There’s been plenty of hand-wringing since Cale Makar signed his new deal last week, and for good reason. A record-setting contract is the kind of move that makes fans immediately reach for the calculator. But when you actually look at Colorado’s cap picture, the Avalanche don’t appear headed for trouble.
According to a cursory look at PuckPedia, the Avalanche are projected to have about $11.6 million in cap space for 2027-28, and that figure already includes Makar’s cap hit. That leaves Joe Sakic with real room to maneuver, not a tightrope act.
Most of the roster is already spoken for next season, too. Colorado has only four players set to become UFAs: Artturi Lehkonen, Nic Roy, Brent Burns, and Scott Wedgewood.
Burns is the easiest call in the group. At 41, he could be on the verge of retirement after this season.
If he decides to hang it up, the choice is simple for the Avalanche. If he wants to come back, that’s straightforward as well.
Lehkonen and Roy are a little more interesting, but the math still works. If Sakic can keep their cap hits where they are now, the two forwards would count for about $8 million combined.
That would leave roughly $3 million to handle a backup goalie and a seventh defenseman, assuming Wedgewood doesn’t return. If Wedgewood does come back at $2.5 million, Colorado would still have enough room to add another blueliner and finish out the roster.
That’s why the big-picture concern around Makar’s deal doesn’t look nearly as alarming as it first seemed.
The longer view is even more encouraging. One of the common knocks on the Avalanche is that their championship window is shrinking, especially with Nathan MacKinnon and Makar as the core. But the 2028-29 outlook suggests Colorado should have a chance to refresh the roster without tearing anything down.
Right now, the Avalanche are projected to have $36.7 million in cap space going into 2028-29. That should be enough to address major needs, including replacing Brock Nelson and Josh Manson. It also comes with Fedor Svechkov, Zachary L’Heureux, and Gavin Brindley set to become RFAs.
The real question is whether that money can be turned into the right kind of help: a second-line center, a top-four defenseman, and enough depth to fill out the bottom six. The answer looks like yes.
The trick, as always, is finding the right players. But Sakic likely has already started mapping out those possibilities, and free agency figures to be part of the plan. If Colorado hits those moves, the Avalanche could pull off a mini retool on the fly and stay in the mix for years to come.
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 🡒]
Avalanches New Look Is Already Starting To Show Before Camp
Late August skates at the Avalanches practice facility offered an early look at a roster that already feels a little different, even before training camp opens. Captain Gabe Landeskog was out there with veterans like Devon Toews and Brock Nelson, and the informal sessions gave the club a chance to start building some chemistry while the bigger decisions of the season still sit ahead.
The on-ice work also came with a small but telling offseason wrinkle, as potential jersey number assignments began to surface for new faces. Fedor Svechkov is expected to wear No. 9, Jaden Schwartz is likely headed for No. 71, and T.J. Hughes and Ilya Nabokov already have their numbers confirmed, small details that matter more than they seem when a team is trying to make its new look feel official. [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 🡒]