It’s hard to look at the Colorado Avalanche blue line and not see a team built to overwhelm people in waves.
NHL Network’s latest Top 20 defensemen ranking only sharpened that picture. Cale Makar came in at No. 1, ahead of Quinn Hughes and Zach Werenski, while Devon Toews checked in at No.
- That gives Colorado two defensemen in the top 20 - a level of depth no other NHL team can claim.
The network’s list also underscored just how loaded that group is overall. Across the 20 defensemen ranked, the total résumé includes 21 All-Star Game appearances, 11 All-Rookie team honors, seven Norris Trophies, seven Olympic Gold Medals, four Calder Trophies, two Conn Smythe Trophies and six Stanley Cups.
Colorado’s top pair gives Jared Bednar a luxury most coaches can only dream about. Makar is the best all-around defenseman in the world, while Toews is an elite shutdown blueliner.
Bednar has split them up at times, but only to try to throw opponents off balance. The cleaner answer, though, may be keeping them together, just as Jon Cooper did at the 2026 Olympics.
Looking ahead to 2026-27, that should be Bednar’s preferred setup.
And the rest of the group keeps the pressure coming. Sam Malinski is a puck-moving defenseman who seems ready to take another step, with Brett Kulak likely alongside him. Kulak may not be the flashiest name on the roster, but he’s the kind of steady presence that gets the job done.
Then comes the third pair: Josh Manson and Brent Burns. That’s a heavy, bruising combination, the kind of duo that looks like two hungry grizzly bears. They can punish opponents physically, and they can also score.
Put it all together, and the Avalanche have a blue line that’s tough to top in both talent and variety. The bigger question isn’t whether Colorado has enough quality on defense. It’s whether the team can keep all of it intact through 84 regular-season games and four playoff rounds.
In Other News...
Nathan MacKinnon Sits At The Center Of Colorados Biggest Debate
Colorados power play was one of the clearer pressure points last season, and it showed up in the standings when the Avalanche finished 27th in the league at 17.1 percent. Even with Nathan MacKinnon driving the offense, the unit never found the kind of rhythm that usually separates a dangerous contender from a team that has to grind for every goal, and that left the Avalanche with more questions than answers heading into the offseason.
MacKinnon still led the club in power-play goals with 11 and topped the roster in points with 127, which is why so much of the discussion around the Avalanches next step keeps circling back to him. If Colorado is going to clean up one of its biggest flaws and put itself in a better position for the postseason, the fix has to come from its best player and the way the entire man-advantage group starts to click around him. [Read more 🡒]
Petterssons Latest Video Has Canucks Fans Wondering Whats Really Going On
Elias Pettersson showing up on the ice in Los Angeles was always going to turn heads, and it did exactly that among Canucks fans already tuned into every ripple around the roster. Any sighting away from Vancouver tends to feed the rumor mill, but in this case the available indication is much more mundane, tied to personal reasons rather than an immediate move that would send the hockey world spinning.
For the Avalanche, the larger market lesson is how quickly contract talk can start to orbit elite stars once one situation gets attention. Cale Makar is heading into the final year of his deal and is expected to be in line for a major extension, the kind of negotiation that naturally invites comparisons to Quinn Hughes contract path, while the rest of the league keeps making room for its own offseason decisions. Edmonton, meanwhile, has cap space and appears poised to look for help up front, with its new coachs system likely shaping how aggressively the Oilers pursue that addition. [Read more 🡒]
Cale Makars Contract Just Put Colorado In An Uncomfortable Spot
The Cale Makar situation has become one of the more awkward storylines hanging over Colorados offseason, even if the Avalanche still look far more likely to keep their franchise defenseman than move him. Adrian Hernandez of Mile High Hockey recently dug into the contract picture and framed it as something worth watching closely, with negotiations carrying real weight for both Makar and the team as the calendar pushes deeper into the summer.
Hernandez points to a September 15 deadline as the date that could shape how this all plays out, and the fact that Makar does not have trade protection only adds to the unease around the discussion. It remains a highly speculative scenario, but if the sides do not find common ground, other NHL teams would almost certainly be watching for any opening, which is enough to make Colorados long-term planning feel a little less comfortable than usual. [Read more 🡒]