Late August in Colorado usually means one thing: a quick trip to the Avalanche’s practice facility to see who’s already back on the ice before training camp. This year’s informal skates have drawn a bigger and more interesting mix than usual, with captain Gabe Landeskog at the center of it all.
Landeskog has been joined by returning veterans Devon Toews, Brock Nelson, Logan O’Connor, Josh Manson and Brent Burns as the group works through those early skates roughly three weeks before camp opens.
The list doesn’t stop there. Also on the ice were Jaden Schwartz, T.J.
Hughes, Zachary L’Heureux, Fedor Svechkov, Matt DiMarsico, Sean Behrens, Alex Gagne, Fabian Lysell, Taylor Makar and Nikita Prischepov. In goal, the skaters I spotted were Ilya Nabokov and Nikita Novosyolov.
Those sessions also offered a first look at some of the jersey numbers players may be carrying into the season, based on what was visible on their helmets.
Schwartz was wearing No. 9 earlier in August, but that’s changed. Svechkov appears to have claimed that number, after wearing No. 9 earlier in his career and No. 40 in the NHL with the Nashville Predators.
That leaves Schwartz in line for No. 71 with Colorado. He started his NHL career in No. 9 before moving to No. 17 more than a decade ago, but No. 17 is already taken by Parker Kelly.
L’Heureux is set to keep No. 68, the number he wore in Nashville, and Hughes has already been confirmed as No. 13.
Among the younger players, Gagne has moved from No. 45 to No. 28, DiMarsico will wear No. 14, and Lysell was skating in No. 22 after using No. 23 in Boston, where that number is retired in Colorado.
Nabokov, meanwhile, is slated to wear No. 30, according to the helmet design seen on social media earlier this week.
In Other News...
Avalanche Under-25 Ranking Highlights A New Bottom-Six Center Candidate
Fedor Svechkov is already making his way into the conversation around Colorados future, and his arrival came with more than just a change of scenery. The 23-year-old center, acquired from Nashville in June as part of the Jack Drury trade, checked in at No. 4 on the Avalanches 2026 Top 25 Under 25 list, a strong sign that the organization sees him as more than a depth add. He has NHL experience from two seasons and 122 games, giving him a head start compared with many players in that age group.
For an Avalanche team that has been looking for stability down the middle of the bottom six, Svechkov stands out as a potential fit at fourth-line center. His two-way game gives Colorado a useful option in a role that demands reliability as much as offense, and his $1.25 million contract over the next two seasons makes him a manageable piece of the roster puzzle. The ranking suggests the Avalanche are already thinking about what he can become, not just what he fills in the present. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Fans Have A New Reason To Watch Stan Kroenke Closely
Stan Kroenke is adding another major franchise to his portfolio, and Avalanche fans now have fresh reason to keep an eye on how his sports empire keeps growing. Kroenke Sports & Entertainment has acquired a controlling interest in the Los Angeles Angels from Arte Moreno, extending a ownership footprint that already reaches the Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Rams and Arsenal FC.
For Colorado supporters, the move is less about baseball than about what it says about the broader direction of a group that has long had a hand in the teams fortunes. The Angels have spent years searching for sustained success and have not reached the playoffs since 2009, despite featuring stars such as Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, and the new ownership setup adds another high-profile test to a company already spread across several leagues. [Read more 🡒]
Cale Makars New Deal Changes The Avalanche Debate Ahead
Cale Makars new deal didnt just lock in the Avalanches cornerstone defenseman, it also sharpened the front offices next set of choices. Colorado is projected to have about $11.6 million in salary cap space for the 2027-28 season, a figure that gives the club some breathing room but not enough to ignore the ripple effects of every move it makes between now and then.
The bigger question is how that space gets allocated as the Avalanche sort through a group of unrestricted free agents that includes Artturi Lehkonen, Nic Roy, Brent Burns and Scott Wedgewood. Looking further ahead, the projected cap room for 2028-29 jumps to roughly $36.7 million, which should give Colorado plenty of flexibility to reshape parts of the roster while continuing to build around Nathan MacKinnon and Makar. [Read more 🡒]