It will be about making the Avs’ Cale Makar’s team.

This will be disputed because of the presence of captain Gabe Landeskog and former MVP Nathan MacKinnon.

But a long-term agreement, which is inching closer according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, makes this part of Makar’s legacy. And burden.

He will be here long after Landeskog retires and MacKinnon fades from superstardom.

When you sign a monster contract in your prime and are headed to the Hall of Fame, the pressure is on to deliver another championship.

Two would be even better. But Makar is too great to only hold one Cup.

After a flameout of historical proportions against the Vegas Golden Knights, the Avs reacted with more complacency than urgency.

Operating general manager Joe Sakic made tweaks to the roster, but the heaviest lift involved clearing salary cap space by trading Valeri Nichushkin, Ross Colton and Jack Drury.

The moves made it easier to accommodate Makar. And if you still don’t understand why he is the biggest of deals, follow the money.

Even if he does not finish with the NHL’s highest average annual value for any player — not just a defenseman — the floor should be $17 million. Whether it runs for eight years — a possibility if signed before Sept. 15 — or a shorter period, the financial commitment will explain his significance.

At 27, he is the present and the future.

Makar has never put the Avs in a difficult position, always playing nice, playing well and playing hurt. He has all the leverage and could be demanding, cackling to the armored truck as he boxes in the organization.

He would never do that. The only thing Makar regularly features more than ability is humility.

But a new deal means he can never just be one of the guys again. No blending into the curtains. If healthy, no forgettable postseasons.

Like Makar, several Avs players were hurt against the Golden Knights, which provides a reason, not an excuse for their elimination.

It does not make it any less embarrassing. The Knights suffocated and frustrated the Avs, turning the middle of the ice into a barnyard for pigs to slop.

After Las Vegas completed its Legion of Broom, MacKinnon could not be bothered to meet the press despite multiple requests. He was injured, but it was not his larynx. He should have talked. It is part of the responsibility that comes with his stature.

Makar waited at his locker, taking questions. He expressed disappointment about the exit, about not doing more, even though he looked like he had one working shoulder in his limited participation.

He was hardly why the Avs came up snake eyes. Brock Nelson, Nichushkin, Scott Wedgewood, MacKinnon and Brent Burns all deserved blame for the collapse. And, of course, so did the coach.

But when Makar addressed the media, it signaled something important. He took responsibility for the mess and vouched for Jared Bednar when I asked him about the possibility of the boss getting fired.

When Sakic held the season-ending press conference several days later, he admitted Bednar wasn’t going anywhere because the players had his back.

We know Makar wanted him back.

Makar’s defense.

Makar’s power play.

Makar’s pressure.

Don’t get lost in the minutiae. The term will not be the issue with any Makar contract.

We all assume that Makar is going to retire as a member of the Avalanche. The organization wants this, and Sakic declared it, saying, “Cale is going to finish his career here.”

This is the likely outcome because of his talent, leadership and performance.

Makar has earned every cent of his money. But when you reach his level, the conversation shifts to debates about greatness.

It would be a shame if what is happening to the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic were to become Makar’s fate. Jokic will not be considered among the top 10 all-time players without another title. And he does not feel close as the Nuggets are trapped by unmovable contracts, age and injuries.

Makar could be kind and give the Avs some breathing room on his extension. The only reason to do that is to help win a championship. Stan Kroenke doesn’t need a charitable act to run the franchise, given his $26 billion portfolio valuation of his sports franchises.

Unlike the Nuggets, the Avs are right there.

Colorado is considered a favorite to win the Stanley Cup by several sportsbooks, and no worse than third behind the reigning champion Hurricanes and the former champion Panthers.

We know the Avs will play well during the regular season. They always do. No team was better a year ago, and the President’s Trophy got them a great seed and broken dreams.

The referendum will not arrive until the postseason.

Makar has performed his best when it matters most, leading the Avs to the 2022 Stanley Cup. He delivered 29 points in 20 games to net the Conn Smythe Trophy.

That seems like a long time ago.

Bruins legendary defenseman Bobby Orr won two Stanley Cups.

It is a reasonable ask of Makar.

We know he can do it. The difference moving forward with an eventual new contract is that we will expect him to.

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."

High-profile trades, trade requests and multiple offer sheets have breathed fire into an offseason that also features one of the weakest free agent classes the league has seen. There was a big shakeup in Denver at the start, with Chris MacFarland off to Nashville. But Joe Sakic and the Colorado Avalanche have stayed out of the fray, mostly.

The Avs look, well, a lot like the Avs from a year ago. After the best regular-season in franchise history followed by a Western Conference flameout, the current status of the roster is going to produce a variety of opinions.

One outer-circle core player and two depth players are gone. Three likely replacements have arrived. Sakic made it pretty clear the plan is to reinforce the roster in February, not early July.

There’s still plenty of time left in this offseason for a further shakeup, but Sakic sounded content after his efficient July 1 work was complete. There is still some business to be done before training camp begins.

There are still some questions to answer this offseason. Here are the biggest ones:

1. When will Cale Makar sign his next contract?

First, old friend Bowen Byram and the Chicago Blackhawks surprised everyone, both with what the team paid to acquire the former Avs defenseman and then the contract — six years at $12.5 million per year.

Byram, for now, would be the highest-paid defenseman in NHL history when his contract begins July 1, 2027. But that distinction isn’t likely to last long. Makar and Quinn Hughes are expected to sign for more this summer.

Then, Leo Carlsson sent shockwaves around the hockey world by signing an offer sheet with the Philadelphia Flyers — five years, $18 million per year. He will be the highest-paid player during the 2026-27 season, whether he stays with the Anaheim Ducks or switches coasts.

How does either of these deals affect Makar? Probably not a lot, but both of those moves have primed everyone for the new financial reality moving forward.

Makar signed his most recent contract on July 24, 2021. That was just a few days before he would have been a restricted free agent. He can be an unrestricted free agent July 1, 2027. Sakic said there will be no such suspense this time.

2. Will Artturi Lehkonen have a new contract by training camp?

‘The Sacrificial Lamb’ is the Avs’ other key potential unrestricted free agent in 2027. He’ll be 32 years old when the next contract starts, but Lehkonen has always been a critical cog in this Colorado machine, and even more so now with Valeri Nichushkin off to Columbus.

This could be a tricky contract for the Avs. His value often surpasses his traditional output. His availability is sometimes an issue. How much longer will he be a critical, impactful player? The Avs do not have any young players who can just step in and replace him. The sooner the better for the Avs on the contract, considering the rising cap ceiling and the cost of business is going up around the league.

3. What about Jared Bednar?

NHL coaches rarely coach on the final year of a contract. Bednar is about to start the final year of his current deal.

Will there be an extension before training camp? Sakic did not give a hard “yes” to a question about that earlier in the offseason, but both he and Kroenke Sports and Entertainment vice chairman Josh Kroenke voiced their support for Bednar shortly after the season ended.

“We’ll figure out later in the summer on all that stuff, but I don’t think he’s worried about it,” Sakic said. “He shouldn’t be worried about it. The contracts will come when they come.”

4. Will there be any more front office changes?

This offseason began with MacFarland leaving the club to become president and general manager of the Nashville Predators. Sakic now has the same role(s) with the Avs, adding GM duties.

MacFarland has traded for or signed several players from the organization, but he also poached Dawson Sprigings — one of the key members of the Avs’ analytics department. Sprigings is now an assistant to the GM in Music City.

The Avs quickly announced two analytics openings — one to replace Sprigings and one to expand Arik Parnass’ department.

Will the Avs have a new GM by the start of training camp? Will anyone in the current front office get a promotion? Will there be a new assistant GM hired to effectively replace MacFarland, or will Sakic’s inner circle remain one person smaller moving forward?

5. Who is coaching the Eagles?

Colorado’s AHL affiliate lost two members of the coaching staff after the Eagles had their most successful AHL season in franchise history. Assistant Kim Weiss, the second woman to be behind the bench of an AHL club, is now the head coach of the expansion PWHL team in Las Vegas.

Former head coach Mark Letestu is also heading to Sin City, for an assistant role with the Vegas Golden Knights. The Eagles will have their third head coach in three seasons, with Aaron Schneekloth also on an NHL bench in Seattle.

6. Who is playing for the Eagles?

It’s been a tough few days for a group that lost in Game 7 of the Western Conference Final. Alex Barre-Boulet and Tye Felhaber have signed with San Jose. Jack Ahcan and Chase Bradley went to Nashville with MacFarland. Jason Polin signed with Buffalo. Ivan Ivan was traded to Boston.

T.J. Tynan signed an AHL deal with Springfield. Valtteri Puustinen is off to Sweden. Jacob MacDonald, Ronnie Attard and Danil Gushchin are all free agents, the latter not qualified so he’s a UFA like the other two.

That’s six of the team’s top eight scorers from the regular season gone, plus a few other key veterans. As it stands right now, the Eagles look like they will be a much younger team next season. There are nine players who were aged 26 or older that saw Calder Cup Playoffs action who are no longer on the roster.

There were some reinforcements added. Forwards Vinnie Hinostroza and Adam Beckman, plus defenseman Domenick Fensore will all likely be staples for the Eagles.

One spot where the Eagles should excel is in net, with Trent Miner back and two young Russians — top prospect Ilya Nabokov and recent signing Nikita Novosyolov ready for their North American debuts. There will also be a few young forwards who do not make the Avs roster who will likely see big minutes for the Eagles.

Getting younger might mean fewer wins, but it could also mean more playing time for guys who might play for the big club at various points in the season.

7. Is this really everyone?

The Avs have 12 forwards, seven defensemen and two goalies on one-way contracts. Sakic made it clear they want to bank as much cap space as possible ahead of the trade deadline.

So … are the Avs really done? There could still be a couple of players added with the Eagles in mind.

There are also a lot of competent NHL players still unsigned. The prices on most, if not all, of them is likely dropping as the days before training camp tick away.

Colorado also has had some success by signing free agents late in the cycle. Jack Johnson and Joel Kiviranta both originally arrived on player-tryout contracts (PTOs) for training camp. The Avs didn’t sign Victor Olofsson until Aug. 20 a year ago.

If this really is everyone, and the Avs do start next season with the 12 forwards, seven defensemen and two goalies currently on one-way contracts, they would have $1,279,159 of cap space on opening night and $5,847,584 of projected space on trade deadline day, .

Valeri Nichushkin leaves a decorated and complicated legacy in Colorado.

There were long stretches, including during the last championship run, where he was one of the best two-way wingers in the NHL. And there were two moments off the ice where his conduct sabotaged postseason chances. He left the team during the first round of the 2023 playoffs against the Seattle Kraken under troubling circumstances and was suspended hours before Game 4 of the Dallas Stars series the following spring.

Open arms lead to broken hearts, but the Avs welcomed Nichushkin back, knowing a third violation could result in a lifetime ban. And the record when Nichushkin played remained remarkable.

But give Joe Sakic, the old, new GM, credit for recognizing that Nichushkin was trending in the wrong direction.

He faded last season. No, he was not the reason the Golden Knights broomed the Avs in the Western Conference Finals — that list starts with Nathan MacKinnon, Jared Bednar, and Brock Nelson — but he was no longer a menace in front of the net or along the boards.

By trading Nichushkin to Columbus for three draft picks, Sakic acknowledged the obvious — something of a surprise given the confidence he showed in the team at the end-of-the-season presser.

The Avs could not just run it back. What happened in Vegas needed to stay in Vegas.

Sakic shipped out Ross Colton and Jack Drury to buddy Chris MacFarland in Nashville, and sent Nichushkin packing.

There is no guarantee it works, but the moves served two purposes. It creates nearly $11 million in salary cap space to add a piece — perhaps they pursue Mario Ferraro — or use the draft picks to execute a midseason blockbuster.

This is what good leadership looks like. While I still disagree with Sakic’s reasoning for keeping Bednar, he is not afraid to be bold. He let MacFarland operate in this fashion and has continued the tradition.

The Avs need to get younger, even as they cross their white-knuckled fingers that the playoff version of Nelson and Nazem Kadri is not a harbinger of things to come.

It can be argued that Nichushkin is a better player than the Nuggets’ Aaron Gordon. And while the local hoops franchise frets about Gordon’s future, Sakic ripped off the band-aid with Nichushkin.

Did he get enough in second, third and fifth-round picks? Probably not. But if it allows the Avs to add a young impact player in the coming weeks or months, then it works.

There is a reason Trader Joe is buying the groceries again. He knows what he is doing.

WNBA Clark Mess

The WNBA was gifted its Tiger Woods with the arrival of Caitlin Clark. And the league has spent the last three years trying to prove that it doesn’t need her. The pettiness and jealousy are stunning. The lack of leadership from commissioner Cathy Engelbert is embarrassing. We can all agree that Clark is not better than some of her predecessors. But none moved the needle like her. The TV ratings, increased salaries and better travel scream as much. Yet, the league continues to let opponents bully and foul her in ways that are unspeakably bad. Does Clark beg for calls? Yes. That does not mean refs should turn a blind eye to Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas placing her fist on Clark’s throat in a pile-up. If the league wanted to send a message, Thomas would have been suspended for 10 games without pay, not one. The light discipline means that when it comes to Clark, it remains open season.

World Cup break

The hydration break has created an H2OhMy! effect on the World Cup. It helps that the United States won its pool. But it goes beyond that. There is actual scoring, the most since 1958. The more goals, the more exciting it becomes for fringe fans. It is unclear whether this World Cup will be a transformational moment for soccer in the United States, but the style of play makes that outcome seem more realistic.

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.

Goaltenders | Defensemen | Wings

There are only two NHL teams besides the Colorado Avalanche who are in the conversation for best collection of centers and those clubs have combined for five Stanley Cup Final appearances in the past four seasons.

Center talent and depth was undeniably one of the reasons Colorado stormed through the regular season as the league’s top team and breezed by Los Angeles and Minnesota in the first two rounds of the playoffs. It’s also a valid reason for Avs fans to be frustrated.

Florida has two championships and a third Cup Final appearance with Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett and Anton Lundell. Edmonton has two trips to the Cup Final with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

But the Avs stalled out in the Western Conference Final this past season with Nathan MacKinnon, Brock Nelson, Nazem Kadri and Jack Drury at center, not to mention Nicolas Roy and others capable of moving to the middle when needed.

Those guys are obviously a big reason why the “Cup or bust” expectations will remain next season.

“The core guys are still here, so we’re going to shoot and try and win another Cup next year, and make it two,” Avalanche president and general manager Joe Sakic said. “But I will tell you, it’s a tough league. We’re not the only team that is trying to win the Stanley Cup. I mean, it’s a deep league. There’s a lot of great teams, and there’s only one team at the end of every year that’s happy.

“With our group, their goal is to try and win another Stanley Cup, and that’s what they’re going to shoot for, and that’s what we’re going to try and hopefully do.”

What just happened

MacKinnon led the NHL in goals for the first time and finished third in the Hart Trophy voting. His 127 points are third-most in franchise history, and he now owns the two best seasons since the club moved to Denver. When MacKinnon was injured blocking a shot with the Avs up 3-2 in Game 3 of the conference final, the season effectively ended in that moment.

Nelson had a great regular season — netting 33 goals, scoring 65 points, and finishing third in the Selke Trophy voting. When he and Valeri Nichushkin were paired together, it was the best 1-2 punch in the NHL at controlling possession and one of the league’s top penalty-killing duos as well. Nelson struggled throughout the postseason, most frustratingly when he failed to convert several great chances against Vegas.

Kadri arrived at the deadline to much fanfare. His production improved with Colorado despite moving down the lineup. He helped the power play surge in March and look competent in the first two rounds. He also sustained a broken finger in April, which kind of got lost among all the other injuries Colorado players were dealing with during the Vegas series.

Drury was OK as the club’s No. 3 center, but was excellent when moved back to his No. 4 role. He’s one of the very best 4Cs in the league and a strong penalty killer.

Roy arrived one day before Kadri, and spent most of his time on the wing. He was strong in a supporting role during the playoffs. Both Parker Kelly and Ross Colton spent some time at center, but coach Jared Bednar liked both more on the wing. Rookie Zakhar Bardakov also spent some of his limited ice time at center and looked like a player who might fit better in the long term as a wing.

“When I look at their team, I guess I lean towards not making a whole bunch of changes,” ESPN analyst Ray Ferraro told The Denver Post. “But I would wonder if there’s a way they can spruce up the middle of the ice with a little more speed? So maybe Kadri needs to go to the wing, and if you do that, can you find a centerman that can play there?

What¶¶Òõap next

The Avs’ center depth and talent looked formidable before the stunning results against Vegas.

Will Nelson bounce back after a tough postseason? He was a consistent playoff performer with the Islanders.

Kadri is a slightly different case because of his history in Denver, but Nelson was much better in his first full season after the trade. Could Kadri, given the unsettling aspects of a trade and the finger injury, find a bump in play next year?

To further Ferraro’s point, Kadri turns 36 years old on Oct. 6. Nelson turns 35 nine days later. MacKinnon will be 31 in September, though he obviously remains one of the fastest, most dynamic players in the sport. Roy turns 30 in February.

It is an interesting idea, trying to find a younger center with more pace to join the group. Kadri had mixed results on the wing when he spent some time there for the Avs.

Drury is a restricted free agent and is one of the keys to this offseason. With Colton off to Nashville, the Avs have nearly $7 million in cap space. They also need to sign at least two NHL defensemen.

While Colorado views Drury as a No. 4 center and would certainly like to keep him, there is probably a team or six out there that would like to have Drury as an option for its No. 3C role. If the two sides can’t find the middle ground on a contract, the Avs could hold their ground and see what an unpleasant arbitration process yields.

That would likely lead to a one- or two-year contract and more than likely a new team in the near future. If Drury won the arbitration case, that could cause salary-cap-related problems for the club. Or the Avs could explore a trade for Drury’s rights before it ever got to that.

If everyone is here on opening night, the Avs still have a very strong 1-4 up the middle with Roy and Kelly as solid options in reserve. High-profile college free agent addition TJ Hughes can also play center. He’s been an offense-first player, but his college coach believes he can help an NHL team in the near future in any role.

Future depth chart

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

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¶¶Òõap 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 — an extension, playing it out or a trade — 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 — 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

If anything, it might be worse.

Joe Sakic and Josh Kroenke spoke about the end of the season and what’s next earlier this week. While plenty of Avs fans have clamored online for significant changes, it sure sounded like the two men at the top of the franchise’s food chain see a different path forward.

“Yes, we had a tough last week of hockey, but we still, from September on — we won the Presidents’ Trophy,” Sakic said Thursday. “We had the most points in franchise history. We played really well against L.A., really well against Minnesota. We played against a team that, just for that time, played better than we did. No excuses, but we’ll be ready for next year. So overall, it was a great year.”

That is the great dichotomy of this Avalanche team at this specific point. This was a wildly successful group for nearly seven months. This was a team that failed, in the span of one week, and ultimately won exactly half (eight) of the number of postseason games it expected to.

How Sakic, now the general manager along with his president of hockey operations duties, and the Avs move forward, does hinge in part on analyzing what went wrong against the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final. But how much stock to put in four losses versus the previous 91 games?

How much does the failure against Vegas connect to the failures against Dallas the previous two seasons? For some fans, that is everything. For the people who run NHL franchises, there is nuance and context.

For Sakic, Kroenke and the Avs, the analysis of that nuance and context could define the remaining years of Nathan MacKinnon’s prime. What has transpired with the Golden Knights — and with the Carolina Hurricanes — has offered more context to analyze.

How have both of their runs offered insight into the Avs? It’s still pretty complicated, but let’s dig through some of it.

Let’s start with Vegas. If Carolina wins Sunday night in Game 6, it will be nearly impossible to not look at the Golden Knights’ 2026 playoff run as an outlier. And specifically, that this Vegas team, with 82 regular-season games and 18 other playoff contests outside of the conference final, beating Colorado in four games, will be one of the great outliers in playoff history.

That’s not to say Vegas didn’t deserve to beat Colorado. But how the Golden Knights did it is entirely antithetical to everything else about their playoff run and season at large. This was a championship-contending club on paper, but it rarely played like one. It may still win one, though something drastic will need to change after how Carolina has taken full control of this series — the Hurricanes are currently on a 13-6 run since falling behind 4-0 in Game 3.

Vegas absolutely devised a game plan to slow down Colorado and executed it to near perfection. For all but one period of four games, the Golden Knights looked like one of the best defensive teams in the sport.

For much of the other 17 playoff games against two inferior teams (Utah, Anaheim) and one similar club (Carolina) to Colorado, the Golden Knights have simply not been that same positionally sound, mistake-free juggernaut.

Vegas has allowed four or more goals nine times in 17 playoff games against non-Avs opponents. The Knights allowed four goals total in 11 of the 12 periods against the Avalanche, with one mistake-prone period in Game 3.

Here is Vegas’ expected goals allowed per 60 minutes, broken down by series, per Natural Stat Trick:

Utah – 2.69
Anaheim – 3.25
Colorado – 2.79
Carolina – 3.02

What changed against the Avs? Carter Hart’s six-game heater, beginning at the end of the Anaheim series, is definitely part of it. Hart went 6-4 with a .905 save percentage to start this playoff run, then 6-0 with a .948 and has followed that up with 2-3 and a historically bad .856 in the Stanley Cup Final.

How did Vegas play so well defensively against the Avs, and how has Carolina (and Anaheim) managed to find so much joy in the offensive end are two critical questions for Colorado’s front office to answer. There are other weird nuggets that point to Vegas having an out-of-body experience for a week against Colorado — like how the Golden Knights have found almost no depth scoring against the other three teams, but their “other guys” poured in seven goals against the Avs.

But for the Avs’ purposes, what went wrong for them against Vegas, and whether or not it is preventable in the future, is key. The Avs built a regular-season Terminator, and for two rounds, it looked great in the playoffs, as well.

Meanwhile, Carolina’s run to within a game of a championship offers other types of insight to ponder. Rod Brind’Amour has been one of the three most successful coaches of the past eight years, along with Colorado’s Jared Bednar and Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper.

Those are the three teams with the most regular-season points accumulated in that span. But Brind’Amour has dealt with similar criticism as what Bednar has faced the past few seasons — namely, his style doesn’t translate to success in the postseason. Carolina made the conference finals three times before 2026 and went 1-12.

The Hurricanes stuck with their head coach, and are a win away from the ultimate reward. Cooper hasn’t won a playoff series in four years, but he has two championships on his resume and a third trip to the Cup Final.

Bednar’s resume falls in between those two. Will the patience and continuity preached by Sakic and Kroenke pay off?

There’s been another defining characteristic for the Hurricanes in the postseason under Brind’Amour — terrible special teams. From 2018-25, Carolina was 12th on the power play and first on the penalty kill across seven regular seasons. But, among the 23 clubs with 20-plus playoff games in that span, the Hurricanes’ power play cratered to 22nd, and the PK fell to 16th.

The day before this Stanley Cup Final began, Carolina’s power play was at 12.5% in this postseason. Then, against a Vegas team that had killed off 87.5% of its foe’s power plays through three rounds, it suddenly sprang to life.

Carolina is 6-for-16 with the extra man in this series, cooking at 37.5%, and one of the reasons why the Hurricanes have gained control. What happened, and what the Avs can glean from this Hurricanes run, could certainly be useful information.

Does there need to be structural changes with how this Avalanche team plays? Does there need to be more adaptability, or maybe just a different kind of adaptability, when a team tries to play the way Vegas did, or how Dallas played in 2025?

Is there something about the current personnel that needs to change to improve the odds in the postseason?

The answers are likely somewhere in between massive changes and none at all.

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.”

The Colorado Avalanche captain became the first player to return to the NHL after having knee cartilage replacement surgery, part of a grueling process that cost him more than 1,000 days of being a hockey player. The Professional Hockey Writers Association on Tuesday named him as the 2026 recipient of the Bill Masterson Memorial Trophy, in part because of the lengths he went to get back to this team.

He also won the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award, which is chosen by the former Oilers, Rangers and Canucks star.

The Masterton Trophy is awarded to the player “who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.” It is not meant to be solely a comeback player of the year award, but it would be impossible to argue that Landeskog has not personified those qualities over the past four seasons.

He is the first winner in franchise history. Colorado Rockies goaltender Glenn “Chico” Resch also won in 1982.

“I think it’s so well deserved,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said when Landeskog was named a finalist in early May. “I think he’s going to win it. I think he should win it. … There’s not many guys in the history of the NHL that have been able to kind of go through something like that for that length of time, and that much of a rigorous rehab, and wears on you mentally, physically, and to be able to come through the other side and still be the player that he is … and be the leader he is.”

Landeskog knew he was going to win the Messier leadership award, but his family surprised him with the Masterton Trophy during a filmed segment on ESPN’s pregame show ahead of Game 4 of the 2026 Stanley Cup final.

The Masterton Trophy was presented to Landeskog after he watched a short video with messages from Dr. Matthew Jordan, teammates Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, his father Tony and his wife, Melissa.

Landeskog knew he was going to miss some time after helping the Avs win the Stanley Cup in 2022. He embodied the sacrifice winning an NHL championship can demand, accepting the Cup from NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly on June 26, 2022. The Avs captain lifted the trophy towards the sky with one healthy knee, while the other was just beginning to betray him.

The final total was four procedures on his knee, the last major one being cartilage replacement surgery. Other hockey players have had the procedure, but none have returned to the NHL. For most people, the surgery is something that improves future quality of life, not a path back to being a competitive professional athlete.

Landeskog’s return, first with the Colorado Eagles and then the Avs during the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, was the stuff of storybooks. He was nominated for the Masterton Trophy a year ago, but had barely played any games when it was time for the PHWA to vote.

The next unknown was how Landeskog’s knee would react to the day-to-day of a full season again. The adrenaline of the playoffs was one thing, but the grind of a long campaign was something very different.

Landeskog’s first full year back was an incredible success. He helped the Avalanche win the Presidents’ Trophy, a near wire-to-wire run as the league’s best team in the regular season.

It was remarkable that Landeskog did not miss a game because of his knee. There were no nights off for maintenance or rest.

It was even more remarkable that Landeskog had to deal with a pair of incredibly painful injuries, a further testament to his perseverance. Landeskog sustained broken ribs after crashing into a goal post. He took a Cale Makar slap shot to the groin that needed surgery as part of the recovery process.

Despite all of it, Landeskog finished with 14 goals and 35 points in 60 games in the regular season. That was the most games he’d played in a regular season since 2018-19. He scored at a 26-goal, 57-point pace over his final 44 games after an understandably slow start.

Then came the playoffs, when Landeskog reminded everyone of his ability to produce at the most important time of the year — six goals, 11 points in 13 postseason games. He scored three of his team’s seven goals against Vegas in the conference final.

Landeskog has not only personified the best qualities of a deserving recipient of the Masterton Trophy, but he has also redefined the limits of being the archetype as a leader and a warrior in hockey.