Colorado Avalanche fans don’t need a spreadsheet to tell them Josh Manson matters. They see it every night. The team looks solid with him out there, and noticeably sturdier when he’s in the mix.
Now there’s a metric that backs up the eye test. Manson quietly checks in as the third-most underpaid player in the NHL, according to points share and contract value, with Hockey Reference’s numbers placing him near the top of the league in cost efficiency.
Anna Ryan of Casino Guru News broke down the calculation by comparing the points a player generated during the 2025-26 season with his 2026-27 cap hit. That produced a cost-per-point-share ranking that had Manson sitting first among NHL players in the metric, with an 18/100 score.
The two players ahead of him are Buffalo Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson at 16/100 and Edmonton Oilers veteran Mattias Ekholm at 14/100.
Maybe it’s just a quirky coincidence that the two names above Manson are Swedish defensemen named Mattias.
Either way, the bigger point is clear: Manson is giving Colorado serious value at a $3.95 million cap hit. At 34, he brings a two-way edge and shutdown ability that’s hard to find anywhere near that price. There really aren’t many high-end defensive defensemen in the league who come close to that number.
Ekholm, meanwhile, took less from the Oilers to stay with a Stanley Cup contender. Samuelsson is still climbing and should be in line for a raise before long as he keeps developing as Rasmus Dahlin’s partner.
For Colorado, Manson’s importance goes beyond value alone. He fits into a defensive setup built around pairing a steady defensive presence with a puck-mover.
In that structure, Cale Makar and Devon Toews remain the obvious top duo. Brett Kulak, another shutdown type, would line up next to Sam Malinski.
That leaves Manson to skate with Brent Burns, another offensively inclined blueliner. On paper, that sounds like a third pair, but with Burns at 41, it’s not really a normal third pairing at all.
He’d still be a top-four defenseman on plenty of teams. Colorado can afford to slot him lower because of the depth it has on the blue line.
Manson could be a top-four option just about anywhere, too. The Avalanche are using him as a third-pairing piece by design, and the idea is simple: reduce the wear and tear on his body, especially given how he plays.
That broader approach should apply across the defense this season. With the schedule rising from 82 to 84 games, Colorado is likely to manage workloads for all of its blueliners. That could mean trimming ice time, carrying seven defensemen at times, or even using preventive scratches to keep legs fresh.
If that plan holds, the Avalanche could enter the postseason in better shape. And with the 2026-27 season not nearly as compressed as the last two, Colorado may be setting itself up nicely for the 2027 playoffs.
In Other News...
Scott Wedgewood Just Got Hit With Another Brutal Snub
Scott Wedgewoods season was strong enough to put him fifth in Vezina Trophy voting, which is why his absence from NHL Networks latest top-10 goaltender ranking stands out so sharply. For the Avalanche, it is another reminder that his work in net has not always earned the outside respect it probably should, even with the kind of year that usually forces people to take notice.
The snub lands alongside the bigger question of why Wedgewood also came up empty on Canadas Olympic roster. When a goalie can stack up that sort of individual recognition and still be left off lists like these, it invites a second look at what evaluators are valuing, and whether the players getting the nod ahead of him are actually bringing more to the table. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Fans May Not Love This Denver Stadium Speculation
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Speculation has already started about whether the Avalanche could someday look at a move of their own, perhaps near whatever grows up around the Broncos new home. Nothing official has been announced, and there is no indication the Avalanche are planning anything now, but the mere possibility is enough to get people talking about the citys long-term sports map. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche May Have A Bigger Goalie Question Than Fans Realize
Mackenzie Blackwood arrived in Colorado in December 2024 and quickly gave the Avalanche enough reason to believe they had something worth building around. His play in the 2024-25 season was encouraging, and the organization has continued to treat him as part of its long-term answer in goal, which matters for a team trying to keep its window open and its roster core pointed in the same direction.
The wrinkle is that Colorado did not get the clean handoff it may have been hoping for. Veteran Scott Wedgewood settled in as the primary option the following season, leaving Blackwood facing a crucial year to show he can stay available and steady enough to reclaim that role. For the Avalanche, the next step in their goaltending picture may depend less on who was brought in and more on whether Blackwood can finally turn promise into something more dependable. [Read more 🡒]