The Colorado Avalanche have locked in Jared Bednar for four more seasons, keeping the coach who has guided the franchise since 2016 in place for the foreseeable future.
The team announced the extension early Wednesday morning, only hours before it was set to face the Los Angeles Kings at Ball Arena. For the Avalanche, it’s another major piece to check off after the Cale Makar extension finally got done, with Artturi Lehkonen still a name fans are waiting to hear more about.
Bednar took over after Patrick Roy’s resignation and has since become one of the most successful coaching hires in the NHL. His record in Colorado now stands at 445-262-75, and after a rough 2016-17 season, the Avalanche settled into a long run of winning hockey. They have finished fourth or worse in the division only three times under Bednar, and those were all in his first three seasons.
The peak of that run came in 2021-22, when Colorado won the Stanley Cup. Even with that track record, Bednar has also had moments where he seemed to come up short in league awards voting.
He has been snubbed for the Jack Adams award a couple of times, and last season stood out most after he led the Avalanche to the best record in the NHL but still didn’t win it. He wasn’t even a finalist.
There’s also a chance this new deal puts Bednar on a path toward a bigger piece of NHL history. Jon Cooper is currently the league’s longest-tenured head coach, but he is five years older than Bednar. If Cooper retires before Bednar leaves Colorado, Bednar could eventually become the longest-serving coach in the league - a notable milestone for a franchise that had plenty of turbulence before he arrived.
Now the focus shifts back to the ice and to what comes next in the postseason. The Avalanche want to keep the regular-season success rolling, but they also need a deeper playoff run after being swept 4-0 by the Vegas Golden Knights in a series where they never looked like themselves.
In Other News...
Avalanche Double Down On A Familiar Ball Arena Partner
A familiar presence around Ball Arena is sticking around for a while longer. Kroenke Sports & Entertainment announced a three-year partnership renewal with KeyBank, keeping the bank tied closely to the Colorado Avalanche and giving it exclusive status as the teams Official Retail Bank Partner.
The deal goes beyond a logo on the building. KeyBank will hold naming rights to the KeyBank Ice Deck premium seating area, add a new KeyBank Small Business Spotlight program and sponsor select home openers and the Avalanche Alumni Game, giving the partnership a broader footprint throughout the season and a bigger place in the arena experience. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Just Made Their Commitment To Jared Bednar Crystal Clear
Jared Bednars place behind the Avalanche bench got a lot more secure this week, with Colorado signing its head coach to a four-year contract extension that will begin in the 2027-28 season. It is a clear endorsement of a coach who has already become the winningest in franchise history, both in the regular season and in the playoffs, and it comes as he prepares to enter his 11th season with the team.
For an organization that has spent years trying to stay in the NHLs upper tier, the move sends an unmistakable message about continuity and direction. Team president Joe Sakic and Bednar both struck a positive note about the extension and the future, but the bigger question now is how this long-term commitment will shape the next phase of Colorados push to keep contending. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Double Down On A Familiar Winner In Key Front Office Role
Andrew Coglianos rise inside the Avalanche organization keeps moving in a familiar direction. Colorado has promoted the former NHL forward to assistant general manager after he spent time as a special assistant to the general manager, a next-step move for a player who only recently finished a 17-year league career and ended it in Denver.
Coglianos path gives the Avalanche a front office voice with both recent locker room experience and a deep understanding of how the organization operates. He played for several NHL teams before joining Colorado, then helped the club win a Stanley Cup in the 2022-23 season, and now he takes on a bigger role as the Avalanche continue leaning on people who know firsthand what it takes to succeed there. [Read more 🡒]