The Colorado Avalanche’s uneven start has put a spotlight on a lot of different places, and Brent Burns is suddenly one of the loudest alarms on the board.
After Sunday night’s loss to the Nashville Predators, the veteran defenseman’s numbers didn’t do him any favors. The stat that stood out most was Wins Above Replacement, where Burns posted a -0.46 WAR on the night, tying Luke Schenn of the Vancouver Canucks for the worst mark of the evening. That kind of result in a single game is hard to ignore.
It would be easy to treat that as just one bad outing, but the broader picture isn’t exactly soothing for Colorado. Burns has been playing around 14 minutes a night at 5v5 and adding nearly two minutes on the penalty kill, which is fine for a third-pairing defenseman. The problem is that the Avalanche are getting more of a limited version of Burns than the one who once defined his position.
They are not expecting him to rediscover his Norris Trophy form. But they probably need more than three assists in 12 games, and the underlying numbers haven’t helped his case. His -7.2 relative expected goals for this season suggests the Avalanche may be giving away more than they’re getting when he’s on the ice.
Still, there doesn’t seem to be any realistic path to him coming out of the lineup. Burns is in the middle of a historic Ironman streak, and the fallout from a healthy scratch would be severe enough to make Jared Bednar’s life miserable.
So Colorado is stuck managing the situation instead of escaping it. That means the third pair remains a problem, especially with Burns and Josh Manson not providing much offense or dominance. Bednar could trim their ice time, but that would likely push even more work onto the top four.
That’s where the larger concern comes in. The Avalanche may already be dealing with fatigue, and the last thing they need is to lean even harder on Cale Makar and Devon Toews.
For now, Burns has put Colorado in a bind. The Avalanche’s best option is to ride it out and hope the season starts to tilt his way.
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Nikita Prishchepov supplied the Eagles only goal, but the rest of the offense never found a way to support Trent Miner, who allowed four goals on 30 shots. For an Avalanche organization leaning on its development system to keep moving players forward, a result like this is another reminder of how quickly a promising start can turn into a costly loss. [Read more 🡒]
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Bednars decisions have come under the microscope, and recent roster movement involving Gavin Brindley and Taylor Makar only adds to the sense that the Avalanche are searching for the right blend. The concern is not simply about one bad week, but whether the wear from extended runs has started to chip away at the edge that has defined this group. Floridas recent drop after its own long playoff stretch is the cautionary example hanging over the discussion, and for Colorado, the bigger issue may be whether the problem runs deeper than the early results suggest. [Read more 🡒]
Adam Beckman Is Giving Avalanche Fans A Reason To Watch Closely
Adam Beckman is off to the kind of start that gets attention fast in Colorados organization. In the Eagles home opener against Abbotsford, he scored the first goal of the 2026-27 season and later delivered the only shootout goal in a 4-3 win, a neat little statement from a player who arrived as an unrestricted free agent and is trying to carve out a role wherever he lands.
Beckman has already logged eight professional seasons across multiple teams, so this is not an untested prospect trying to find his footing. What makes him worth watching is the mix of experience and urgency, especially after he talked about how excited he is for the chance with Colorado and how his goal is to make an impact at any level. The early signs suggest he is doing exactly that, even if the bigger question is how far this momentum can carry him. [Read more 🡒]