For a team sporting the least amount of five-on-five time in 2018-19, you could say special teams are important for the Colorado Avalanche. In fact, Colorado’s performance with the man advantage and disadvantage is critical to their success next season. Last year, the Avs’ power play ranked seventh-best in the NHL while their penalty kill finished seventh-worst. Offseason moves transformed…...

The Colorado Avalanche have signed free agent forward Valeri Nichushkin to a one-year contract. The deal is one-way worth $850k. Nichushkin, 24, played in 57 games for the Dallas Stars last season while battling some lower-body injuries. When healthy enough to play, Nichushkin recorded just 10 assists and didn’t tally a single goal. The 6-foot-4 210-pound winger has had a…...

This week’s episode of Film Rundown looks at the impact Zadorov has by controlling space on the ice, particularly around the blue line. https://youtu.be/xhaCHZ3SDos...

What happened last year? What is there to say about JT Compher other then he has been doing it all. Compher had a large step forward in his game from his first full season to his second full season. Statistically, Compher saw a jump in production as he scored 32 points (16g, 16A) in just 66 games played versus the…...

Do the Avalanche finally have depth scoring? After a season in which a three-headed monster featuring Gabe Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, and Mikko Rantanen ate the majority of Colorado’s minutes, the Avalanche believe they may finally have consistent production beyond the top line. As the undisputed second-line center, Nazem Kadri will drive offense alongside Colorado’s budding young forwards. The Avs are…...

A new series with Nathan Rudolph takes an in-depth look at some Martin Kaut film and discusses why he is ready to don an Avs jersey. https://youtu.be/iCJhVeEgZs8...

With training camp and preseason games right around the corner, Jared Bednar will soon be brainstorming ways to hit the ground running in time for the regular season. The Avalanche can all but guarantee a playoff appearance by outmatching the fitness, focus, and most importantly, scoring of their opponents through their first 20 games. Or can they? In the past,…...

The Avalanche wrapped up the last of their non-Mikko Rantanen business this morning when they inked A.J. Greer to a one-year contract. It’s a modest raise for Greer, who will make only $735K in the NHL but $90K in the AHL, which is up from the $70K he got last year to be one of the best players for…...

Few things made me roll my eyes quite like listening to the NBC broadcast crew refer to the San Jose Sharks neutral zone set up as a “teal-picket fence” during their playoff series against the Avalanche. It was the kind of hokey nonsense broadcasts throw at you in order to appeal to a more casual audience and watching the…...

The Avalanche entered the summer with a large number of unsigned young players who they were going to have to find a way to sign while still navigating the free-agent field. After signing Vlad Kamenev yesterday, Colorado was down to two unsigned RFAs and decided to get a headstart on next season. That headstart comes in the form of a…...

The Colorado Avalanche have re-signed forward Vladislav Kamenev to a one-year contract. Financial terms were undisclosed. He will be a restricted free agent again next summer. Kamenev, 22, played in 23 games this season before getting coming injured in a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Kamenev sustained a shoulder injury resulting in surgery this season. Prior to the injury,…...

The Cale Makar hype train is leaving the station. Conductor Joe Sakic asks you to take your seats and hold onto something. This is going to be a wild ride. Sakic and company dealt Tyson Barrie to the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 1, effectively doubling down on their confidence in the NHL newbie. Following this move, the expectations for…...

The Avalanche announced today that they had signed Bowen Byram to his three-year entry-level contract. Byram, the fourth overall pick in last month’s draft, will have a chance to make a crowded Avalanche defense out of training camp. The signing of the ELC was a standard formality between team and player and what happens next for the 18-year-old is…

When the Avalanche took Bowen Byram fourth overall at last month’s entry draft, it cemented Colorado’s future defense as one filled with stars. When Joe Sakic met the media shortly after, he was not shy about the organization’s intention to give Byram a long look in training camp this year. With injuries to Erik Johnson and Ian Cole, it would…...

Everything about Brandon Saigeon’s time in the Avalanche organization has been peculiar. Even the drafting of Saigeon was outside of Colorado’s usual bag of tricks. They haven’t been shy about drafting older players (eight, including Saigeon, in the last five years) but Saigeon was the only one who was in his second time through and in the CHL. Because…...

The Colorado Avalanche have re-signed forward J.T. Compher to a four-year deal. The contract is for $14 million total, bringing the AAV to $3.5 million. It is the second four-year deal handed out by Joe Sakic this summer (Joonas Donskoi the other). Compher, 24, appeared in 66 games last season with the Avalanche, scoring 32 points (16g, 16a). Compher did…...

Joe Sakic finally got his guy. After sending Carl Soderberg to the Arizona Coyotes, there was a glaring hole in the Colorado Avalanche lineup at center behind Nathan MacKinnon. Sakic filled that hole by trading Tyson Barrie and Alex Kerfoot to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Calle Rosén and veteran center Nazem Kadri. The reasons for Colorado’s interest…

The RFA signings continue coming for the Avalanche as Andre Burakovsky has accepted his qualifying offer and signed a one-year deal worth $3.25 million. It’s a hefty price tag given he’s coming off back to back 25-point seasons but Colorado knew what it was getting into when they traded two draft choices for him just days after the Washington Capitals…...

It’s hard to build a Stanley Cup contender. It might be even harder to build a 48-point team. In the summer of 2016, with a front office later revealed to be in turmoil, that’s just what Joe Sakic & Co. managed to do. It’s odd looking back on it because at the time Colorado’s approach to free agency and…...