The Colorado Avalanche are headed back into a Central Division that looks every bit as brutal as advertised, and the Dallas Stars still sit at the top of the list of teams Colorado has to measure itself against.
Colorado, Dallas, and Minnesota are expected to keep fighting for the top three spots, even with clubs like the Utah Mammoth, St. Louis Blues, and Chicago Blackhawks making progress over the offseason. But when it comes to the Avalanche’s biggest division rival, Dallas still owns that title.
The Stars did avoid a major headache by getting Jason Robertson signed to a one-year deal. It didn’t solve everything, but it did keep the core together for now and gave both sides more time to work toward a longer-term answer.
That core remains dangerous. Former Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen, along with Roope Hintz, Wyatt Johnston, Thomas Harley, and Miro Heiskanen, should all be in line for strong seasons again. Add in All-Star goaltender Jake Oettinger, and Dallas still looks like Colorado’s toughest Central Division challenger.
Even so, the Avalanche have an edge the Stars can’t quite match.
Colorado’s depth is the separator. The Avs are one of the deepest teams in the NHL, and maybe the deepest overall, with strength down the middle and on the blue line that few clubs can truly compare with. Dallas has plenty of talent on defense in Heiskanen, Harley, and Esa Lindell, but matching up with Cale Makar and Devon Toews is another matter entirely.
The same goes for the forward group. Colorado’s depth up front has only grown over the past couple of seasons, and the addition of Jaden Schwartz this offseason only added to that advantage. It’s another case of a team that already had plenty finding a way to get even richer.
That depth matters even more in a Central Division that could turn into a traffic jam. As many as five teams could end up making the playoffs from the division, with Colorado, Dallas, and Minnesota projected to take the top three spots.
That would leave Utah, St. Louis, and Nashville battling for the final two Western Conference berths.
Chicago and Winnipeg appear to be the teams on the outside looking in, though Winnipeg can’t be dismissed entirely with Connor Hellebuyck in goal. There are rumors about Hellebuyck potentially leaving, but until that actually happens, the Jets remain a real threat.
For Colorado, the message is simple: no easing into the season. If the Avalanche want to reassert themselves as the NHL’s top team, they’ll need to come out fast and keep their guard up from the start.
In Other News...
Avalanche Lineup Idea Could Change Everything Up Front
As the Avalanche keep sorting through ways to reshape their forward group, one of the more interesting ideas floating around is a lineup that would push Nazem Kadri to the wing and let Nic Roy handle third-line center duties. It is the kind of tweak that would change the look of Colorados depth chart in a hurry, especially if the top six is reworked around a player who has spent so much of his career driving play down the middle.
There is also a broader league backdrop to the conversation, with Ryan Reaves still on the market and hoping to keep his career going before training camp. Elsewhere, Andrew Agozzino has moved from playing into coaching, a reminder of how quickly roster conversations can turn into bigger career crossroads across the NHL, even as Colorado keeps weighing what the right mix up front might look like. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Still Havent Solved Their Biggest Nazem Kadri Question
Nazem Kadris place in the Avalanche lineup is one of the more important roster puzzles hanging over the 2026-27 season, because his value is tied so closely to how the coaching staff chooses to use him. The discussion starts with the basics of deployment, but it quickly turns into a bigger question about what kind of line the Avalanche want to build around him and how much stability they can finally give him after a year of constant shuffling.
Kadris usage last season and into the playoffs only sharpened the debate, since his minutes were split in ways that made it hard to lock down a clean read on what worked best. Colorado got different results depending on where he lined up, and the next step is figuring out whether his most effective role comes with a fixed center assignment or a move that lets the Avalanche better settle the rest of their forward group. [Read more 🡒]
Former Avalanche First-Round Pick Is Still Trying To Prove Colorado Wrong
Cal Ritchies path since being taken 27th overall by the Avalanche in the 2023 NHL Draft has already taken a few turns, and Colorado has had a front-row seat for all of them. He got his first NHL look with the Avalanche, then went back to the OHL, and eventually found himself in a new organization trying to carve out a longer-term role at the sports highest level.
Ritchies latest stretch with the Islanders showed why there is still plenty of belief in his upside, even if the road has not been linear. After opening the year in the AHL with Bridgeport, he earned a recall and finished with 30 points in 65 NHL games, a reminder that he is still learning how to translate his game against top competition while spending the offseason working on his strength, skating and shot. [Read more 🡒]