The Colorado Avalanche’s roster is already coming into focus, and the math points to a fairly clean finish from here.
Over the weekend, Colorado pushed six players onto waivers and reassigned six others to the Colorado Eagles’ AHL camp, a big wave of moves that started to clear the deck ahead of Monday’s deadline. The six players on waivers are Wyatt Aamodt, Adam Beckman, Vinnie Hinostroza, Fabian Lysell, Keaton Middleton and Tristen Nielsen. The six sent to the Eagles are Sean Behrens, Gavin…
That still leaves the Avalanche with two more cuts to make to get down to the required 23 players. But with the way the roster is set up, it really looks like three moves are coming.
The easiest call is in goal. Colorado still has three goalies in camp, and Trent Miner appears to be the one headed to waivers.
That part comes with some timing games attached. The idea seems to be waiting for the Sunday scramble to pass, when teams in need of a goalie might claim whoever is sitting there first.
If the Avalanche can hold Miner until the market cools, they may be able to slip him through without anyone taking a shot.
The other move should come from the forward group, assuming Colorado sticks with seven defensemen.
Right now, TJ Hughes has already made the team, while Taylor Makar and Georgii Merkulov are still on the roster. That makes the next step pretty straightforward.
Makar is the likeliest candidate to be sent down to the AHL. He’s waiver-exempt, and he’s also dealing with an injury he picked up in the preseason. That combination makes it an easy decision for Colorado to send him to the Eagles and give him time to recover.
If Miner and Makar are both headed to the AHL, does that open the door for Merkulov?
Not necessarily. Merkulov still has to clear waivers, and the Avalanche may simply wait until the final minute to put him out there, hoping the rest of the league has already settled its own roster decisions.
If that’s how it plays out, Colorado would carry 22 players instead of 23: 13 forwards, seven defensemen and two goalies. That setup would leave the Avalanche with roughly $150K in cap space.
In other words, even if the Avalanche wanted to keep Merkulov, the cap may not allow it. Colorado could end up one player short of the maximum roster size purely because of the money.
The Opening Night lineup is still a separate conversation, and that’s something that will get more attention in the coming weeks. But Hughes has been working on the top power play unit, which is a strong sign he’ll be in the lineup. That also points toward Zachary L’Heureux beginning the season as the 13th forward.
That’s no knock on Hughes. He’s already shown he’s ready for the NHL, and remember, he was the top NCAA free agent last spring.
Now he’s backing that up.
In Other News...
Former Avalanche Defenseman Just Revived A Colorado Blue-Line Debate
Nick Blankenburgs quick stop in Colorado is back in the conversation after he turned a professional tryout with the Toronto Maple Leafs into a one-year, $1.4 million contract. For Avalanche fans, it is a familiar name resurfacing in a place where the blue line has been a constant point of discussion, especially after he logged 12 regular-season games and five playoff games in Denver before the club moved on.
Blankenburgs path has been a reminder that defensemen can change their stock fast with the right fit and enough opportunity. He also just put together a career-best offensive season split between Nashville and Colorado, and now Toronto is betting that production can carry over into a more stable role, which only adds another layer to the question of what the Avalanche may have had in him. [Read more 🡒]
Former Avalanche Fan Favorite Now Carries A Tough New Reality
Miles Woods stint with the Blue Jackets has taken a sharp turn since Colorado moved him and Charlie Coyle to Columbus in the summer of 2025 to open up cap space. Wood did not make Columbus roster this season, cleared waivers, and is now in a spot no player wants to be in: a useful veteran whose contract has become part of the conversation more than his on-ice role.
Now the Blue Jackets are reportedly folding Woods deal into trade talks involving Kirill Marchenko, looking for a team willing to absorb the contract. For Avalanche fans, it is a reminder of how quickly a familiar name can shift from crowd favorite to salary-cap wrinkle, with the next step depending less on his play than on whether another club is willing to take on the financial baggage. [Read more 🡒]
T.J. Hughes Just Forced His Way Into Colorados Biggest Early Debate
T.J. Hughes has turned a strong camp into a real opening-night opportunity, earning a spot on the Colorado Avalanche roster and a place on the top power-play unit to start the season. Head coach Jared Bednar made the call official after Hughes, an undrafted rookie out of Michigan, kept standing out through training camp and preseason, including a hat trick against the Winnipeg Jets.
For an Avalanche team that always has eyes on how its special teams will look, the early-season question now is how long Hughes can hold that role once the games count. Hes signed to a one-year, entry-level deal for the 2026-27 season, but first comes a season opener against the Los Angeles Kings, where hell get his first chance to show the camp buzz was more than just a hot stretch. [Read more 🡒]