Nathan MacKinnon isn’t ready to let one bad ending turn into a full-blown teardown in Colorado.
At Avalanche media day Wednesday at Ball Arena, the star center pointed to Carolina’s long road before its Stanley Cup breakthrough as a reminder that patience can still pay off. The Hurricanes spent years falling short under Rod Brind’Amour, cycling through conference-final appearances, second-round exits and, most recently, a four-game sweep in the conference finals last season.
They didn’t ditch their coach or blow up their identity. They stayed the course, kept pushing, and eventually won the second Stanley Cup in franchise history.
“I think that's just a little bit of inspiration, maybe, of our mentality that has to be,” MacKinnon told reporters. “Obviously, we had the Dallas thing last year.
I'm not sure we can just make up something. Obviously, getting swept is awful.
It sucks, but it doesn't feel like it's the same type of motivation as the Dallas series was.”
Colorado has spent the better part of two years under a brighter-than-usual spotlight after playoff disappointment kept bringing the same questions back to the surface. The Avalanche’s first-round exit against Dallas in 2025 put the Mikko Rantanen trade back at the center of the conversation, especially after Rantanen helped Dallas eliminate his former team.
Then came last season’s letdown. The Avalanche piled up 121 points, won the Presidents’ Trophy and entered the Stanley Cup Playoffs as heavy favorites, only to get swept by the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final. That sparked more debate about Jared Bednar’s future and whether the organization needed a different direction.
MacKinnon’s answer Wednesday was more measured than reactionary. He isn’t ignoring the loss to Vegas, and he isn’t pretending Colorado doesn’t need to look inward. But he also doesn’t sound interested in treating one series as proof the whole operation has failed.
“We have such an amazing group of guys,” MacKinnon said. “It's so fun to come to the rink with each other.
Yeah, it's all we can really do. I don't know, I hope we win.
I think we can, and we have a good chance, and just, you know, it's a long year.”
Bednar, for his part, made clear he doesn’t plan to simply run back the exact same process. He said Wednesday that he wants to shift his approach some this season, especially with a veteran team that has already heard plenty of the same messages over the years. Instead of leaning as heavily on analytical and opponent-specific work, he wants to spend more time on the Avalanche themselves and on the individual players in the room.
“I do have intentions of changing my approach a little bit this year,” Bednar said. “You're always kind of sort of evolving as a coach.”
He added that he wants to “dial some of that back” and focus more on where Colorado can improve from within.
That’s the balance here: staying the course does not mean standing still. Colorado can keep its core identity intact and still make adjustments. Bednar has been on the Avalanche bench for nearly a decade, and he knows a veteran group needs a fresh voice from time to time.
“I try to operate like I'm trying to prove myself every day,” Bednar said. “I don't care if I'm considered one of the top coaches in the league or not. The only thing that I want to make sure is that our players feel like I'm the right coach for this team.”
That line fits neatly with MacKinnon’s view. Carolina didn’t win by blowing everything up after years of frustration. It kept believing in its coach and its structure until the breakthrough finally came.
MacKinnon isn’t promising Colorado will follow the exact same path. But after another painful finish, the Avalanche at least have a reminder that one rough spring doesn’t have to erase everything they’ve built.
They can change without starting over.
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