The Colorado Avalanche will open their 2026-27 home schedule with a familiar playoff opponent.
On Wednesday morning, the league announced each team’s home opener date and opponent, and the Avalanche will host the Los Angeles Kings at Ball Arena on September 30. Last season, Colorado opened on the road in Los Angeles on October 7.
The shift in timing comes because the NHL is adding two games to the schedule. Instead of the usual 82, teams will now play 84.
That home opener carries some extra juice because it comes against the same team the Avalanche handled in the postseason. The matchup will look different this time, though.
Valeri Nichushkin was in the lineup for Colorado in that first-round series, but he has since been traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets. On the Kings’ side, Anze Kopitar is no longer there after retiring.
Los Angeles still has plenty of recognizable talent. Adrian Kempe, Artemi Panarin and Quinton Byfield are projected on the top line, with Kevin Fiala, Erik Haula and Mats Zuccharello on the second. Drew Doughty remains their top right defenseman.
There’s also a chance former Avalanche goalie Darcy Kuemper is in net for the Kings. He could enter camp in a battle with Anton Forsberg, who took over the starting job late last season and started every game in the best-of-7 series that ended in four.
Colorado’s top six is made up of players returning from last year’s team, while the bottom six includes three new names: Jaden Schwartz, Fedor Svechkov and Zachary L’Heureux. Training camp could still shake things up, and T.J. Hughes is a candidate to force his way onto the roster after being highly coveted before the Avalanche claimed his rights.
The full NHL schedule comes out Thursday, July 16.
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Avalanche Land Near Bottom Of Aggression Ranking And Fans Know Why
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Colorados place in the standings of that category fits the way this roster is built and the way it tries to win. The Avalanche have never been mistaken for a heavy, grinding club, and the postseason only sharpened that contrast as opponents looked for ways to make them uncomfortable physically. It also leaves an interesting comparison point for the teams that did manage to drag Colorado into a more punishing style, even if the most successful version of that approach came from a different Western Conference foe. [Read more 🡒]