The Avalanche keep living in the league’s pressure cooker, and somehow the expectation only gets louder.
Colorado is headed into its eighth straight season with Stanley Cup ambitions, a run that dates back to the summer of 2019 and has been built around Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Gabe Landeskog, Devon Toews and, more recently, Martin Necas after the departure of Mikko Rantanen. That core has kept the Avalanche near the top of the NHL conversation year after year, and the front office - whether it was Joe Sakic or Chris MacFarland running the show - has repeatedly found ways to keep the roster stocked for another push.
The payoff has been real. Since 2019, Colorado has put together two Western Conference Final appearances, two Presidents’ Trophies and a Stanley Cup championship in 2022.
But the last few playoff runs have left a different kind of imprint. Entering the 2026-27 season, the Avalanche are coming off a four-game loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final, and a strong regular season disappeared in a hurry.
The postseason has been even more frustrating in the bigger picture: since winning the Cup, Colorado has not won more than eight games in any playoff run, and it still has not won a Game 7 or a playoff series after being tied 2-2.
That’s the tension with this team. The ceiling remains obvious, but the recent results have made the scrutiny harder to dodge.
Even so, The Athletic’s latest fan vote on front office confidence still reflects plenty of belief in Colorado’s direction. The survey weighed roster construction, salary-cap management, drafting, trades, free agency and overall organizational vision, and the Avalanche came in ninth.
That puts them behind the Dallas Stars and ahead of the Buffalo Sabres, while the Carolina Hurricanes claimed the top spot. Colorado’s finish is an improvement from last year, when the Avalanche were ranked No. 14.
Dallas, meanwhile, slid in the opposite direction. After coming in at No. 2 a year ago, the Stars dropped to No. 8 following a first-round exit to Minnesota under new head coach Glen Gulutzan.
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 Enter Camp With One Big Reason For Real Cup Belief
A healthy start has become one of the clearest reasons for optimism around Colorado heading into training camp, and Joe Sakic said the Avalanche expect to arrive in mid-September with the roster in good shape barring any late setbacks. After a season shaped by early absences, the sense around the organization is that the team is better positioned to show what it can really be when its core is available and the standards are where they need to be.
Sakic pointed to the talent on hand and the changes made around it as reasons to believe the Avalanche can again be a legitimate contender. The last season still offered proof of how competitive this group can be even when circumstances were far from ideal, and now the focus shifts to whether a cleaner bill of health can let that upside show from the start. [Read more 🡒]