The Colorado Avalanche have brought Gavin Brindley back into the picture, recalling the forward from the Colorado Eagles as the NHL club dealt with a thin roster before its game against the Dallas Stars.
Colorado entered the night with only 21 players on its 23-man active roster, according to Puckpedia’s tracking. The team was also down to 12 healthy forwards with veteran Logan O’Connor on IR, and Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette reported that center Nicolas Roy did not skate during warmups.
For Brindley, the move is both practical and deserved. It gives Jared Bednar another forward to work with, and it puts one of Colorado’s top prospects back in the NHL after a strong opening stretch in the AHL.
Brindley was never far from the conversation heading into the 2026-27 season. He was viewed as a player on the fringe of the Avalanche roster and appeared to be competing with NCAA free agent signing T.J.
Hughes for an opening-night spot. Hughes, 24, won that battle and stayed with the NHL club, while Brindley was assigned to the American League.
That outcome raised a few eyebrows because Brindley had already played 56 NHL games last season. Even so, he remained Colorado’s most obvious forward call-up, and he backed that up in the AHL by producing five points in four games. His latest statement came Friday, when he put up three points in the Eagles’ shootout win over the Abbotsford Canucks.
Now he’s back where many expected him to be. Brindley is likely to see NHL action again soon, and there’s even a chance he could line up with Hughes. The two were teammates throughout Brindley’s NCAA career, including his standout 2023-24 sophomore season, when he scored 25 goals and 53 points in 40 games.
At 5’8″ and 173 pounds, Brindley can play both wing and center, and he remains one of the organization’s most highly regarded young players. Earlier this year, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic ranked him as the No. 1 prospect in the Avalanche system and wrote that he “just always seems to play well, no matter the role/usage/stage.”
The recall doesn’t lock Brindley into any specific role yet, and Bednar’s usage of him still has to play out. But it does move him onto a much bigger stage.
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Avalanche Fast Start Suddenly Feels Fragile Against Dallas
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Dallas found that mistake before the period was over, tying things at 1-1 on a power play and taking some of the shine off Colorados opening push. Penalties and a late altercation only added to the unease, leaving the Avalanche with a good start that suddenly felt a lot less secure heading into the next stretch of the game. [Read more 🡒]