The Colorado Avalanche kept adding to their forward depth on Wednesday, landing Vinnie Hinostroza and Adam Beckman on two-year deals.
Hinostroza arrives after splitting the 2025-26 season between the Minnesota Wild and Florida Panthers. In 65 games, the 32-year-old put up six goals and 18 points while averaging 10:56 of ice time per night. He was dealt to Florida ahead of the March trade deadline and closed the year with eight points in 17 games.
The Chicago native has appeared in 477 regular-season NHL games and has totaled 65 goals and 179 points across stops with the Panthers, Wild, Nashville Predators, Pittsburgh Penguins, Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks, and Arizona Coyotes. He has reached double digits in goals twice, with a career-best 16 coming in 2018-19.
Beckman spent last season with the American Hockey League’s Bridgeport Islanders and delivered a strong scoring year. He finished with 51 points in 68 games, including a team-high 30 goals. The 25-year-old has also logged 23 regular-season NHL games with the Minnesota Wild from 2020-21 through 2023-24.
Colorado had already made two other additions earlier in the day. The Avalanche signed forward Jaden Schwartz and defenseman Noah Juulsen, with Schwartz projected to handle a top-nine role and likely skate on the second line while Valeri Nichushkin is out. Juulsen is set to be the club’s depth No. 7 defenseman and would be the first blueliner called on if injuries hit.
In Other News...
Avalanche Just Got Linked To A Center Fans Will Debate
With free agency about to open, Colorados center group is already looking crowded enough to make any outside addition a real conversation starter. The Avalanche have Nathan MacKinnon, Brock Nelson, Nicolas Roy and Fyodor Svechkov in the middle, which is why any reported interest in another veteran pivot immediately invites a debate about fit, role and price.
Boone Jenner brings the sort of experience and faceoff reliability teams tend to covet when the market starts moving, and the idea of him landing in Denver is easy to understand from a hockey sense. The tougher part is the business side, since the Avalanche would likely be looking for something more manageable than his previous deal, and there is still no official move on the board. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Just Added Another Proven Piece To An Already Loaded Roster
A familiar Western Conference name is headed to Denver, as the Avalanche are reportedly adding another experienced forward on a multi-year deal that fits both the roster and the salary cap picture. The move brings a former first-round pick who has already logged time with the Kraken and Blues into a lineup that has spent years building around proven pieces, and it gives Colorado another veteran option to slot into an attack that rarely lacks for talent.
The contract is said to run three years with an average annual value of $3.25 million, a notable shift for a player coming off a richer previous deal. Theres also a local angle here, since he once skated at Colorado College and had long been mentioned as a possible fit in town, which only adds to the sense that this was one of those quiet targets the Avalanche had in mind for a while. [Read more 🡒]
Predators Just Pulled Another Familiar Face From Colorado
The Nashville Predators have added another name familiar to Avalanche circles, signing defenseman Jack Ahcan to a two-year, two-way contract as part of their ongoing roster transition. Ahcan is a player Colorado fans will remember from both the Avalanche and the Colorado Eagles, and he also brings NHL experience from his time with Boston.
For Colorado, the move is a small but noticeable reminder of how often familiar depth pieces can move on when front offices reshape the margins of a roster. Predators general manager Chris MacFarland knows Ahcan from his time in Colorado, which gives the signing a layer of familiarity even as Nashville continues sorting out its blue-line picture. [Read more 🡒]