Joe Sakic says the Avalanche should arrive at training camp in solid shape, with the team expecting to be healthy when camp opens in mid September, assuming nothing changes between now and then.
That would mark a sharp contrast from a year ago, when Colorado reported without Logan O’Connor, Samuel Girard and Mackenzie Blackwood. Even with those absences, the Avalanche surged out of the gate and rode that momentum all the way to a Presidents’ Trophy.
What made that run even more striking was that the roster still had more room to grow. Colorado started last season with Ross Colton, Jack Drury and Victor Olofsson in third-line roles, and that trio finished the regular season with 32 combined goals.
This year, the Avalanche could line up with Nazem Kadri and Nic Roy driving the third line, with a young forward like Gavin Brindley or rookie T.J. Hughes alongside them. Sakic’s point is clear: Kadri and Roy alone could push that group toward 40 goals or more.
Even after the departures of Colton, Drury and Valeri Nichushkin, Colorado believes it has as much talent entering a season as it has had in this current era.
Sakic made it plain where he sees this team standing.
“We like the roster. We think we have a team that’s going to compete for the Stanley Cup,” he said.
“Obviously, it’s a long year, so it’s a process. We just got to try to get better every day.
Obviously, there are some changes; there are changes to every roster every year. We have the core here, it’s a great core, and they have a standard.
And we expect and assume that everybody is going to live up to that standard.”
In Other News...
Cale Makar Contract Talk Just Shifted In A Fascinating Direction
Across the league, the defense market is already starting to reshape itself, and that matters for Colorado as much as anyone. Erik Karlssons future could become a trade storyline if Pittsburgh slips out of playoff contention, the Red Wings are trying to sort out their management situation while working through Simon Edvinssons deal, and Quinn Hughes talks are moving slowly enough to keep attention on Minnesotas side of the board.
For the Avalanche, though, the focus stays on Cale Makar and the belief that a new contract will get done before the season starts. Colorado has every reason to want that kind of certainty in place early, especially with the rest of the leagues top defensemen still tied up in one form of negotiation or another, and the timing of those other situations only adds to the sense that the market is shifting around them while they work toward their own finish line. [Read more 🡒]
Artturi Lehkonen Is Forcing A Bigger Avalanche Debate Than Expected
Artturi Lehkonen has quietly become one of the Avalanches most useful pieces since arriving during the 2021-22 season, the kind of complementary winger who makes the stars around him easier to deploy. He fits neatly next to Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar because his game leans on the hard areas: forechecking, net-front work and a willingness to do the little things that tilt shifts in Colorados favor both offensively and defensively.
What makes Lehkonen more interesting now is that his value may still be climbing beyond that already important role. The power play has not been a major part of his output, but there is enough of a track record elsewhere in his game to suggest more could be unlocked there, and that possibility is part of a broader Avalanche conversation about just how much impact he can still have on an already loaded roster. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Front Office Earns A Boost As Pressure Builds To Deliver
The Avalanche head into another season with the same lofty expectations that have followed them since lifting the Stanley Cup in 2022, but the pressure around the organization has only grown after another frustrating postseason finish in 2026. For a team that has spent the better part of eight straight seasons talking like a contender, the standard is no longer just getting in the mix, but breaking through after a stretch in which playoff results have fallen short of what the roster has suggested.
There is at least a small sign of goodwill around the front office, though, with a recent fan vote placing Colorado ninth in confidence and marking an improvement from the previous year. That does not erase the postseason disappointment or lower the urgency to deliver, but it does suggest some supporters still believe the group in charge can navigate the next step. For a franchise that has not won more than eight games in the playoffs or taken a Game 7 series since the title run, the margin for patience keeps shrinking. [Read more 🡒]