The Colorado Avalanche didn’t bring in Zachary L’Heureux just to make a transaction work.
When they made their second offseason trade with the Nashville Predators, the idea was bigger than clearing Jack Drury’s salary-cap number. Colorado also wanted players who could fill gaps it felt were still open, and L’Heureux was one of the pieces the team targeted.
Fedor Svechkov was viewed as the possible Drury replacement down the middle. L’Heureux, meanwhile, arrived as the kind of winger the Avalanche believed they were missing.
“I think a big factor in when I got traded here was [general manager Joe Sakic] saying we were missing a guy like you and a guy that can kind of bring that energy, that grittiness,” L’Heureux told me following another day on the ice with his new club.
The 23-year-old has never lacked for identity. Drafted No. 27 overall by Nashville in 2021, he never settled into a steady role with the Predators.
He made his NHL debut in 2024-25, played 62 games and finished with five goals and 15 points. Last season, his role shrank to 25 games, where he scored four times and added one assist.
A trade can throw a player off balance. For L’Heureux, this one felt like an opening.
He has spent the offseason pushing to take another step and carve out a permanent place in the league, and now he gets that chance on a veteran Avalanche team that values exactly what he does best.
“It was a bit of a whirlwind. Obviously, didn’t expect it, but at the same time, I think I can make the best out of it,” L’Heureux said.
“I’ve been in contact with the organization, been here for over a month now, so I think I’m pretty comfortable already with the staff, the players, and everything. So I’m just excited to get going.”
That confidence came through clearly in a one-on-one conversation, and it’s not the timid kind. L’Heureux knows what he is, knows how he wants to play, and doesn’t sound interested in changing that just because he’s now in a room full of established winners.
Jared Bednar likes that. The Avalanche coach said Friday he wants players who believe in themselves, as long as that belief is grounded.
“I love it. I love the confidence.
I want guys to have confidence, but it can’t be false confidence,” Bednar said Friday. “The guys that have that swagger and confidence to go out and play the way that they know they can… It’s my job just to make it clear how I see his game and how we need him to play to have success.”
So far in camp, Bednar has lined up L’Heureux with Parker Kelly and Logan O’Connor. Those combinations may still change before Colorado opens the regular season on Sept. 30, but the early assignment gives L’Heureux a clean runway to show why the Avalanche wanted him.
He describes himself in simple terms: a hardworking, gritty forward who brings energy and hunts pucks. He also sees himself as someone who can move anywhere in the lineup and handle different jobs.
“Playing with Parker Kelly and Logan O’Connor, I think those are two guys that I can kind of model my game after and follow in their footsteps and bring a little extra grittiness. I’m a guy who can kind of play all around up and down the lineup and just be kind of a Swiss Army knife for this roster.”
Svechkov, who spent last season alongside L’Heureux in Nashville, knows that edge well.
“He’s an energy guy and such a battery of the team. You wanna have a guy like that on the team,” Svechkov said. “He’s always charging his partners to do more and more and more, and he’s a nice guy to be around.”
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The plan includes widened entrances and concourses, better point-of-sale technology and new premium clubs, all while construction is phased to limit disruption during events. It is also part of a bigger vision for the 55-acre property around the arena, turning the area into a broader entertainment district and changing the look and feel of the entire game-day experience in the years ahead. [Read more 🡒]