Merkulov, 25, has played in 11 NHL games, including one last season, for the Boston Bruins. The 5-foot-11, 174-pound forward had 24 goals and 61 points for the Providence Bruins in the AHL, and should be a key player for a rebuilt Colorado Eagles squad next year.

The Eagles reached the Western Conference Final of the Calder Cup Playoffs for the first time since joining the AHL in 2018, but six of the club’s top eight scorers from last season and coach Mark Letestu are no longer with the organization.

Merkulov spent one year at Ohio State before signing as an undrafted free agent with the Bruins in 2022. The Avs have also signed veteran forwards Vinnie Hinostroza and Adam Beckman and traded for former first-round pick Fabian Lysell, who along with Merkulov could help replace forwards like Alex Barre-Boulet, T.J. Tynan and Ivan Ivan as impact players for the Eagles with the potential to earn NHL callups.

Jussi Ahokas, who helped the Kitchener Rangers win the Memorial Cup this past season, was hired Friday as the new coach of the Eagles, the Colorado Avalanche’s AHL affiliate. Ahokas, 45, is considered one of the top young coaches in the sport.

Ahokas, a native of Oulu, Finland, spent the past three years with the Rangers. He was the OHL coach of the year in 2024-25, then won both the league and the Memorial Cup in his third year.

Avalanche prospect Christian Humphreys was a key member of Ahokas’ Kitchener teams for the past two seasons. Ahokas has also coached Juraj Slafkovsky, Miro Heiskanen and Kaapo Kakko at either the club or international level.

“Jussi has done a great job with every team and every league he’s been a part of as a head coach, and we’re excited to welcome him into the Avalanche and Eagles family,” Kevin McDonald, assistant general manager for the Avs and GM of the Eagles, said in a statement. “His track record of winning games in a variety of leagues and international tournaments is impressive, and he’ll be a great fit for our team in Loveland.”

Prior to coming to North America with Kitchener, Ahokas was a head coach for four seasons in Finland’s SM-Liiga. He spent two seasons each with KooKoo and TPS, leading the latter to a second-place finish in the 2022 Liiga playoffs. He also led Finland to gold medals at the 2019 IIHF world junior championship and the U-18 world championship in 2016.

Ahokas will be the fourth Eagles coach since the franchise moved up to the AHL and became the Avs’ affiliate. The first three — Greg Cronin, Aaron Schneekloth and Mark Letestu — have all left for NHL jobs. Letestu was in charge of the Eagles for one season, leading the club to the Western Conference Final before taking an assistant job with the Vegas Golden Knights last month.

Colorado will have back-to-back games just 10 times after the NHL released its schedule for next season on Thursday. Three of them are among the first 10 games and six are before Thanksgiving. The first 84-game slate since before the franchise moved to Denver from Quebec City gets a little less congested after that and includes a nearly week-long holiday break.

The Avs are the reigning Presidents’ Trophy winners, but will be trying to move past a shocking postseason exit for the second straight year after being swept by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2026 Western Conference Final.

Here’s a look at some of the highlights from Colorado’s 2026-27 schedule:

Sept. 30 vs. Los Angeles — The Avs will welcome the Kings to Ball Arena to start the season. There will be a banner raising, if not the one fans were expecting after such a dominant 2025-26 season. Colorado swept Los Angeles in the opening round of the 2026 playoffs.

Oct. 10 vs. Toronto — Avs fans will get an early look at Gavin McKenna, the No. 1 selection in the 2026 NHL draft, when the Maple Leafs come to Denver.

Oct. 13 at Dallas, Oct. 14 vs. Dallas — Colorado will play four games against each of its seven Central Division neighbors. Half of the matchups with Mikko Rantanen and the Stars are a midweek back-to-back in Games No. 6 of 7 of the season. These two rivals also have back-to-back games on Jan. 22 and Jan. 24, with the latter at Ball Arena.

Oct. 16 vs. Pittsburgh — We’re running low on Nathan MacKinnon-Sidney Crosby matchups. The two friends will also see each other on Jan. 12 in Pittsburgh. This probably isn’t Crosby’s last trip to Denver, but it could be. Landon DuPount, the expected No. 1 pick in the 2027 NHL draft, will also be in town this weekend. Michigan plays the University of Denver at Magness Arena on Oct. 16 and 17.

Oct. 25 at Nashville, Nov. 5 vs. Nashville — A couple of early-season matchups with the Predators, who now include many more people with Avalanche ties. Chris MacFarland left to become Nashville’s president and general manager in June, and he traded for both Jack Drury and Ross Colton.

Nov. 27 at Minnesota — A Friday matinee the day after Thanksgiving, this will be the Avs’ only meeting with the Wild until March. Colorado and Minnesota will play three times in the final 13 contests of the season. The Avs handled Quinn Hughes and the Wild in five games during the second round of the 2026 playoffs.

Dec. 1-8 at Boston, Detroit, N.Y. Rangers, N.Y. Islanders, St. Louis — This is the longest road trip of the Avs’ season, and also the silliest one geographically. Boston to New York City is one of the shortest flights of the season, or a train ride. Instead, the Avs will go to Detroit in between. And then have a Long Island-St. Louis back-to-back that will be one of the longest in club history, though the game against the Islanders is in the afternoon, at least.

Dec. 12 vs. Washington — This is almost certainly the last time the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer, Alex Ovechkin, will be in Denver. It should be quite the farewell tour for Ovechkin this season, and the Capitals loaded up this summer to try and make it a memorable one. This game also kicks off the first of two five-game homestands.

Dec. 18 vs. Carolina — The fourth game of that homestand will feature the 2026 Stanley Cup champion Hurricanes and their lone trip to Denver.

Dec. 31 at Utah — The marquee game on the NHL’s calendar — the 2027 Winter Classic at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. The Avs have to play a home game on Dec. 29, but should get to practice at the football stadium the next day before the outdoor game on New Year’s Eve.

Jan. 2 at Vegas, Jan. 4 vs. Vegas — Going straight from the outdoor game to back-to-back tilts with the club that ended their dream season could be interesting. The Golden Knights will have a new coach and like the Avs had to do some salary cap gymnastics this summer, but they should be one of the top teams in the Western Conference again.

Feb. 15 vs. Columbus — The Avalanche will play Valeri Nichushkin and the Blue Jackets on Nov. 3, but this will be the first game back in Denver for him after being traded in June. Expect the memories of the 2022 championship run to be front and center that night, both in the tribute video and with Ball Arena’s reception.

March 5 at San Jose — This is the second of a three-game road trip, but it is also the day of the NHL’s trade deadline. For the second straight year, the Avs will play on that day.

March 9-17 vs. Philadelphia, N.Y. Rangers, Chicago, Edmonton, Minnesota — The second of two five-game homestands, this one is part of seven home games in an eight-game stretch. If the Avs need to make a late push, this might be the time to do it.

April 10 vs. Minnesota — The Avs will hope that Game No. 82 doesn’t have any postseason implications, but this would be a doozy of a season finale if it does. Colorado also finishes with six of its final nine games on the road, including a three-game trek to Minnesota, Vancouver and Calgary just before the finale.

With the NHL expanding the season to 84 games, adding two divisional games for each team, regular-season hockey will start earlier than usual. The league begins action on Sept. 29 with an opening-night tripleheader broadcast on ESPN.

The Avalanche will open the following night as part of a TNT doubleheader, featuring the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Philadelphia Flyers at 5:30 p.m. MT and the Kings visiting the Avalanche for the nightcap at 8 p.m. MT.

The complete 2026-27 NHL regular-season schedule is set to be announced on Thursday at 11 a.m. MT.

The Avs opened last season against the Kings in Los Angeles on Oct. 7. Colorado, which swept the Kings in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, was swept by the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference final, a bitter end to a season for a franchise that was the NHL’s best during the regular season.

The NHL has also set the date for the Avs’ Winter Classic showdown against Utah at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. The two budding rivals will face off at 4 p.m. local time on New Year’s Eve.

It will be the 18th iteration of the Winter Classic and the first appearance for the Avs.

The game will be the 47th NHL regular-season outdoor game and the first for Utah, which is the only franchise that has yet to appear in an outdoor game. The NHL expects a crowd of over 50,000 for the 2027 Winter Classic; Rice-Eccles Stadium holds 51,444.

Lysell, 23, played 12 NHL games two years ago for the Bruins. He’s a 5-foot-11, 186-pound wing who Boston selected 21st overall in the first round of the 2021 draft. He spent the 2025-26 season playing for the American Hockey League’s Providence Bruins and registered 42 points (17goals, 25 assists) in 57 regular-season contests. He ranked sixth in scoring on a team that won the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy (AHL’s best record) and also finished fifth in both goals and assists.

From Gothenburg, Sweden, Lysell turned pro ahead of the 2022-23 season and has recorded 163 career points (57 goals, 106 assists) in 219 AHL games as well as three assists in 12 Calder Cup playoff showings — all with Providence. During the 12 games he dressed for the Bruins in the 2024-25 season, he scored one goal and had two assists.

The Avalanche has been acquiring new forwards this offseason after being swept by the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final. Before trading for Lysell on June 27, Joe Sakic sent Jack Drury, Chase Bradley, and a 2029 third-round pick to the Nashville Predators on June 24 for forwards Zachary L’Heureux and Fedor Svechkov.

Svechkov and L’Heureux, both 23, are also former first-round picks — Nos. 19 and 27 — from the 2021 draft, who mostly played in fourth-line roles for Nashville last season.

Svechkov, listed at 6 feet and 187 pounds, had four goals and 17 points in 70 games for Nashville last season. L’Heureux, listed at 5-foot-11 and 197 pounds, had four goals and an assist in 25 games.

L’Heureux has a history of playing a physical brand of hockey — and also going beyond the boundaries of legality. He’s been suspended once in two years in the NHL, twice in the AHL, and nine times during his junior career in the QMJHL, for a total of 34 games. He was once suspended for 10 games in the QMJHL for assaulting a fan with his stick. His NHL suspension came in January 2025 for slew-footing Minnesota defenseman Jared Spurgeon. L’Heureux missed some time early in this past season with injury and also played 30 games for the Milwaukee Admirals.

Both players have two years remaining on their current contracts. Svechkov’s cap hit for this coming season and next is $1.25 million. L’Heureux will cost $875,000 against the cap both years. Both players will still be restricted free agents at the end of these deals.

L’Heureux was 10th among Nashville forwards in average ice time per game (13:23) while Svechkov was 13th at 12:05. L’Heureux was a regular on the penalty kill when he was available this season, while Svechkov was not.

 — Corey Masisak contributed reporting.

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, .

Three weeks ago, he punctuated the decision to leave college for junior hockey in Canada with a Memorial Cup triumph while playing for the Kitchener Rangers. Now, he’s getting ready to go back to school.

“It was surreal,” Humphreys said during the Colorado Avalanche’s summer development camp. “It����ap just kind of just starting to soak in right now. We had an incredible team, and what an accomplishment. You’ve got to beat out 61 teams to get there. Our team was just so good and so tight, on and off the ice. Just being there and going through that process, going through seven-game series, it teaches you a lot.

“It was three weeks ago today, and it is still so cool.”

Everything has changed for players with NHL aspirations, and no one exemplifies that more than Humphreys, a seventh-round pick by the Avalanche in the 2024 NHL draft. He spent the year leading into the draft with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program.

He went to Michigan as an 18-year-old freshman, and it didn’t work out. Humphreys played 10 games, had one point and in January decided to leave for Kitchener.

“Every player’s path is different,” Humphreys said. “You’ve got to find the right fit. That was a real humbling experience for me. I was grateful for my time at Michigan, and to them for having me. Whenever I picked up the phone and called Kitchener, it was the best thing for me. To go out with a Memorial Cup, it����ap so special. It����ap something I’ll never forget.”

A sea change for prospects with NCAA shift

For decades, that was the end of his amateur career. Players who played games in one of Canada’s three major junior leagues were ineligible to play NCAA hockey. When he left Ann Arbor for Ontario, his college eligibility was revoked.

The Avs would have either had to sign him by last month or let him go back in the draft. Humphreys would be preparing for life as a pro hockey player, starting next season at 20 years old — likely either in a limited role with the Colorado Eagles or even in the ECHL with the New Mexico Goatheads.

But then the rules changed. This past season, CHL players were granted NCAA eligibility.

Humphreys, who had 27 goals and 85 points in 63 regular-season games for the Rangers, then nine goals and 22 points in 18 playoff games, initially wanted to sign and turn pro. But after discussions with the Avalanche and his inner circle, Humphreys committed to play for another Big Ten school, Minnesota, next season.

“I really think the original switch from Michigan to Kitchener was the right thing to do development-wise,” Colorado director of player development Brian Willsie said. “He went in there and got a great opportunity to play in a top-six role with Kitchener in the OHL, and then obviously this year was a huge success individually, and then the team wins the Memorial Cup.

“For 20-year-olds coming out of the CHL, we’ve said it before, going to the American League is tough. The American League is a tough, tough league. So, to have that extra runway and the rules changing mid-development for him is a huge advantage, both for him and for us.”

Humphreys is absolutely the type of prospect that the rule changes were meant for. Listed at 5-foot-11 and 170 pounds, he is going to need to build up his body as much as his hockey skills in the next couple of seasons.

For so long, a player like him had to choose between the game-centric rigors of the CHL versus the extra practice and workout time with an NCAA program. Now, he’s going to reap the benefits of both.

“You can use the cliché line of I want to get faster and stronger, but I think for me it����ap the little details,” Humphreys said. “Whether it����ap getting a bump or being hard on the forecheck, the playoffs taught me every little detail has got to be sharp or you’re going to lose hockey games.

“Management here does a great job of helping players get to where they want. When that opportunity came, it was a no-brainer for me. I think you’re going to see a lot of players do the same thing.”

FOOTNOTE: The Avs will play two games at the 2026 Rookie Faceoff Tournament in San Jose, the club announced Thursday. Colorado’s prospects will play Sept. 12 against Anaheim and the following day against Vegas.

Joe Sakic said superstar Cale Makar isn’t going anywhere, but his next contract will have a huge impact on how the Avs attempt to construct a Stanley Cup-contending roster into the next decade. Artturi Lehkonen has been a critical supporting star for the Avs since arriving at the trade deadline ahead of the club’s 2022 Stanley Cup run.

Both players have one year left on their current deals. The cap ceiling is expected to be $113 million for 2027-28, the first year of their new deals. That is $29.5 million more, or about 35% more than it was when Nathan MacKinnon started his eight-year, $100.8 million contract in 2023-24.

The negotiations for each deal will be entirely different. Makar is one of the best players in the world in the prime of his career. MacKinnon famously said Makar should get $20 million per season the day after Mikko Rantanen was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Lehkonen is an extremely valuable player and a beloved teammate, but he’ll also be 32 when his next contract begins. It’s hard to fathom a number too big for the Avs with Makar, but it will be different with Lehkonen.

What might their contracts look like? The salary cap ceiling is surging to previously unforeseen levels, making it more difficult to project new deals. Sakic said last week that talks on extensions that don’t kick in until next year will start in mid-July. Maybe some deals signed by current free agents will provide more data on what contracts will look like moving forward.

Let’s try to find some comparable deals, and then adjust for the rising cap. Get ready to hear a lot about the percentage of the cap in the coming days/weeks/months to justify some cap hits that look … a little different than what we’re used to.

Cale Makar

Just kidding — there are no comparables for Makar.

Well, not as of Tuesday, anyway. Makar is one of the two best defensemen in the world. The other guy, Quinn Hughes, is also entering the final year of his contract. They’re on the same timeline. Who signs first, and will it impact the other?

The other issue — no elite defenseman has signed a contract as a pending UFA in a long time. It’s a weird quirk. The nine highest-paid forwards in the NHL right now all signed deals as pending unrestricted free agents.

Only three of the 10 highest-paid defensemen did. The other seven signed their deals as pending restricted free agents. That is a slightly different negotiation. If Makar had been an unrestricted free agent when he signed his last deal, he’d have gotten more than $54 million over six years.

Erik Karlsson and Drew Doughty both signed contracts of $11 million or more that began with the 2019-20 season. No other defenseman signed for that much per season until Rasmus Dahlin signed the same pact as Doughty — 8 years, $88 million. He was a pending restricted free agent, and that deal began two years ago.

Karlsson is the most expensive defenseman at $11.5 million. Makar and Hughes will reset the top of the defense market, and then reigning Norris Trophy winner Zach Werenski will be the next megadeal for a pending unrestricted free agent next year. Calder Trophy winner Matthew Schaefer will also be ready for a new deal next summer, and it is expected he’ll blow past what Makar got coming off his entry-level contract.

Here are the top-five contracts signed by defensemen who were pending unrestricted free agents in the league right now:

The percentage of the cap in year one of those deals matters. P.K. Subban also signed a deal that was worth a touch more than 13% of the cap when he was coming off a Norris Trophy win in 2014.

Both Makar and Hughes can make the case that they are among the top five to seven players in the sport, regardless of position. If Bobby Orr or Ray Bourque were 26 or 27 years old and a year from free agency, they’d be getting paid like a top five to seven player in the league.

So here are the top five contracts in the league right now:

Back to the cap percentage idea. If the Avs sign Makar to a deal worth $17 million per season, that would actually be slightly less (15.04%) than MacKinnon’s contract in 2023-24 (15.09%).

What MacKinnon said 18 months ago isn’t wrong. Makar is worth $20 million per year. The best players in the world are all worth that much, but superstars have consistently taken less to help their teams have more cap space to build around them. Kirill Kaprizov pushed the bar higher, but Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel didn’t go with him.

Even if Makar and Hughes didn’t want to take a higher percentage than what Karlsson got eight years prior, 14.11% of a $113 million cap is still $15.944 million per season.

The other big question, of course, is the term of the contract. The new collective bargaining agreement will limit the maximum contract length in future summers to seven years. Makar and Hughes (and Lehkonen) have until Sept. 15 to ink an eight-year pact if they’d like.

Kaprizov and Eichel did eight-year deals, but McDavid signed for just two, and Auston Matthews only inked a four-year pact. Whether Makar and Hughes decide to go short and cash in again, or go long for what will likely be their last huge deal, it’s going to cost Colorado (and Minnesota, assuming Hughes does sign) an enormous sum of money.

An eight-year, $120 million contract would be a significant victory for either franchise, and either might have to settle for something similar to Kaprizov’s deal.

Artturi Lehkonen

Lehkonen has been an immensely valuable player when available who has been on an incredibly team-friendly contract for years.

But, like the recently departed Valeri Nichushkin, the phrase “when available” also plays into this, and could even more so in the future.

Here’s something that sums up the past few years for the Avs: Since 2015-16, there have been 33 wings who meet this criteria — 200-plus games played, 70-plus goals scored and 150-plus points during their age 27-30 seasons. For Lehkonen and Nichushkin, that four-year window is 2022-23 through this past season.

Nichushkin has the fewest games played of the bunch (222) and Lehkonen has the third-fewest (248). Both have been highly productive when available. Both have missed 25% or more of the regular-season games. Nichushkin missed games in three of the past four postseasons, while Lehkonen missed two games in the second round this year and looked compromised during the Western Conference Final.

Lehkonen’s full value isn’t captured by 85 goals and 178 points over the past four seasons. He’s an excellent two-year player, penalty killer and someone who produces more on a per-game basis during the playoffs than the regular season.

Finding comparable players for him isn’t easy. Are the guys who have similar total production? The players with similar per-game numbers?

Here are some wings that might fit:

The guys who have the most similar career production ahead of the new contract are Arvidsson, Tarasenko, Teravainen and Smith. Arvidsson and Tarasenko were already dealing with injuries and decline, and their contracts reflected that. It’s also worth noting that both of those guys had nice bounce-back seasons last year, at ages 32 and 34, respectively.

Rust has aged the best. Palat and Smith have aged the worst. Toffoli is a weird case because he had played for six teams by the time his current deal was signed. But he had two of his best seasons at ages 30-31 and then signed with San Jose, where he scored 49 goals in two years.

There are seven players on this list. Lehkonen is more valuable than some, for sure. He hasn’t had quite the career, from a pure production standpoint, as Rust or Toffoli, at least.

The average cap percentage for those seven contracts is 6.15%. That amount in 2027-28 would be about $6.95 million. Lehkonen, when he’s healthy, has played like a $7 million player or more.

Given the cap surge, is he a $7 million player right now? And what about in the future?

The term for Lehkonen’s next deal could be just as important as the average annual value. It’s a tricky one on both fronts.

There’s no denying his present value, and losing Nichushkin only amplifies it. But there is potential for variance in the future with any deal that starts at age 32, and there might even be more than usual with Lehkonen because of his playing style and injury history.

Makar made his NHL debut last season and appeared in 12 games for the Avs. He would have been a restricted free agent July 1.

It is a two-way contract for 2026-27 and a one-way deal for 2027-28, a source confirmed to The Denver Post. He will be an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of this deal. The salary cap hit for the deal is $875,000.

A seventh-round pick in 2020, the 25-year-old Makar had 14 goals and 24 points in first full season with the Colorado Eagles in the AHL. He had two goals and six points in 17 Calder Cup Playoffs games, helping the Eagles to the Western Conference Final.

The younger brother of Avs star Cale Makar, he spent three years at UMass before transferring to Maine for his senior season in 2024-25. That was a breakout year. Taylor Makar finished with 18 goals and 30 points in 38 games for the Black Bears and then signed a one-year, two-way contract with Colorado.

The Avs are also expected to sign the elder Makar to a new contract this summer. He has one year left on his current contract, and is eligible to sign a new deal starting July 1.

If Cale Makar signs a new contract before Sept. 15, it can be for eight years. Starting on Sept. 16, the maximum length for contracts will be seven years in the NHL. General manager Joe Sakic said Makar ‘is going to finish his career here’ when asked about a potential extension after the 2025-26 season concluded.

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.