The Colorado Avalanche are heading into the new season with a fresh target on their backs, and the warning sign is right there in recent NHL history: a Presidents’ Trophy team can fall off a cliff fast.
Colorado’s last regular season was the kind that usually comes with a parade of praise. The Avalanche led the league from start to finish and claimed the Presidents’ Trophy, then pushed all the way to the Western Conference Final.
That’s a strong year by almost any measure. But for a team that was the NHL’s best wire to wire, it still came up short of the only finish that really satisfies.
That’s why the trend around them matters. In 2023-24, the New York Rangers had a terrific regular season, reached the Western Conference Final and lost to the eventual champion Florida Panthers. The next year, they missed the postseason entirely and eventually slid into a rebuild.
The Winnipeg Jets followed a different path in 2024-25, running away with the Central Division in their best season as a franchise. They made it to the second round, only to come up short.
Then last season, the drop was stark. The Jets sputtered instead of building on that breakthrough.
That kind of collapse is exactly what Colorado has to avoid. It’s a trend the Avalanche need to break before it becomes part of their own story.
There’s a simple danger baked into seasons like this: teams get comfortable. They assume a great year will carry itself forward, that last season’s standard will somehow take care of next season’s business. The Avalanche can’t afford that kind of thinking now.
For Colorado, the bar is much higher than simply getting back to the playoffs or winning a round or two. The expectation has to be a championship push. Even if the Avalanche don’t repeat as Presidents’ Trophy winners, the real goal is still to win 16 postseason games.
That urgency fits with where this team has been. The Avalanche have already absorbed plenty of hard lessons.
The first-round exit against the Seattle Kraken in 2023 still lingers. So does the loss to the Dallas Stars and Mikko Rantanen in 2025.
And last year’s elimination by the Vegas Golden Knights is another wound that won’t fade quickly.
Those losses matter because they give Colorado something to lean on. They’ve lived through the disappointment that comes with getting close and walking away empty. That kind of pain can sharpen a team if it’s used the right way.
If the Avalanche are going to answer the warning from recent history, this is the season to do it. The better story a year from now would be simple: Colorado chasing back-to-back Stanley Cup championships.
In Other News...
Avalanche Add A Scorer Who Could Earn A Bigger Role Fast
The Colorado Eagles have added another forward with some real upside, signing Francesco Arcuri to an AHL two-way contract for the 2026-27 season. Arcuri arrives as a former Dallas Stars sixth-round draft pick who spent last season producing for the Idaho Steelheads in the ECHL, and he has already gotten a small taste of the next level with five games for the Texas Stars.
For the Avalanche organization, the interest is in whether that scoring touch can carry up with more consistency. The Eagles are clearly hoping Arcuri can turn a strong lower-level season into a steadier AHL presence, which would make him more than just a depth addition if he handles the jump the way they believe he can. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Fans Have A New Blue Line Name To Watch Closely
A new name has started to surface on Colorados blue-line radar in Alex Gagne, the 23-year-old left defenseman who landed at No. 20 on the Avalanches Top 25 Under 25 list for 2026. Gagne spent the 2025-26 season with the Colorado Eagles in the AHL, where his role was built around steady minutes and penalty-kill work, the sort of assignment that often tells a coach more about a defenseman than point totals ever will.
His profile is also the kind that tends to travel well in an organization hungry for dependable depth, especially when a players college background has already earned him a reputation for leadership. For Avalanche fans, the interest now is less about where Gagne has been and more about how close he might be to forcing his way into the conversation for NHL help when the season opens. [Read more 🡒]