The Colorado Avalanche may not have much left to sort out on their roster, but there’s still one move worth considering before camp opens: a reunion with Nick Blankenburg.
Blankenburg is still unsigned this summer, and if he’s waiting for a full NHL contract, the market hasn’t broken his way yet. Even so, Colorado should at least explore bringing him back on a Professional Tryout deal. He already proved he could slide into the lineup and help when the Avalanche picked him up from the Nashville Predators at last year’s trade deadline.
That move paid off. Blankenburg gave Colorado useful depth down the stretch, and he even buried a memorable goal against the Minnesota Wild in Game 1 of their second-round series last spring. More importantly, he fit cleanly into the group and looked like a player the Avalanche could trust when needed.
There’s also a pretty straightforward case for keeping him in the mix beyond camp. Blankenburg can play both sides of the ice, brings a gritty edge and doesn’t need to be a towering presence to make an impact. If Colorado wanted to keep him on a league-minimum deal, it wouldn’t be hard to see why.
And depth matters here. The Avalanche’s blue line is veteran-heavy, and players like Josh Manson have missed stretches before.
On top of that, the 84-game schedule figures to test every team in the league. Having a few extra defensemen available would give Jared Bednar more options and make it easier to use 11 forwards and 7 defensemen, something he has done in the past.
Colorado already has Noah Juulsen penciled in as the seventh defenseman, but the more bodies the better. That’s especially true when injuries start to pile up and nights off become part of the equation.
The one real obstacle is money. The Avalanche have about $400K in cap space, which isn’t enough to fit a deal for Blankenburg right now. Still, camp cuts could open the door for Colorado to keep him around for much of the season.
He wouldn’t be guaranteed a regular role if everyone stays healthy. But as a versatile, hard-nosed extra defenseman, Blankenburg gives the Avalanche exactly the kind of insurance teams are always glad to have.
In Other News...
Avalanche Under-25 Rankings Just Sparked A New Future Core Debate
A fresh under-25 ranking around the Avalanche has turned into a useful snapshot of where the organization sees its next wave of talent. Mile High Hockey staff members teamed up to sort the clubs top 25 players under the age of 25 as of Sept. 1, 2026, with goaltender Ilya Nabokov landing at No. 1 and a couple of young names drawing extra attention for climbing the board. Christian Humphreys and Francesco DellElce stood out as the biggest risers, which is exactly the kind of movement that tends to get a fan base talking about who might matter most a year or two down the road.
The conversation did not stop with the list itself. A social-media fan poll added another layer by gauging how supporters felt about the rankings, and the biggest reactions clustered around Tory Pitner and Axel Eloffson. For a team trying to map out its future core, those responses are part of the point: the Avalanches next group of contributors is still taking shape, and the debate over who belongs where is already lively enough to spill beyond the staff room. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Face A Tough Lehkonen Decision Before His Price Climbs
Artturi Lehkonen is heading into a season that already carries more than the usual contract-year noise. The Avalanche winger is set to play on a $4.5 million cap hit, and with unrestricted free agency looming next summer, Colorado is staring at a familiar front-office balancing act: reward a reliable player now, or wait and risk the market pushing his price beyond what the club can comfortably manage.
Joe Sakic has not sounded eager to rush the issue, and that makes sense with the Avalanche trying to keep an eye on projected salary cap space. Lehkonen is also at a point in his career where the next contract could be the one big payday, especially as he approaches 32. For Colorado, the challenge is clear enough - if they believe in his value, the cost may only get steeper the longer they let it sit. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Face A Bigger Question Than Cale Makars Payday
Cale Makars next payday is the kind of number that can reshape the Avalanches books, but it is not really the hardest part of the conversation in Denver. Around the NHL, the lesson is familiar by now: elite players are worth elite money, yet winning teams still have to survive the cap with enough room left for the rest of the roster to function. The sport keeps proving that stars can drive a contender, but they cannot carry one alone.
For Colorado, that is where the real pressure starts. Paying a player at the very top of the market is one thing, but building a lineup with enough depth, reliable role players and balance around him is another challenge entirely. The highest-paid player in hockey does not automatically lift the Stanley Cup, and the Avalanche know the harder question is not just what Makar costs, but how the rest of the roster gets built around him. [Read more 🡒]