Joe Sakic has pushed the Avalanche into a stretch that looks less like a clean title chase and more like a team trying to figure out exactly what it is.
That’s the tension hanging over Colorado right now. The roster still has Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon at the top, and that alone keeps the door cracked. But there are also obvious gaps, and the offseason moves suggest Sakic may be looking at the team differently than a lot of fans are.
The biggest question is simple: is this a “cup or bust” group, or is Colorado entering a more uneven rebuild of sorts while the front office reshapes the room?
A lot of the unease comes from the moves themselves. Valeri Nichushkin was traded to Columbus for picks, and Ross Colton - along with Isak Posch - went to Nashville for draft capital and a goalie.
Those are not the kind of swings that scream all-in. Nichushkin’s line from last season was solid, not spectacular: 17 goals and 49 points in 72 games, with a $6.125 million cap hit.
Still, moving him, especially for picks that weren’t turned into a rosterable player, reads more like a reset than a chase.
The same idea applies to the larger shape of the summer. Sakic has added multiple mid-round picks and opened up meaningful cap flexibility, which points toward restocking the pipeline and building options for later. But the real question is whether that flexibility is just fuel for another push, or whether the Avalanche are being asked to live with a new reality and lean harder on their elite core.
That’s where the trust piece comes in. Sakic earned plenty of it by taking over a team that had spent too long clinging to the idea that it was “right there” when it wasn’t. He recognized how far the franchise had drifted from the standard he knew as a player, and the eventual result was the 2022 Cup.
But this version of the Avalanche feels different. The team has had strong internal relationships, but there was also separation when things went sideways, and Logan O’Connor’s frustration became part of that picture.
From the outside, some fans wanted to see Nichushkin stay no matter what. Instead, Colorado moved him and kept going.
There’s also the state of the roster itself. The Avalanche are short a line of forwards, and the defensive depth is thinner than it used to be, even with Jaden Schwartz and Noah Juulsen added. They did re-sign Kulak and Burns on the blue line, but the overall picture still looks incomplete.
And that’s why this doesn’t feel like the kind of team that should be chasing a quick fix at the deadline or in free agency. Colorado just finished a dominant regular season at 55-16-11 with 121 points and a Presidents’ Trophy, but the playoff result was a hard stop.
The Avalanche were swept 4-0 by Vegas. Cale Makar missed the first two games of the Western Conference Final with a significant shoulder injury and played hurt after that, and yes, that mattered.
But it also doesn’t erase the fact that the team wasn’t especially close.
The front office also made moves for Kadri and Roy, but did not land a bona fide 6 or 7D, and openly admitted it moved for Blankenburg after other, better options didn’t work out. That all feeds the same conclusion: this is not a wide-open window.
It’s still cracked because the stars are still there. But it isn’t swinging open the way people want to believe.
In Other News...
Avalanche Day One Move Looks Like A Direct Answer Up Front
The first day of free agency brought the Avalanche a clear signal about where they wanted help, with the club making a move aimed at adding scoring depth after a stretch of roster turnover up front. Colorado has been trying to reshape its forward group, and the urgency around finding more reliable offense has only grown after several departures changed the look of the lineup.
Jaden Schwartz fit that need on day one, giving the Avalanche another experienced option in a spot where the team has been looking for answers. Around the league, other clubs were also busy trying to solve their own problems, from the Rangers retooling on defense to Edmonton making cap-related changes, but Colorados move stood out because it felt like a direct response to what the roster was missing. [Read more 🡒]
Another Former Avalanche Winger Just Became Someone Elses Answer
Victor Olofssons lone season in Colorado turned out to be a productive stop along the way, with the winger contributing as a scoring complement and showing the kind of finishing touch that has followed him around the league. He put up 25 points in 60 games for the Avalanche, including 11 goals, and delivered a few memorable flashes along the way, from three game-winners to the first hat trick of his NHL career.
Now Vegas is bringing him back into the fold after reshuffling its roster and opening a spot on the power play. The Golden Knights moved Pavel Dorofeyev to the New York Rangers, leaving a familiar lane for Olofsson to step back into a specialist role he knows well, and for Colorado its another reminder that the Avalanche have become part of the path for a winger other clubs still trust to finish in key moments. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche May Have Quietly Found Jack Drurys Replacement
Colorado spent the offseason reshuffling its forward group when Jack Drury was sent to Nashville, and the return gives the Avalanche a couple of young pieces to work with. Drury later signed an extension with the Predators, but Colorados focus now is on what Fedor Svechkov and Zachary LHeureux can bring, especially with the team looking for dependable help in the middle six.
Svechkov, in particular, is the name to watch as camp and the early part of the season unfold. The Avalanche are hoping he can push for a bottom-six role, and if he settles in quickly, it could ease the sting of losing Drurys steadiness and make the trade look a lot less like a subtraction than it first appeared. [Read more 🡒]