use reinforcements beyond the top six. The guys who were Nos. 7 and 8 at the end of last season, Nick Blankenburg and Jack Ahcan, are both UFAs.

Given the breakout season from Sam Malinski in 2025-26, the Avs begin the offseason with a top four of Cale Makar, Devon Toews, Josh Manson and Malinski. They also have one of the best right-side depth charts in the NHL, and typically the starboard side is tougher to fill out.

The less good news is the next four guys on the depth chart are all unrestricted free agents and the Avs are still pretty tight on salary cap space even after trading Ross Colton. So that becomes one of Joe Sakic’s biggest challenges after returning to the general manager’s chair.

Colorado played with four right-handed defensemen for most of last season. It’s a rarity, but the Avs made it work. Right now, three of their top four are righties.

In an ideal world, the Avs will add at least two left-handed defensemen this offseason, and at least one that can regularly play top-four minutes. Doing so on a limited budget could be tricky, but trading one of the veteran forwards could also help with that endeavor.

Here’s a look at some of the options that could be available, either as UFAs or in the trade market.

Unrestricted free agents

Brett Kulak
2025-26: 1 goal, 12 points, 18:58 time on ice/contest in 83 games

Kulak was a really nice fit for the Avs after arriving in a trade from the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Avs needed a more defensive-minded defenseman and he provided that. His underlying numbers in the regular season, particularly before arriving in Denver, were not great. And he’ll be 33 years old in January. He’d be a solid fit for this team as the No. 5 guy, but it’s certainly plausible that another team would be willing to pay him more if he gets to July 1.

Brent Burns
2025-26: 12 goals, 35 points, 18:52 in 82 games

Does he want to play another year? Does he want to stay in Denver? Do the Avs want to bring him back? Burns repeatedly said he wasn’t thinking beyond this year during this past season, but he certainly looked like a player who has at least one more year of competent hockey in him. Given the Avs’ cap issues, bringing him back on another one-year deal with incentives that can be pushed to the 2027-28 cap if needed does make some sense. Will they want to have four righties in the top six again?

Jack Ahcan
2025-26: 0 goals, 2 points, 11:32 in 11 games

Feels like an obvious match, particularly if he’d accept another two-way contract. Not sure he’d find a one-way deal on the open market, but he’s shown he can play in a limited role in the NHL. The Avs would probably be comfortable starting the season with him as the No. 7 guy, but just like this past year, they’d also very likely be looking for an NHL veteran or two ahead of the deadline for more insurance.

Nick Blankenburg
2025-26: 8 goals, 24 points, 16:48 in 61 games

Blankenburg’s pre-Colorado numbers seem very likely to earn him a contract that doesn’t work for the Avs. It makes sense for him to look for a regular role, perhaps even as a No. 4/5 guy. The Avs are more likely to see him as a No. 6/7 guy, particularly with all the righties in front of him.

Ryan Shea
2025-26: 6 goals, 35 points, 18:53 in 80 games

Darren Raddysh just signed an 8-year, $68 million deal after one wildly successful NHL season. Shea is going to be a smaller version of that. He had 70 NHL games before last year, but was a very solid second-pairing guy for a playoff team. The offense was definitely helped by Pittsburgh shooting better than 13% when he was on the ice at 5-on-5. He’s a medium-sized lefty who is a strong penalty killer and he doesn’t turn 30 until midseason. He is also probably the best lefty on the market right now.

Jeremy Lauzon
2025-26: 1 goal, 13 points, 17:11 in 68 games

Lauzon could be an alternative to Kulak, if he finds greener pastures elsewhere. Not as dependable from an availability standpoint in recent years, but Lauzon would add size (6-foot-3, 225 pounds) and defensive solidity. He’d fit better as the No. 3 guy on the left side, if possible. He could give Jared Bednar the option of a true shutdown pairing with Manson, or an offense-defense duo with Malinski.

Mike Reilly
2025-26: 1 goal, 9 points, 14:58 in 42 games

Reilly has had solid underlying numbers for years, but he’s also played only 60 games over the past two seasons. He’s listed at 6-foot-2, can play both sides and handles sheltered minutes quite well. He played 42 games for the Carolina Hurricanes this season, but only twice during the club’s title run. He could be that type of player for the Avs — a regular for much of the season in a third-pairing role, then potentially the No. 7 come playoff time if they add another defenseman before the trade deadline.

Carson Soucy
2025-26: 5 goals, 12 points, 16:31 in 76 games

Soucy is very tall, at 6-foot-5. He had a solid start to his season with the New York Rangers. Most of his underlying numbers were pretty similar with the New York Islanders, but the latter was outscored 21-10 with him on the ice at 5-on-5 in just 30 games. The Isles collapsed near the end of the season. Other front offices will need to do their homework to understand what went wrong there. He should be a No. 6 on the Avs, but might get paid to be more elsewhere.

Vincent Desharnais
2025-26: 1 goal, 7 points, 18:11 in 53 games

Desharnais is very tall (6-foot-7) and offers almost no offense. But he’s also a better defensive player than a couple of the other size XL defensemen in this market. He is right-handed, so he’d only be an option if Burns doesn’t return and the Avs are OK with rolling out four righties at times again next year.

Colton White
2025-26: 0 goals, 4 points, 12:15 in 23 games

White is a medium-sized guy (6-foot-1, 187 pounds) who can move the puck and hold his own in sheltered minutes. Now that he’s 29 years old, getting a full-time gig might never happen. But as a potential No. 7, he could be a solid depth addition. The Avs could do worse than White/Ahcan as their No. 7/8 defensemen.

Trade market

Bowen Byram/Morgan Rielly

Here are the two best left-handed defensemen whose names are squarely in the trade market discussion. It’s hard to see a reunion with Byram. Samuel Girard is gone, but the top-two guys — and a blocked path to the power play — are still here. Rielly is an offense-first guy that doesn’t really fit what the Avs need, given both the acquisition cost and his cap number.

Pavel Mintyukov/Olen Zellweger

The Anaheim Ducks have about $43 million in cap space this summer, and basically an entire defense corps behind Jackson Lacombe to re-sign or rebuild. Any of all of the old guys (John Carlson, Jacob Trouba, Radko Gudas) could leave, but the Ducks could also move one of their young RFAs — Mintyukov or Zellweger — if the negotiations don’t go well or the available space starts to dry up (Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier also need new contracts).

Jonas Siegenthaler
2025-26: 0 goals, 16 points, 19:29 in 82 games

Siegenthaler has been a bit up and down with the New Jersey Devils, but when he’s in form, he’s a solid defense-only guy on a very reasonable contract — two years left with a $3.4 million cap hit. The Devils have a new GM, and a bit of a logjam in the defense corps.

Mason Lohrei
2025-26: 7 goals, 26 points, 16:54 in 73 games

Lohrei is a 6-foot-5 defenseman with some offensive acumen who turns 26 in January. His future value lies in the answer to one question: What improvements did he actually make on the defensive side of things last season? Two seasons ago, the Boston Bruins were outscored 72-52 with Lohrei on the ice at 5-on-5. This past season, with very similar underlying numbers, Boston outscored foes 47-30. Whether or not he’s an intriguing trade target, or why the Bruins might be willing to move him, is somewhere in the answer to that question.

FOOTNOTES: The Avs announced their four-game preseason schedule Monday. It is reduced from the typical six or seven in years’ past because the NHL is moving to an 84-game regular season in 2026-27. Colorado will play Utah at home on Sept. 20 and Winnipeg at Ball Arena on Sept. 25. The Avs will travel to Manitoba to face the Jets on Sept. 21 and to Salt Lake City to play the Mammoth on Sept. 26.

Whatever level of patience and stability Joe Sakic truly believes the Colorado Avalanche need this offseason, he’s got some work to do with the defense corps.

There could be some interesting decisions with the forwards, while the goaltending is the most likely group to look exactly the same on opening night as it does today. The blue line could generate a bunch of headlines in the next few weeks, though.

“There’s always changes, but we have the core guys here,” Sakic said at his year-end press conference. “We have a nucleus. We’re a deep team. We feel we’re strong in all the positions. Obviously, we have some UFAs that we’re going to try and sign to keep the group together, but it’s a great group.

“They care about each other. They want to win. They’re very competitive. They’re disappointed, but their expectations are to try and come back and try and compete and win a Stanley Cup.”

Two of the team’s three key free agents are part of the defense corps, and there are depth concerns as well.

What just happened

When fully healthy, the Avs defense corps was arguably the league’s best in 2025-26. Cale Makar finished second in the Norris Trophy voting despite his lowest per-game offensive output since 2020-21. The start of Devon Toews’ year wasn’t at his best, but he had a strong finish after the Olympic break and into the postseason.

Sam Malinski was one of the breakout players of the entire NHL, earned a new contract and was playing like a No. 3 defenseman at his peak. He wasn’t near the new standard he set in the Western Conference Final, and was widely believed to be playing through a compromising injury after missing two games in the second round.

Josh Manson missed four games in the playoffs, but otherwise filled his role as the club’s most physical defenseman while collecting the second-most points of his career. Brent Burns played every game like always, was a hit in the dressing room and showed he can still play even past his 41st birthday.

The addition of Brett Kulak as a steady, defense-first guy at the trade deadline was a success, even if the price tag on the day of the trade seemed a bit steep.

Former GM Chris MacFarland admitted that he tried to add three defensemen ahead of the deadline, not just Kulak and Nick Blankenburg — a sign that Colorado knew the depth of its defense during a long playoff run could be an issue. Blankenburg played to mixed results as the No. 7 guy, and Jack Ahcan ended up getting three of the eight games available because of injuries to the top six.

What����ap next

The top priority is a new contract for Makar, who can be a UFA in July 2027. He’s eligible to sign July 1, and Sakic made it clear the Avs expect to get a deal done this summer.

But there are a lot of moves to make to build out the defense corps for next season as well. Makar, Toews, Malinski and Manson are a great foundation to build from, but the next four guys — Kulak, Burns, Blankenburg and Ahcan — are all unrestricted free agents.

The Avs are currently short on salary cap space, so one or more of the forwards could be on the move to help allocate more resources to the blue line.

Does Burns want to keep playing and do the Avs want another year with him? He can break the NHL’s ironman record next year if he continues. A similar deal to this past year — $1 million in salary with bonuses makes sense, whether that is in Denver or elsewhere.

What could Kulak get on the open market? Hint: Probably a lot. There is a strong argument that Kulak would be the No. 1 left-handed defenseman on the market, and one of the 3-5 best overall.

That leads to the next big question: Can the Avs find more balance after entering the 2026 playoffs with five righties in their top seven?

Lining up Manson and Malinski (or flip them) down the right side behind Makar is excellent, particularly if Malinski is able to retain or even build on the gains he made this past season. But the Avs need to fill out the LHD side of the depth chart. Manson and Burns worked together, but Colorado needs more lefties.

Trading Samuel Girard for a guy in the last year of his contract (Kulak) created this conundrum, but if the Avs can’t sign Kulak, they’ll be looking for a similar-style player to replace him. In an ideal world, Sakic can land a young-ish left-handed defenseman who is capable of playing on the second pairing now and possibly be the heir to Toews as the club’s No. 2 guy as he ages.

Will the Avs be able to count on any help from the Eagles? There are a couple of guys with potential to be depth options for them next season, beyond just bringing Ahcan and/or Blankenburg back.

The Avs are clearly intrigued by Alex Gagne, a 6-foot-5 lefty who was a college free agent from New Hampshire and became a solid contributor for the Eagles in his first pro season. He’ll be 24 in August. Then there is University of Denver alum Sean Behrens, who missed all of two years ago with a knee injury and just completed his first healthy pro campaign.

It’s hard to see Colorado wanting to break camp with one of those guys in the lineup, but maybe one of them can work his way up the depth chart to the No. 6 or 7 spot over the course of next season. Behrens’ size will work against him, but his smarts could help him find a depth role.

It could take some creativity, but the Avs will likely sign or trade for at least three defensemen, if not more, between now and training camp. And that’s not counting a potential mega-deal for Makar, which will help shape the salary cap puzzle for 2027-28 and beyond.

Future depth chart

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

Sakic was back in front of the assembled Colorado Avalanche media Thursday. MacFarland is gone, off to pilot his own franchise and what was old is new again in the Avs front office.

The message was similar, even if Sakic’s role has now changed. He sat next to Kroenke Sports & Entertainment vice-chairman Josh Kroenke this time, but belief in the Avalanche players and coaches was again a central theme.

“It’s disappointing. It stings,” said Sakic, now the president and general manager of the Avs with MacFarland in Nashville. “But we’ve got a great hockey team here, and this team was built for a 2-3 year run. We still got most of the guys coming back, and their expectations, our expectations, I know the fans’ expectations, is to try and win a (Stanley) Cup.

“And we’re hopefully going to accomplish that next year, but it really was, overall, an incredibly fun year.”

Colorado ran the league for more than six months, leading the NHL standings from Nov.  1 through the conclusion of the regular season. The Avs rolled past Los Angeles and Minnesota to reach the second half of the postseason tournament for the first time since 2022.

But the Avalanche express derailed at full speed, a stunning, fiery crash of a four-game sweep by the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final. MacFarland is gone, but Sakic and Kroenke preached belief in the group and continuity throughout a nearly 30-minute press conference.

Sticking with Bednar

Not only will Jared Bednar return for an 11th season as head coach, but his assistants will also return. Bednar is entering the final year of his contract, but Sakic alluded to a potential extension coming later in the offseason.

“We haven’t thought about [that]. Right now, the priority is getting through the draft, free agency,” Sakic said. “Try and make our team as good as possible going into the summer. The rest of the stuff we will push that down the line. We’ll figure out later in the summer on all that stuff, but I don’t think he’s worried about it. He shouldn’t be worried about it. The contracts will come when they come.”

When asked why Bednar is returning, compared with title-winning coach Mike Malone, who was fired from the KSE-owned Denver Nuggets late in the 2024-25 season, Kroenke was succinct.

“I think he has absolute belief of the dressing room,” Kroenke said.

Sakic is now the GM of this franchise, and there is no acting or interim qualification. The structure from the past two seasons remains the same, just with MacFarland out and Sakic back in the GM chair.

While Sakic said he’s enjoyed the increased workload shifting back over the past couple of weeks, what his long-term future is and the front-office structure are still to be determined.

“I’m taking over being GM right now,” Sakic said. “We’ve got a great staff. Really confident in our group. It’s business as usual from our end. We’re going to try and, as a staff, make this team as good as possible so we can try and be a contender again.”

Colorado currently has 17 of its top 20 players from last season under contract for next year. No. 4 center Jack Drury is a restricted free agent. Two defensemen, Brett Kulak and Brent Burns, are unrestricted free agents.

The Avs do not have much room below the salary cap ceiling — a touch shy of $3 million, per PuckPedia — so just retaining those players is not an option. There is also work to be done filling out the depth beyond those 20 — extra forwards Joel Kiviranta (UFA) and Zakhar Bardakov (RFA) plus next-up defensemen Nick Blankenburg (UFA) and Jack Ahcan (UFA) all need new deals or replaced.

Sakic and Kroenke both spoke more about marginal changes than drastic ones.

“We could panic and try and blow everything up and start all over, but this team, what they’ve done over the course of the year was pretty remarkable,” Sakic said. “Now we want to give them an opportunity to try and do it again. I mean, the last two trade deadlines were meant for not just that year — to try and compete for a few years with this group and try and bring home a Stanley Cup. That’s the goal.”

Upgrades off the ice

This was the first time Kroenke spoke at an Avalanche-specific press conference since Nathan MacKinnon signed an eight-year, $100.82 million contract Sept. 20, 2022. Sakic addressed the next mega-contract Colorado expects to complete with co-franchise player Cale Makar this summer, and Kroenke had updates on a couple of other long-term franchise-building items.

One was progress on a new practice facility. The Avs currently practice at Family Sports Center in Centennial, where the team’s offices are also based. Both they and the Nuggets hope to have new spaces of their own downtown as part of KSE’s 55-acre development project around Ball Arena.

“There’s one final hurdle that we’re in,” Kroenke said. “We hope to have some information relatively soon. We’re dealing with the city, and we’re working on pedestrian access over Speer (Blvd.) in and around that. So hopefully once we are able to iron out and finalize that with the city, we’ll be able to announce something. I don’t have an exact time frame, but we’re very close.”

Another was the future of the Avalanche payroll. The NHL’s salary cap ceiling is in an era of unprecedented, rapid growth. The ceiling was $95.5 million this season, but will rise to $104 million for 2026-27 and is expected to spike to $113.5 million the following year with future, similar hikes also expected.

That has led to speculation in the NHL that far fewer franchises will be willing to spend up to or near the cap ceiling. Twelve teams, including the Avalanche, spent up to or within $1 million of the cap ceiling this year, and half the league — 16 clubs — spent more than $93 million, or within $2.5 million of the ceiling.

“I think we’ve been a cap team for how many years now?” Kroenke said. “I think with the core players that we have, we’re going to keep being as aggressive as possible. I think that some of that stuff can kind of go in cycles, but I think if you have a core of Nathan McKinnon and Cale Makar, led by Gabe Landeskog, and then the depth that we have. I think you better be pushing it, trying to go for Cups.

“I think going for Cups means you are spending as much as you can when you can, and using your resources as smartly as possible as well.”

He was positioned between the two benches as part of ESPN’s broadcast team while the Vegas Golden Knights stunningly swept the Presidents’ Trophy out of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Western Conference Final. It’s been a few days, but the shock of the result is still fresh.

For more than six months, the Avs set the standard in the NHL this season. Then, it was washed away in a week.

“In each of the first three games, there was a point in the game — like a significant moment — and Colorado lost all of those moments,” Ferraro told The Denver Post. “It����ap not like they lost 5-1. They were in every game, but in those big moments that were available to turn each game, they lost every one.”

So now the offseason beckons, and it has suddenly become arguably the most important one of the Nathan MacKinnon-Cale Makar era. Everything was building over the past two years, from the historic in-season overhaul two seasons ago to the high-profile additions ahead of the March trade deadline, towards a championship run this spring.

For two rounds, the Avs looked like a juggernaut. Now, there are questions everywhere.

Will this group be able to win a second championship together? What can they possibly do now, after this dream season didn’t produce a title?

“When you’re in the air Colorado is, to nudge forward it����ap a really high bar to climb over. Where they are, to improve some of the decisions are pretty minute,” Ferraro said. “You can change the system. You can change a coach. But if the top end of your roster gives you no goals, then you lose.

“To me it becomes simple, but the solutions probably aren’t simple. In my mind, it’s how would you improve a really good team? And it’s not easy.”

‘They’re not the chances you need’

As the series against the Golden Knights progressed, Colorado’s ability to create high-level chances diminished. The Avs had plenty in Game 1, but Vegas grabbed the lead and Carter Hart kept the league’s top offense at bay.

In Games 2 and 3, the Avs had more shot attempts, more shots on goals and, at least in their minds, enough quality scoring chances to win. By Game 4, the mounting injuries and frustration were too much to overcome.

After losing a series in 2025 where the Avs felt like they outplayed Dallas, is there a through line to be drawn?

“I don’t think they made the right adjustments,” said Bruce Boudreau, former coach and NHL Network analyst. “When you’re playing a team like Vegas or Carolina that clogs up the neutral zone and is very aggressive against you, you’ve got to change your tactics a little bit.

“They’re the best team in the league at coming up the ice with four guys. But when they don’t have the neutral zone ice to skate it in and make those plays, they need to figure something else out. … It����ap not easy to check, because they have some great, skilled players, but the formula is easy to check, if that makes sense.”

Boudreau was at the helm of a dynamic, electric offensive team in Washington. Those Capitals teams, led by Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, were young and had not won a championship. They were inundated with questions about whether they could play the right way at the crucial time of year.

This Avalanche team has won. Jared Bednar’s plan worked, and this core executed it with near-flawless precision in 2022.

But each of the past four seasons has produced an ending more agonizing than the last. The questions that are usually reserved for teams and players who haven’t done it are now resurfacing for this Avs group.

“It is a good question. I don’t know if it is a major change,” said Cory Schneider, an analyst for NHL Network and MSG Network. “Maybe just a small philosophical change of not getting stubborn. It does seem like they can get frustrated, like you can frustrate them, you can frustrate some of their top guys if you don’t give them what they want. If the other team is saying we’ll give you A, but we won’t give you B, then if we can get some good goaltending, we can frustrate you.

“I don’t think it����ap a major overhaul, but how can they find another way? It probably starts at the top with the top guys. It might be more of a mentality change than a big personnel change.”

Colorado’s top six scorers during the regular season did not score a goal against Vegas. The top guys didn’t score enough. The depth guys didn’t score enough.

“That reminds me of 2010,” Boudreau said of his Presidents’ Trophy-winning club in Washington. “We had 121 points, but then all of a sudden you run into some adversity and the power play doesn’t go, and I can see some similarities so quickly. It����ap the frustration of … this never happened to us before, so what do we do?”

Vegas found a way to stifle the Avs, just as Dallas has done the two previous years. It was excellent defense. It was great goaltending, at times.

What are some potential solutions for when this problem arises again could be the key to unlocking another title, regardless of any personnel changes that might happen.

“What can be different? Until they get in between the circles for their chances, they’re not the chances that you need,” Ferraro said. “How do you generate more Grade A chances? I think they had probably as many as Vegas. They didn’t finish as well, and they did not, in my mind, between the circles as much as Vegas did.”

‘It����ap going to be an interesting summer’

The first big domino is Bednar’s status.

The Avs pushed their end-of-season media availability to early next week. A year ago, it came three days after losing to Dallas in Game 7. The power play’s failure in that series cost assistant coach Ray Bennett his job.

Bednar is the winningest coach in franchise history. He’s the second-longest tenured coach in the NHL, behind Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper. The Lightning have not won a single playoff round since Bednar’s Colorado team defeated them in the 2022 Cup Final, but there has been far less chatter about Cooper’s job security.

“I happen to think Bednar is really good,” Ferraro said. “He’s a really, really good coach that coaches a team that just had 121 points. If they’re letting him go, they better have a really good idea of who’s coming next.”

The other big domino is general manager Chris MacFarland. Multiple outlets have reported that Nashville wants to speak with MacFarland, who is nominated for GM of the Year. If he were to leave, that opens the door to an entirely new set of questions for this offseason.

If MacFarland stays, the biggest long-term item on the to-do list is Makar’s next contract. But, in the short term, what can or will the Avs do that will affect the 2026-27 edition of the team?

There are 17 players who appeared in at least three of the club’s 13 playoff games under contract for next season. Jack Drury is a restricted free agent. Defensemen Brett Kulak, Brent Burns, Nick Blankenburg and Jack Ahcan are all unrestricted free agents, along with forward Joel Kiviranta.

Colorado has a shade below $3 million in cap space, . That’s not enough to revamp the back half of the defense corps, not to mention a new deal for Drury and room for a 13th forward.

“I’m reading different opinions on “blow it up” and I don’t think people quite understand A) the impossibility of that and B) would you look at a team that had 121 points, or would you look at seven days?” Ferraro said. “I can almost guarantee they’re not going to have eight new players next year. That����ap not happening.”

At least one, if not two, of those 17 players under contract will need to be moved to create the cap flexibility to fill out the roster. The Avs were in a similar spot last summer. They traded Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood to Columbus.

That allowed them to sign Brent Burns, and it gave them enough breathing room below the cap ceiling to add Kulak, Nicolas Roy and Nazem Kadri before the trade deadline.

To do more than that will be its own challenge. The Avs are short on draft picks and prospects to use in trades, but there are also lots of teams with plenty of cap space who might want to add one of the Colorado veterans.

“I think it must be the most torturous and difficult task to sit there and go, ‘I think we should be patient. I don’t think we should make major moves,’ ” Ferraro said. “It must be really disappointing and really frustrating, because you’re close, and then you’re losing four games, so are you close? That’s what they’re wrestling with.”

When the season ends the way it did, it feels like everything and anything could be on the table. There were similar feelings a year ago, with a stunning Game 7 loss to Dallas still fresh in everyone’s minds.

MacFarland, along with team president Joe Sakic, preached patience then, and belief in this group. They were rewarded with the best regular season in franchise history, and an 8-1 romp through the first half of the playoffs.

But then the Western Conference Final happened. How the Avs respond will affect not only their chances of winning the Stanley Cup in 2027 but also years beyond that.

It’s an aging group. It’s also a group that just ran the league for six months. The forthcoming decisions are not going to be easy.

“It����ap going to be an interesting summer, because they’ve shown they will be aggressive,” Schneider said. “They’re similar to Vegas in that sense, where they’re not afraid to make a change. There’s no sacred cows there. If anybody was willing to pull off a pretty bold move, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was them.”

Mikko Rantanen sent his friends and former teammates home in a blur — his third-period hat trick and assist to erase a 2-0 deficit happened in the final 13 minutes of a do-or-die Game 7. That painful night in Dallas now feels merciful, compared with what this Avs team just experienced. A four-game sweep by the Vegas Golden Knights was somehow worse. It was an internal injury diagnosed too late, triggering a week-long spiral of physical and mental anguish.

“I think it just feels like a waste, to be honest,” Avs forward Logan O’Connor said. “Eighty-two games, you get tons of great pieces and feel as though you have a team that can do something special. We said it in training camp — it’s Cup or bust for us. Regardless of where you fall short, we fell super short of that goal.”

For nine months, that loss in Dallas looked like a prologue, the catalyst for a historic start to this season and eventual legacy-cementing championship for Jared Bednar, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and the rest of the Avs who reached the mountaintop five years ago but have languished through a variety of playoff disappointments since.

The Avs won the most games, scored the most goals and allowed the fewest during a dominant regular season. They steamrolled through the first half of the tournament, losing just once while scoring more than four goals per game.

Then the Golden Knights broke them. It took a week — a blink of an eye in the context of a long season, but the adjectives to describe how players felt in the Avalanche locker room Tuesday night were strikingly similar to that night in Dallas.

“Frustration. Sadness, I guess,” Avs defenseman Josh Manson said. “Really felt like we had a good team. We didn’t do the job. We lost. The expectations for this organization are high. And, just … didn’t go the way we wanted.”

By Game 4 of this series, the only way to tell it was the Avs on the ice at T-Mobile Arena was the uniforms. Colorado looked nothing like the team that demoralized opponents all year with its offensive and defensive prowess.

Every aspect of the Avs’ invincibility was punctured by a team that fired its head coach 51 days before this Western Conference final began and lost more games than it won during the regular season.

Colorado scored just seven goals in four games for the first time since early in the 2023-24 season. Scott Wedgewood, the NHL’s leader in goals against average and save percentage, was outplayed by a goaltender who, this time a year ago, was one of five defendants in a messy sexual assault trial and who wasn’t signed to an NHL contract until late October.

This Avs team was 45-0 when leading after two periods, until Vegas made it 45-1 in Game 2. Colorado was 52-0 when building a multi-goal lead at any point in a game, until Vegas made it 52-1 in Game 3.

This was the deepest team in the NHL, built to survive the war of attrition in the Stanley Cup playoffs. It was one of the healthiest teams in the league as well, but by the end of this run, the Avs’ injury luck was nearly as bad as their shooting woes.

Everything was leading to one outcome for the Avs — a second championship in five years, another parade and immortality for all the key figures. A week later, everything has changed, and there’s just as much uncertainty — maybe more — than the morning after Rantanen donned a green-and-black cape in Game 7.

“I mean, this one … I feel like it����ap going to take some time to kind of digest and process,” Avs forward Brock Nelson said. “I’m not worried about next year right now.”

A more complicated offseason

Colorado’s offseason looked pretty straightforward a week ago.

Brett Kulak and Brent Burns are unrestricted free agents. Jack Drury is a restricted free agent. The biggest potential storyline was Cale Makar’s massive new contract, but that one doesn’t start until the following season.

The Avs have very little cap space, so someone under contract will likely need to be traded to retain Drury and one of the defensemen, or to replace Kulak and Burns. Pretty simple stuff, relative to what other offseasons might look like.

Now? Everything has to be on the table.

The questions begin with the future of the coaching staff. Colorado fired one of Jared Bednar’s longtime lieutenants, Ray Bennett, last May after the power play failed in the Dallas series. The power play was still a problem for much of this season, the one source of consternation, even when all of the other parts of this club were at the peak of their powers.

If the Avalanche decide to let Bednar go, he would be fielding calls from other NHL teams before the end of the day. The one candidate who has a resume similar to Bednar’s who isn’t currently one of the 32 head coaches is the guy John Tortorella replaced in Sin City, Bruce Cassidy. But one of the biggest off-ice stories of this postseason has been the Golden Knights denying Edmonton and Los Angeles permission to speak with Cassidy because he’s still under contract with Vegas.

The next major question, with both short- and long-term ramifications, is the state of the roster. This team was built to win the Stanley Cup in 2026, and every core piece is under contract at least through next year.

That felt like a great thing 10 days ago. If this Avs team did go on to win the Stanley Cup, they’d be one of the top favorites for 2026-27 as well.

Now? The Avs looked old against the Golden Knights. Beyond Burns, who will be 41 when next season begins, Colorado has six key figures who will be 32 or older when the 2027 Stanley Cup Playoffs begin — Nazem Kadri, Brock Nelson and Manson will be 35 or older, while Gabe Landeskog, Wedgewood and Devon Toews will all be at least 32.

Then there are Valeri Nichushkin and Artturi Lehkonen. Having those two excellent two-way players on team-friendly contracts has been part of Colorado’s secret sauce since 2022. No other NHL team has two secondary stars like them when they are healthy and playing well.

Their style of play and injury history, not to mention Nichushkin’s off-ice troubles, have made them high-risk, high-reward players in recent seasons. Lehkonen was hurt in the second round and far off his typical impact against Vegas. Nichushkin couldn’t finish the conference final because of an injury, and this year was his worst per-game offensive output since the 2020-21 campaign.

Martin Necas is the youngest core player on the team, but his new contract at $11.5 million per season kicks in next year. He was great against Minnesota, but the external allegations that he isn’t a postseason player resurfaced after he was one of the least impactful players on the roster against Vegas.

The Avs chose not to move any core players after losing to Dallas last year. The rationale was that they shook up the roster so much in-season that some stability going into this year would help fuel another run.

For nine months, that plan looked perfect. Staying the course looks far more uncertain now.

“I certainly hope so,” Landeskog said when asked if this core has another run in it. “I believe in that.

“It’s hard, but I think at the end of the day, if there’s one thing I learned over the last handful of years, it’s get knocked down, you just get right back up. Yeah, that’s the only way to do it.”